Stanley makes team
Former Wild Things starting pitcher Patrick Stanley has been assigned to the Lakeland Flying Tigers, the affiliate of the Detroit Tigers in the Class A Florida State League.
Stanley led the Frontier League in strikeouts with 111 in 2006, when he had an 8-4 record and 2.72 ERA. Stanley was limited to four games in 2007 because of an injury, then played with the Newark Bears of the Atlantic league last season and had a 10-8 record.
This will be Stanley's second time in affiliated ball. He spent two seasons in Colorado's farm system before joining the Wild Things.
Labels: Patrick Stanley
posted by Chris Dugan at
8:28 PM
36 Comments:
Man is this blog ever dead!
Yawn. The 'newness' of the WT is history and they will be gone in a couple of more years. I'm tired of reading about guys like Stanley and other FORMER WT
players.
I'm also tired of paying to park at this very minor league facility. I'm tired of the parking lot attendants letting some people in for free.
I'm sick of watching the local government idiots showing their stupid looking faces at CEP and 'glad-handing' everybody that they think can do them some good. The less I see of these people, the better - I really don't want to see them when I'm trying to enjoy myself. Larry Maggi and Tim Solobay have a very bad case of "ain't I great?"itis!
I'm sick of seeing Jesse White having a 'vote for me' table near the right field entrance.
So, since there is little to attract me to the ball park any more, I'm NOT going to attend a single game this year, even if I get a free ticket.
Alan
Good riddance to bad rubbish.
Bye Alan. Your absence from CEP sounds like addition by subtraction.
I love math.
It's never been about the quality of baseball that has driven people to CEP. It is the entertainment value and the allure of a hometown team. Its 2009 now and people are worn out of the entertainment factor. Everyone has seen it. And the baseball, well, its still well below average. The organization has done very well without a quality product. Kudos to the crew. But, the baseball must get better. It is downright ugly to watch 90 percent of the nights.
If you don't like the baseball and don't like the product, then don't show up. It's that simple. Don't complain about the people who do go to the games. Don't complain about the price of parking. Don't complain about the product. Just don't show up. Nobody is going to miss you.
Since the subject is changing and "man is this blog ever dead", time to ask questions.
I just got through looking at the Wild Things wed site wwwwashingtonwildthings.com and under the front offic section John Switek is missing. The new person now listed is Frani Williams. Her bio lists her as managing partner.
Was John forced out or resigned on his own. I understand from insiders that Frani is getting her (baseball term) mitts into everything.
Anyone have any more info?
The accountant got fired too.
I agree that the Wild Things act is growing old. The first few years it seemed pretty good but as time goes along it is very easy to see that it is all just a pretty package. There is nothing of substance in the Frontier League. All the noise that comes over the PA is all pre-packaged and every team uses the same package.
The teams probably have to buy it from Bill Lee's Frontier League store. The only thing not pre-packaged is the parking fee. They seem to be different at every park and, at some places, the parking is free. Go figure!
There is almost no REAL talent in the player pool and, as one blogger said, it is real ugly a lot of the time.
Alan said that he is not going to any games this year. Well, I can't say if that is right, or wrong. I will attend about 20 games this year. Having said that, if things don't change a lot, I will not attend any Wild Things in 2010.
One more thing; someone mentioned the auditions for the National Anthem. I strongly agree that most of the persons that sing it at CEP are horrible. I shutter when I hear some of the folks with an over-inflated ego make fools of themselves while, at the same time, disrespect it with their own ‘interruptions’. If your gonna sing it – just sing it the way it was written. If you can’t do that than shut up and let somebody else do it! Our President is disrespecting America enough – he doesn’t need any help! He has enough dupes already.
Jack
Sounds like Jack should stay home too if he doesn't enjoy the games. Nobody is making you go to the park. I do agree with him about the anthem singers. I swore I heard my dog singing the anthem at one game last year.
smith is a very good pitcher, if you look at his college numbers yoo can see that he doesnt walk alot of people and gets swings and outs. Other affiliated teams were looking at him but his size hurts him only being 5"10. The giants and cubs were looking to take him in the later rounds but passed on him. If there is a scout/team that will put aside the size and just look at his pitches and heart. He can contend in affilated ball. If he has luck on his side, the major leagues could use this kid as a middle relief inning eater. He has brains and heart. give this kid a chance
Switek was ousted due to lack of people filling the seats and the $ not coming in. The accountant up and disappeared one day, never to be heard from again. The front office is a constant turn over, how often have you seen the same faces year after year? The entire place is run by high school kids in the summer who spend the entire time texting, rather than waiting on the customer. Way down hill since 2003
A lot of bloggers can offer nothing more than to tell people to stay away if they don't like what they see at CEP.
How about telling the front office people to get off their dead butts and do something to improve the product.
If last years attendance didn't prove something to them then NOTHING will!
STOP the amateur hour every night from everything from the singing of the Anthem (what a joke that would be if it wasn't so embarrassing and disrespectful) to the abysmal on field performance by some of these clowns that THINK they can play baseball.
