Oh no, we lost our baseball team!

Greenville's Municipal Stadium, home of the AA Greenville Braves since 1984 no
longer met AA standards, and the Atlanta Braves requested that it be renovated.
Our city council had two years to work something out, and literally waited until
the last minute to put together a proposal, but by then it was too late, and the
A-Braves accepted another offer, most likely from Pearl, Miss. Aaargh!


GREENVILLE -- After a last-ditch effort to provide a stadium proposal that met
the Atlanta Braves' needs, the Braves announced Thursday that the team will move
from Greenville.

The announcement was made at an afternoon press conference at City Hall. The
Greenville city council, Mayor Knox White and City Manager James Bourey were at
the announcement, and a member of the Braves organization was there via phone.

The proposal called for a new $18 million stadium to replace Memorial Stadium on
Mauldin Road, the G-Braves' home since 1984.

Officials and developers in Pearl, Miss. have offered to pay for a new stadium
if the Braves would move the Class AA team there. A press conference is
scheduled for Friday in Jackson, Miss. with the state's governor and the mayor
of Pearl.

City officials said Greenville simply couldn't match Pearl's offer on paper.
Mayor Knox White said Greenville's plan would have paid for a stadium through a
special tax district, naming rights and bonds. But White said the bonds would
have had to be repaid, and that would have required sharing the stadium's income
with the Braves.

Pearl's plan would let the Braves keep all income from the stadium.

"We have to have a certain contribution by the team. We think, both
philosophically as well as financially, it's very important that the team
contribute to the project," White said.

Mike Plant with the Braves organization said no deal has been signed with Pearl
officials yet, but a deal is very close.

Council members said they were frustrated that the city had been forced to act
alone on this issue, pointing to the state's willingness to give $20 million for
a new stadium in Columbia and $7 million for a Myrtle Beach convention center,
but contribute nothing for a G-Braves stadium.

"Our hope is that we can learn from this and we can all come together as a
community and have something really good happen," councilman Garry Coulter said.

Coffee shop owner Tad Mallory said he doesn't think that the failure to put a
G-Braves stadium in the Old West End will hurt the future of the area.

"You know, if the Braves don't see Greenville as a place they want to be, I'm
not so sure we should feel so bad about them leaving," he said.

"What I really hope is that there is a major development there, and that it is
mixed use, meaning it's more than just one thing, so that if one leave you still
have other things," councilwoman Lillian Brock Fleming said.

--
"I'm not a cool person in real life, but I play one on the Internet"
Galley

>Greenville's Municipal Stadium, home of the AA Greenville Braves since 1984
>no
>longer met AA standards, and the Atlanta Braves requested that it be
>renovated.
>Our city council had two years to work something out, and literally waited
>until
>the last minute to put together a proposal, but by then it was too late, and
>the
>A-Braves accepted another offer, most likely from Pearl, Miss. Aaargh!

Gee...they gave New Orleans six years to get out of Privateer Park, which
wasn't even good enough for a rookie league facility. But then again, remember
who the major league affiliate of the Zephyrs was.

If you're in the Commissioner's pocket, you can get away with everything. If
you're not, you're screwed.

Rich Goranson
Amherst, NY, USA