1994_05 The Daily Collegian May 1994

              2-—Opinion,
THECOLLEGIAN
Monday, May 2,1994
	
Column
Fresno vies
for AAA ball
By David Mirhadi
THECOLLEGIAN
If all goes,well, the city of Fresno will have its first
taste of minor-league baseball in April 1995. The
problem is, despite the City Council's recent vote to
pledge more than $5 million to the project, the Fresno
Diamond Group and its members are dreaming if they
think that AAA ball will be in Fresno anytime before <*
the next baseball season begins.
The Fresno Diamond Group, the group assembled to
oversee development of the project, must realize tljajt to
secure a minor-league team in time for the next base¬
ball season, they need to assemble a group of investors
to purchase a team. They must have a team to pur¬
chase. They must have a site for the stadium. They
must have a solid base of season-ticket supporters to
fill the seats. And, in order to have the stadium ready
for the start of baseball season next April, construction
has to begin on the stadium no later than July 1.
S&iar, John Cartway, Craig Scharton and the rest of
the Fresno Piamond Group have succeeded in only two
of those goals. The group has actively sought season
ticket holders and the city recently agreed on a parcel
on H Street between Inyo and Tulare streets that would
be cleared for the stadium. Despite these accomplish¬
ments, the city and the Diamond Group has a long way
to go before the stadium becomes a reality next yean
•The group needs to aggressively court the services
of a minor-league team. Fresno has been without
minor-league baseball since 1988, when the Single1 A
Fresno Suns disbanded. ,
The contenders for landing a team include the
Phoenix Firebirds of the Pacific Coast League and the
Portland Beavers. Phoenix, the San Francisco Giants
AAA affiliate, looks to be the best bet, now that the
Portland franchise has moved to Salt Lake City.
Giants managing general partner Peter Magowan has.
said that he is interested in Fresno's bid for a team,
since Phoenix is seeking a bid for a major league team.
This would make a perfect match, since Phoenix is a
city of nearly one million and is a perfect place for big-
league ball, with a metro area that includes 1.5 million
people the desert city has as its fan base.
Fresno, in contrast, with a metropolitan population of
550,000 is the perfect size for AAA ball.
•They need to have the proper funding. The pur¬
chase of seat options helps tremendously in showi ng
fan support for a team, but so far, no one has come
forward in taking the bull by the horns and said "let's
doiL*'
If the stadium doesn't begin construction by July,
there will be no team. And all that advertising, market¬
ing, merchandising and publicity for pro ball down¬
town will continue another year. The City Council
needs to help the efforts of Carbray to get the necessary
funding.
The stadium backers also have to take into account
the problems of inadequate parking, increased traffic,
and other factors. I have no doubt that they have
thought of these problems; however, they need to be
addressed in full detail.
To their credit, the Diamond Group has done a very
good job marketing baseball in Fresno. Just last week,
I received a 10-page newspaper touting the "Fresno
Stadium Scene.** To a resident of Fresno who got this .
publication in their mailbox, he or she probably thinks
support for the stadium is at a fever pitch.
The marketing blitz has also expanded to Fresno
Grizzly T-shirts, caps and numerous paraphernalia. All
of this is positive response for the team. To insiders
who can see the future of Fresno baseball, the future
looks bright.
Now all the members of the Fresno Diamond Group
have to realize that the future of minor league baseball
in Fresno is now.
- \
v,.CMAPEROMtNO  THE B-G PARTY.
Letters
FSU voter turnout
calls for proaction
Dear Editor,
I read two articles the
week of 4/25 about apathy
in the wake of this year's
stunning ASI elections
where liberals won two of
three executive seats and a
majority in the Student
Senate. The articles were
problematic for not shed¬
ding any new light on
democracy, politics, leader¬
ship, decision-making, and
relevant issues.
Granted, the voter turn¬
out of 10 percent of all
students in attendance was
pathetic. Granted, the
political parties and their
members spar over deci¬
sions, direction, philosophy,
identity, positions on issues
and more. However, these
stories never give proaction
a chance, but instead en¬
courage students to believe
that nobody cares. That
can't be true.
Proaction means "taking
the bull by the horns" and
getting out there to AF¬
FECT things, to turn con¬
cern into action. Frustra¬
tions we face as students
paying higher fees are
turned by proaction into
demands and efforts to
lower them. As human
beings, affecting things is
our right.
The Chancellor's office
will have sob stories about
how hard things are for
them, but we face hardship
too.
With the job market
getting tougher, I could tell
any fellow student the
reason to vote AND partici¬
pate AND cultivate in¬
formed opinions AND
express them is right under
their noses.
z .       See LETTER, page 5
THE COLLEGIAN
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