Alan
Alan, don't tell us. Pick up the telephone and call the Wild Things and tell them. Seems like youre barking up the wrong tree.
I wonder if the Accountant who "up and disappeared" disappeared with the money?
Alan, don't tell us. Pick up the telephone and call the Wild Things and tell them. Seems like youre barking up the wrong tree.
Crap, I already did that! What have you done, or are you pleaseed with what they have to offer?
Alan
I wonder how long Chris Blaine will last? John Switak brought her along with himself from the Meadows.
Careful Chris, Frani will get you!
Was Switak dismissed because he told the O-R that the owners have not made any money since the Wild Things started. Perhaps the front office has been paying themselves a big bonus yearly.
Ross, watch out, you will probably be the next one to go.
I have typically gone to several games a year and probably will go to more this year. I like baseball, plain and simple. I enjoy watching the game whether it's played by kids or adults chasing a dream or top-level professionals. Some of the complaints people have about the Wild Things have some legitimacy. Sure, it's a pain to pay that much to park there. But if it irks you that much, either quit coming or park at the mall and hike your backside up the hill. The national anthem, at least on the occasions I've been there, has been sung reasonably well. Sure, they could play a taped rendition, but why not give a local person a moment in the spotlight? If there's anything that's really irksome about the ballpark, it's the inefficiency of the concessions operations. They do a really poor job there of moving people through. I don't like missing an entire inning of baseball to get a beer and a hot dog, but it's something I'm willing to endure. The most ridiculous comments here are the complaints about the quality of the ball being played. A little dose of reality: These are players who have been deemed not skilled enough to play in the minor leagues of Major League Baseball teams. They are playing in one of the lowest levels of professional baseball, some of them because they don't know what else to do with their lives, but others because they still believe they can make it to the major leagues. A handful have risen from the Frontier League to the big leagues. Most will not. If you don't like the quality of baseball that's being offered, again, you should stay home. It's not going to get significantly better. And if bumping into Larry Maggi or Tim Solobay is enough to ruin your evening, you've got problems.
Brant
Brant, you have some very good points. But about the baseball, why not just have American
legion teams play in the stadium and serve beer and hot dogs. What about local Federation leagues? If you fancy up their uniforms, play some music, make them play with wooden bats, have a mascot hug some kids, the quality of baseball is the same, if not better. I'm 99% sure most who went to CEP certainly didn't for an exhibition of baseball. You said you just like the sport of baseball, right? I am all for giving kids chances and I am happy to hear the stories of those who made it to the bigs. Imagine paying to go watch McMurray Post 360 vs. Cecil Post 125. You would laugh if they asked you to pay to park there and 5 bucks for admission and 4 bucks for a beer, right? You would turn right around and go home. So what is the difference? If you have watched as much baseball as you say you have, there isnt much at all.
"What about local Federation leagues? If you fancy up their uniforms, play some music, make them play with wooden bats, have a mascot hug some kids, the quality of baseball is the same, if not better."
The person who wrote that obviously has never put on a jock strap and played baseball or even seen local summer league talent. That was probably the dumbest thing ever posted on this message board.
Thanks to the last anonymous poster for saving me the trouble. And I would be glad to watch some Legion ball. And I DO pay to see the Pony series. But to suggest that Legion ball is on a par with the Frontier League in terms of quality of play is ludicrous.
All this blog needs is to have some dumb a** local yokel from Claysville (Wow!) named Brant post something here.
If there was EVER anybody that didn't know a baseball from a basketball it would be this joker.
Matter of fact, he doesn't know anything about anything. This is probably the ONLY person in Washington Country that can make a moron look good.
Lloyd
... except for Lloyd.
Its not that the owners are making any money, during the 2nd year, the WWT were making money hand over fist.
Averaging 3,500 people a night at an average ticket price of $6-$7, playing 40-50 games, that is about $840k-1.23Million in just attendance. Take in the $3 a car, minimum 1,000 cars a night and you have $120k-$150k. So you are at $1M-1.4M in revenue, (not including food service, which is mostly profit because they don't contratct it out to Aramark, beer sales and merchandise, all of which comes from overseas with a 200% markup).
Now look at your payroll, 24-28 players at an avg of $800 a month for 4 months = $76k-$89K, 4 coaches who make probably a total of $75K at most, summer help (which includes free interns) of about 80 HS kids @ 5 hrs a night, at minimum wage (which was $6 then)=$18k, plus front office staff, which was about 10 people, at an estimate of $30k each, (some alot higher, some alot lower) = $300k
So we have a cost of about $476k and revenue of $1Million-1.4M which leaves $500K-$900K of straight profit BEFORE you add in profit on Food, Merchandise and Beer AND SPONSORSHIP SALES. If you estimate that each person through the gate(180k) spent an average of $2 profit in food/merch, then you have an additional $360K of profit bringing our bottom line to $860K-1.25Million in PROFIT for ONE SEASON!
We could keep going, we could add the outfield signs for $5-7k (how many are there? 20-25?), etc
Wasn't Lloyd one of the guys in "Dumb and Dumber"?
