AAA Baseball and Albuquerque

"It is inconceivable that a person who firmly believes in public approval of taxpayer funded projects should be forced to come out against a public vote. However, I find myself in this position because if we wait for this issue to get on the Oct. 2001 ballot, our options will have disappeared."

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Whether we like it or not, the Dukes are gone forever -- not because they went to a better stadium but because the franchise was sold. This leaves the Duke City with a gap in inexpensive, quality family sports entertainment. Being a huge baseball fan, Mayor Jim Baca formed The Triple A Baseball Committee which recently came back with a report. The report included a privately funded $10,000 study written by HOK Sport a company that specializes in the construction of baseball stadiums and a "Report of the Facility and Site Review Subcommittee."

There were many interested parties at the meeting. These parties included members of the Committee, the Albuquerque Economic Forum, neighbors of the proposed sites and representatives from an independent league called the Western Baseball League. Baca was not present but Mayor's Office staff was at hand on his behalf.

The gist of the Committee's report was: Duke Stadium cannot accommodate a modern AAA team and cannot be refurbished for less than $32M which happens to be about what HOK would charge to build a new stadium. The Site Selection Subcommittee then explained why they prefer to build the new stadium somewhere other than the current site: Because it would cost just as much to build a new stadium as to refurbish the old Duke Stadium. No one on the Committee, or from HOK, questioned whether Albuquerque needed AAA baseball. That was a given. Also mentioned was that, if Duke Stadium is not used next season, it reverts back to UNM. Unfortunately, most involved with this issue seem to be ignoring the fact that if we don't use it we lose it.

The general consensus of people in attendance was that we have to have a suitable stadium before a AAA team will consider moving to Albuquerque. A new stadium doesn't guarantee a team. Consider the people of St. Petersburg, Fla. They built a new downtown stadium which sat vacant for five years. By the time a team was found, they had an obsolete stadium that needed millions of taxpayer dollars modernizing.

The selection subcommittee's preferred site is the northwest corner of Lomas and Broadway. They neither checked their facts nor asked the neighbors. According to the Post Office, their facility at 1135 Broadway Blvd. NE is not for sale except for possibly the southernmost end. At five to seven acres, the site doesn't meet the 10 acre minimum called for in the HOK study, which doesn't even include parking.

The people of Santa Barbara and Martineztown were shocked that parking and traffic impacts weren't considered in the study. The community met and decided to object to the plan.

If the subcommittee had spoken with the people of Santa Barbara and Martineztown, they would have discovered that the community has a long list of infrastructure needs including a long promised community center for their children and affordable housing to keep their traditional neighborhood strong -- not a AAA baseball park. With all the lights, noise, traffic, and added air pollution, who would?

The subcommittee's second choice is the northwest corner of Broadway and Central. This corner has been the home of Albuquerque's First Baptist Church since 1887 and has no plans to relocate.

The third option was the Coors/Coca-Cola site. It is even smaller than the first option.It should be noted that both the second and third options have also been considered and rejected by the surrounding neighborhoods of Martinez Town and Hunning Highland due to noise, traffic, parking, air pollution and other incompatibilities.

Keeping the Old Stadium
Duke Stadium ain't dead yet. In fact, the Western Baseball League would like to sign a short-term contract with the City to keep professional baseball in Albuquerque. The WBL is willing to pay to play at the existing stadium Ð with no modifications and no strings attached. All they're asking for is a short-term audition while we make up our minds about the future of baseball in the Duke City.

Local pundits and the Mayor have been disparaging the WBL as a third-rate league. Given that it's an independent league and that none of us have ever watched them play, I believe they deserve the benefit of the doubt.

I would submit that there are several reasons why we should give them a try. Families who count on inexpensive sports entertainment and people who have jobs there are the ones who need to be considered first. If we chose to let Duke Stadium go, cheap seats and free games will be things of the past. In addition: No team, no jobs.

