Single A ball is coming to Bowling Green, KY, Reds Affiliate?

[Joseph]

and BGMU is right there at 801 Center. So the stadium is diagonally across the street from BGMU if you know where that is. I thought thats what the wife had told me before.

[redsof72]

For the fan that wondered about the Reds moving their high-A team to the California League, here is the way it works. There are 30 high-A franchises. There is no expansion to new cities. Existing franchises can be moved by their private owner to a new city with league approval and approval by MLB. If the Reds wanted to leave Sarasota, first thing they would have to do is sell the Sarasota franchise to a private owner (and that private owner could keep the franchise in Sarasota or try to find a new city in Florida to move the franchise--but it is always going to be a Florida State League franchise). The Reds would then need to find an existing franchise in the California League, Carolina League, or Florida State League that is available for affiliation (meaning whatever MLB team that was previously affiliating with that club is ending their affiliation). As far as the team moving to one of those California cities you mentioned, that would be up to the owner of the franchise. The Reds would not have anything to do with it. The Reds would be affiliating with the franchise, not the city or the ballpark. Hope that explains a bit about how the whole thing works.

Good luck to the Bowling Green folks. I am sure they will enjoy it, regardless of which team they land as their affiliate.

[MrsHammer]

Just read that as of yesterday, the sale of the Columbus Catfish to Art Solomon was finalized. It was also reported that he has submitted the application for the team to be moved. So, looks like things are rolling along on that front. However, as some of my fellow Bowling Green residents have stated, absolutely nothing has been done to the site where the stadium is supposed to be built. Maybe I'll be surprised, but I can't imagine everything falling into place in time to open for the 2009 season. I'm hoping to be proved wrong though.

[Jharb74]

I'm with you Mrs. Hammer. I hope to be wrong.
Here's a picture of the proposed stadium site. It's from a website, but as of this past weekend, the site has not changed.

[Jharb74]

Mrs. Hammer posted a link on another thread showing pics of the new stadium. I did find this info that said there may be a switch to the Midwest League. The same division Dayton is in.


Planning for a new Bowling Green ballpark is moving right along, as the city's planning commission has approved initial plans submitted by DLR Group. The plans for a 4,000-seat ballpark feature a brick facade, 10 suites, party decks, and a 150-capacity club behind home plate. The cost of the new ballpark, expected to house the relocated Columbus Catfish (Low Class A; Sally League), is now set at $28 million, with revenues coming from the establishment of a $100-million TIF district in downtown Bowling Green. Speaking of Columbus: the buzz in minor-league circles is that MiLB officials have prepared a tentative schedule for 2009 that puts Bowling Green and the Lake County Captains in the Low Class A Midwest League. There's been talk about a shift of two teams from the Sally League to the Midwest League for some time now, and while it's certain no decision has been reached, the fact such a schedule is said to exist says there's more chance of a move than ever before. On the one hand, it's clear Eastlake really is a Midwest League territory, and Bowling Green would be the only team in the Sally League not in the Eastern time zone; on the flip side, there are some natural territorial rivalries (like Lexington vs. Bowling Green) neutered with a league move

[Jharb74]

Well it's now 100% official. The groundbreaking is today on the new stadium. They also have a website up now.

http://www.bowlinggreenprobaseball.com/

[Joseph]

I meant to get this info up last week when I got it. Sorry for the delay.

Should be exciting to watch progress.

[Jharb74]

From today's news:

Solomon wouldn’t say how much he paid for the Catfish. The team is affiliated with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, but that link ends at the end of this year, and Solomon said he’s not sure which major league team will be linked to Bowling Green’s team next year.


Here's the whole article:
http://www.bgdailynews.com/articles/...news/news2.txt