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I wonder why Lowell has the Spinners when Worcester has nobody. It's not as if they were established in Lowell all that long ago. Is it due to the personalities involved?
Yeah, I think she said the right thing on this *finally*. But I still don't know if this is Rhode Island political theater. She and Skeffington never did get their story straight as to when they first discussed the deal. He said it was while she was still governor elect, I recall. She said it was just days before the announcement. Somebody's not telling the truth.
I like Worcester ok. But as you say, Worcester doesn't hold a candle to Providence.
Yes. But then, I think the vast majority of Rhode Islanders oppose giving these guys money to locate in Providence. Our elected officials sense this at this time. Now is the time to contact our 'leaders' informing them of our opposition. Yeah, they know. Inform them again, and apply the pressure.
I have heard there are call drives to voice opposition to taxpayer funding of the stadium, targeting specific politicians at specific times. I think email is better, and an actual letter best of all. Does anyone have an email address for Raimondo? You can find your state representative and state senator here. Write them.
I'm not sure how much more blood is left in the turnip. Yeah, I know what you are doing here, and I do love this post of yours...
The PawSox came from Pittsfield, MA. Ok, it is another state, but it is another New England state. Teams leaving one city for another is nothing new. What is new-ish is the amount of treasure *some* cities are willing to part with to land a team.
If you assume that the choice is Providence or out of state, with no hope of Pawtucket, do you choose out of state? I guess you do. For me, the only way I choose out of state is if they want us to give them land and/or give them taxpayer money. I'm not about to play into their hostage negotiation. Yes, I'd like to see them stay in Pawtucket. But these people bought a business. Where they want to operate it is their business unless it involves taxpayer handouts. It is our job right now to hold our elected leaders accountable to see that these people make business decisions in the absence of corporate welfare, at least from Rhode Island. If we have money to give these guys, then our financial picture must be better than advertised.
Well, the line between Pawtucket and Providence is fairly porous, and they have a market in Pawtucket. You may be right that Gina will tweak it a little with taxpayers on the hook. I'm still not convinced that this is anything more than political theater. But the leaders do know that people are angry, which means they just might listen this time. But unless we call them up and yell at them, they'll think we don't care.
As someone with no stake in the PawSox situation at all, but as something of an amateur minor league historian, I wanted to correct this statement. The PawSox did not come to you from Pittsfield, MA - at least not the AAA PawSox. They came from Louisville, KY when the Louisville Colonels moved to Pawtucket in 1973. The AA Pawtucket Red Sox, who did come from Pittsfield, relocated to Bristol when the AAA team moved in and are now the New Britain Rock Cats (soon to relocate to Hartford and become the Yard Goats). Pittsfield's other former teams that are still in existence are, in the Eastern League, the Binghamton Mets (the Pittsfield Cubs, who played from 1985-1988) and the Harrisburg Senators (the Pittsfield Senators/Pittsfield Rangers/Berkshire Brewers, who played from 1970-1976) and, in the New York-Penn League, the TriCity Valley Cats (the Pittsfield Mets/Pittsfield Astros, who played from 1989-2001).
Yes, read it earlier this morning. I knew Mr. Skeffington very well, this is very sad for his family and everyone who knew his kind spirit. He was well liked.
The city of Worcester has an independent Can-American league team. They are unable to have a minor league team because of the 35 mile franchise rule between minor league teams and major league teams. Approval for franchises to be closer has to be given by the affected team. This rules crosses the different levels of leagues. If the Pawtucket franchise moves to Providence, it will allow Worcester to have a minor league team. I would look for the Spinners to move to Worcester.
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^ don't follow you. Worcester is 44 miles from Fenway Park. Also, Larry Lucchino of the Boston Red Sox is one of the owners of the Pawtucket Red Sox, so I imagine he could get approval from the big club. Can you clarify what you are saying?
The city of Worcester has an independent Can-American league team. They are unable to have a minor league team because of the 35 mile franchise rule between minor league teams and major league teams. Approval for franchises to be closer has to be given by the affected team. This rules crosses the different levels of leagues. If the Pawtucket franchise moves to Providence, it will allow Worcester to have a minor league team. I would look for the Spinners to move to Worcester.
Worcester does not even have a Can-Am team anymore, their team is part of the even lesser Futures Collegiate Baseball League.
What do you mean a 35 mile rule between minor league teams and major league teams? I believe Pawtucket is closer to Boston (Major League Red Sox) than Worcester. They are both over 35 miles. Do you mean the minor league teams have to be 35 miles apart? The Spinners are very established in Lowell, and I would doubt it if they relocate to Worcester or anywhere else for that matter.
The city of Worcester has an independent Can-American league team. They are unable to have a minor league team because of the 35 mile franchise rule between minor league teams and major league teams. Approval for franchises to be closer has to be given by the affected team. This rules crosses the different levels of leagues. If the Pawtucket franchise moves to Providence, it will allow Worcester to have a minor league team. I would look for the Spinners to move to Worcester.
I don't follow most of this, but the Spinners have had great success in Lowell and aren't going anywhere. They had the second best attendance in the NY-Penn league behind Brooklyn Last year, a long sellout streak not long ago, and great roots in the community. They also have a very comfortable riverfront stadium Within walking distance to downtown Lowell. Why would they leave?
So the claim of that article is there's a minimum of 35 miles between franchises, except by permission of the team. I wonder if they have that right. They wrote:
Quote:
Rhode Island lawyer Frank Skeffington, one of the investors who bought the PawSox along with Lucchino, said Monday that the long-range plan is to build a modern stadium along the water in Providence, keeping the team at least in Rhode Island, if not Pawtucket.
Frank Skeffington? Well, maybe they're just bad with names. But it does make me want to see a citation to a primary source for the rule.
Quote:
Without Skeffington on board as a local force, the PawSox' new owners might have been enticed to look at Worcester as a new home. After all, a 35-mile circle centered in Providence includes a few million people, and a few million striped bass. The same circle centered in Worcester includes nothing but humanity, with Boston, Springfield, Providence, Hartford, Lowell, Lawrence, Fitchburg, Nashua, and Manchester all within easy driving distance.
That's a nice attempted pot shot at the Ocean State. They picked our water location, which is one way in which we literally and figuratively outshine Worcester, and tried to turn it into a negative. Oh, Rhode Island, it may be beautiful and on the water with plenty of people to support a team, but it also has fish. Fish don't buy tickets!
That's probably the best argument Worcester has for locating the club there. But the fact is that Providence Metro is far larger than Worcester by roughly 700,000 people depending upon the accounting. The team wants to be in Providence, not Worcester, and who can blame them?
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Paw Sox president passes away.
