Baseball team a possibility

By Mike Hall

THE CAPITAL-JOURNAL

Miles Wolff, commissioner of the minor league American Association, said he was impressed with the possibilities of a baseball team for Topeka after a tour of the city Wednesday.

Wolff looked at potential sites for a baseball stadium with deputy city manager Randy Speaker and Doug Stewart, a consultant hired to work on development of a stadium.

The men wouldn't say what sites they looked at, but Wolff said the decision on a location was for the community to make and not for a baseball league.

Speaker said the backers who put up money for funding the stadium ultimately would make the decision.

Wolff said the city should look at having a stadium ready for the 2010 season.

Wolff stopped off in Topeka on his way to the opening game of the Wichita Wingnuts, the newest team in the American Association.

He said several things made him optimistic that a minor league team would do well in Topeka. First was a change from what he saw on a visit to Topeka a few years ago.

"I was surprised at how much has been done," he said. "I think it's a lot more real this time from the last time I was here."

He was impressed with initial planning for a stadium, including an artist's rendering of how it might look. He liked the emphasis on activities for the whole family, including a children's play area.

"The vision's great. The survey was interesting," he said.

He was referring to a public opinion survey that showed 61 percent of Topekans had attended a minor league baseball game and 65 percent said they thought they would attend at least one game a year if a stadium were built.

All three men cited advantages of a minor league team compared with the major league Kansas City Royals.

"Minor league baseball is affordable," Wolff said.

Stewart said minor league tickets generally are in the range of $6 to $9.

And then there is the cost and inconvenience of getting to and away from a Royals game.

"If you have a 7- or 8-year-old with you, the parking alone goes beyond their attention span," Speaker said.

Also, spectators are closer to the action in a minor league stadium.

"The players can hear you, and you can hear them," Wolff said.

The location and quality of a stadium is important in the success of the program, Wolff said. When the Lincoln Salt Dogs were playing on a small field adjacent to the University of Nebraska, they were selling 56 season tickets a year. When they moved to a new stadium, sales of season tickets rose to 4,000.

Wolff has a long and varied career in baseball. In 1971, he became general manager of the Atlanta Braves' Double-A team in Savannah, Ga., moving on later to become general manager for teams in Anderson, S.C., and Jacksonville, Fla.

In 1980, he purchased a Carolina League franchise and restarted the Durham (N.C.) Bulls, owning the team when the movie "Bull Durham" was filmed.

He founded the first modern independent league when six cities in the Upper Midwest and Canada began play in the Northern League in 1993.

Speaker said more than 90 people have signed up to serve on one of six subcommittees to study various aspects to creating a baseball stadium in Topeka.

He said the subcommittees would begin meeting within the next two weeks.

Mike Hall can be reached at (785) 295-1209 or mike.hall@cjonline.com.

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