We don't know how good a surrogate the WBL would be for the gone-forever Dukes. They are the only ones who have offered to come here. They deserve a trial run. Even if after a couple of audition years the WBL turns to be not what we want, we can still build a stadium without Duke Stadium reverting to UNM next season. We have nothing to lose by using the WBL as a placeholder. But Duke City would lose its options if the City doesn't sign a contract with WBL by their Oct. 1 deadline.

Talk about a done deal! If we turn down this great proposal, we have made the choice to either never have another professional baseball team or to build a new, expensive stadium without guarantee of ever finding a team. On the other hand, fielding a WBL team, which would bring the City immediate revenues and jobs, would hold our options open.

Food for thought:
How many millions will it cost the taxpayers? How long before a team starts bringing in revenues? How much will tickets cost at the new stadium? Will we ever again see free games? In whose backyard will this monolith be built? What are the chances that a AAA team will really take the bait after we've spent the money to build the New Stadium?

Before this issue can get to the voters next October half or our options will be gone. Please call your City Councilor today to support keeping these options open.

Danny's article appeared in the September 28-October 4,2000 edition of the Weekly Alibi. You can contact Danny by phone at: 505.256.7647 or by email here.

UPDATE: Friday, September 29, 2000

Mayor Tosses Out Baseball League

By Olivier Uyttebrouck
Journal Staff Writer

Mayor Jim Baca rejected having an independent baseball league use the Albuquerque Sports Stadium next year by vetoing a bill Thursday that would require the city to contract with a professional team.

Several councilors criticized the veto, saying it could leave Albuquerque without a professional baseball team next summer. The councilors said they will try to gather the six votes they need to override the veto.

"This is about whether Albuquerque will have professional baseball next year," said Councilor Greg Payne. "Western League baseball may not be the best game in town, but at least it's a game."

A majority of city councilors said last week they want the city to contract with the Western Baseball League to bring a professional team to Albuquerque. The Western league is an independent league with nine teams in California, Arizona, Washington and Utah.

The Dukes, the Los Angeles Dodgers' top minor league team, left Albuquerque for Portland, Ore., this year. Albuquerque has been told its current stadium is not up to standards to attract another Triple-A team. Baca favors building a new stadium Downtown to attract Triple-A ball and help energize the area.

He opposes a contract with the Western Baseball League, which he has called second-rate baseball.

But councilors on Sept. 18 voted 5-4 for a bill sponsored by Councilor Hess Yntema directing the city to contract with a professional baseball team to occupy the Sports Stadium for the 2001 season.

Councilors Yntema, Payne, Alan Armijo, Michael Brasher and Brad Winter voted in favor of the bill. Voting against it were Mike McEntee, Adele Hundley, Tim Kline and Vince Griego.

Baca, in a veto message to councilors, said the bill would prevent the Lobos or another local baseball organization from using the stadium "as the primary tenant."

"I believe this bill ties the hands of the administration and prevents us from utilizing the Sports Stadium for local groups who might be interested," Baca told councilors. He named the University of New Mexico Lobos baseball team and Albuquerque Public Schools as two possible tenants.

Payne, Armijo and Brasher held a news conference Thursday to criticize Baca's veto. "Most of the citizens I've talked to want some kind of professional baseball here next year," Armijo said.

The bill's supporters favor a contract with the Western Baseball League. Representatives of the Western Baseball League have lobbied councilors and city administrators in an effort to get a team here next summer.

McEntee, who criticized the Western Baseball League as "horrible baseball," said he agreed with Baca's decision to veto the bill. "Jim (Baca) and I don't agree on much, but we agree on this: that we should not bring in Western League baseball," said McEntee, who favors building a new stadium to attract a Triple-A team.

Hundley said Thursday she had not decided whether to support an override of the veto, but she said the city needs to examine the Western Baseball League more closely before committing to a lease.

"Maybe we need a year to step back and explore what's going on with Western Baseball League," she said.