I think Lloyd is from Claysville too!
There isn't brain one that ever came out of that rat hole.
the money talker....
What about the charter bus/bus driver.... hotels.... meal money on the road...trainer... uniforms/equipment... a lot more than you think..
This quote OUGHT to trouble some:
Francine Williams (from Wild Things website):
"“My favorite Wild Things memory dates back to 2001 when we purchased the team,” added Williams. “I really enjoyed the team naming process as well as the process of finding the perfect mascot.”
Oh, boy, an 8-year-old naming process and finding the perfect mascot---favorite memory...
Are you sure she hasn't been managing partner for the Pittsburgh Pirates for the last 15 years?
There's plenty of other expenses to running a baseball operation. Just off the top of my head, there's probably insurance, benefits, field and stadium maintenance, umpires (I assume the fee comes form the Wild Things' checkbook), utilites, there's probably a fee that is paid to the FL each year for its operating costs, office equipment, cost of the EMTs... I'll probably think of more in a few minutes.
I'm a bitter old man.I have no friends,I smell funny,and I don't know anything.I enjoy telling children to get off my lawm and writing stupid moronic things on this blog.I am a coward because if I said the things I write to the actual people they would probally beat me up.I never go to the games for the same reason.I will spew more stupidity later,my Viagra is kicking in and I need to head on down to the cattle farm.
Lloyd
That is why sponsorship sales were left off, to cover all of the incidental items. The team puts players in hotels, the home team pays the cost of those for the teams, so WWT puts teams in the Red Roof in for $30 a night, most teams use 14-15 rooms, for 3 nights $65k. Umpires are paid $85-$100 a game, 2 people, so that'll cost you $9,000 for a season; bus will cost $1k-$1500 per road trip, driver has a room with a coach, 15 road trips a summer $15-22k for transportation, you pay a fee to the FL upfront when you take ownership of a team, and yearly dues, which aren't high. Trainers/Etc are traded out for sponsorship(ex Highmark/AGH). If you look at all of the sponsorship that is sold, you'll see how all of the items you mentioned are paid. There is between $300-$500k in sponsorship sales yearly. That is why I didn't add it into the profit.
They can say they haven't made any money yet, but its all bull. If they haven't made any money, how were the owners able to take out their initial investment after the 2nd year, and profits each year after? If its not about the money they are making, why would they remove switek and put in Frani williams, who is rarely ever seen at the ballpark? All they want to do is make as money as they can and then sell when they get the product to the right value. How many of those owners are from Washington County or live in Washington County? Do you think it just happens to be that they put a team in Washington, where the taxes are much more cheaper than other local counties? Have you noticed that after they hooked the fans in the first couple of years, they have taken everything for granted and let the product and quality of their products slip. There is no more customer service!
$M Man
Sounds like $M Man has inside info. Must be a disgruntled former employee, maybe the accountant. If you have the inside info, how much did the WT owners pay to purchase the Canton team? What is the cost of medical premiums? How much of a loss did they take on the stupid soccer venture? How much does it cost to flip on the field lights for each game? I am surprised by the cost of umps. I thought they'd get paid more than that, especially if they're traveling from Ohio or Indiana.
All it takes is a little common sense to figure out what they are talking about. All u have to do is talk to an umpire or a coach at a bar and they will tell u what they make. Everyone in that league is there to get to the next level players coaches umpires staff
$ man.... The umpires get paid much more than that. Many D1 college umpires make about twice that much depending on the conference...per game.
I don't know how much the canton team was purchased for but the last few teams to be sold where all upwards of 800k. I think Slippery Rock went for right around 800k and I've heard rumors that Chillicothe was sold to the Lake Erie folks for right around a million...
Don't forget meal money for players and coaches on the road...Players get (i think) around $20 per day on the road and many coaches get 50-100% more than that. Quick math -- say 30 people in traveling party @ $20 per day for 45 days... Very conservatively that's $18k in expenses. Some players equipment is paid for by the team (bats)...if you figure a team goes through 400 bats a season (and with the no-maple rule now this is going to go up) -- even at greatly discounted rates your talked $30 a pop. There's another $12,000.00 in expenses. All those little things add up... Plus all the other things mentioned. Cost to fly players from out of town in... laundry each day -- think about how much it costs to clean 2 teams uniforms/practice stuff/towels etc. every day. And you have to feed your own players when your home -- i guess the visitors get left-over ballpark food but they don't do that to the home guys.
I agree they are turning a yearly profit...but there are a lot of expenses you'd never think about.
Don't forget about the Wild Ones. You know, the silly, stupid old people that raise money and give it to the team to help cover road trip expenses.
What a bunch of dumd old coots that bunch is!
--------
The REAL Lloyd - the one that's not afraid of ANYBODY!!
I believe that money that is raised goes directly to the 'care packs' that the players are given before every road trip. Just snacks, a lunch, etc. I don't know if that effort has anything to do (officially) with the WT management
I may be "silly", but I am not old.
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