Cleaning out the notebook

A few random notes and thoughts about the Wild Things and Frontier League teams, both current and past:

The synthetic turf issue for Consol Energy Park should be settled as early as this week, and that has nothing to do with Pennsylvania finally having a budget. Though nothing has been decided, the Wild Things are considering several options, one of which is starting the turf project before the end of October and finishing it early in the spring when the weather breaks. In this scenario, all the work under the rubber chips can be done in the fall, with the playing surface installed in the spring. The only problem would be it jeopardizes the early part of California University's schedule.

* The expansion Normal CornBelters have hired former major league infielder Hal Lanier as their first manager. Lanier played 10 seasons (1964-73) with the San Francisco Giants and New York Yankees and played against the Pirates in the 1971 NLCS.

The hiring of Lanier, 67, can be considered a coup for the CornBelters. Lanier manged the Houston Astros (186-88) and was the National League Manager of the Year in 1986.

In recent years, Lanier has managed in the independent leagues, first with Winnipeg and Joliet in the Northern League and Sussex in the Can-Am League. He put together highly competitive teams in Winnipeg and guided Sussex to the league championship in 2008.

When Lanier took over at Joliet in 2005, he replaced former Wild Things manager Jeff Isom.

* You have to wonder about the state of the Kalamazoo Kings. Kalamazoo has been at the bottom of the Frontier League's attendance chart for several years. If you throw out Midwest because it was playing in a temporary home, Kalamazoo was last in attendance this year, averaging 1,469 fans per game. This despite the Kings winning the East Division title.

The Kings reportedly lost more than $100,000 in 2006 and were on pace to match that total in 2007. That's when owner Bill Wright said he was committed to keeping the Kings in Kalamazoo through the 2008 season.

It's 2009 and things haven't gotten any better in Kalamazoo. Earlier this year, Wright told the Kalamazoo Gazette that it takes $500,000 a year to run the team and break even, something that hasn't happened since 2001.

You wonder how long Wright, an owner of several car dealerships, will keep the Kings in Kalamazoo.

"I can make it work forever, but I'm not going to forever with that attendance," he said. "You can only pour so much heart into something, and when you only have two-or three-hundred fans in the seats on a Monday and 1,000 on a Friday, it's very disheartening."

* The Rockford RiverHawks left the Frontier League after the 2009 season and joined the Northern League, which has no age restrictions and a significantly larger salary cap. You have to wonder if that was such a smart idea after the RiverHawks recently made a pitch for relief on their taxes.

Lawyers for the team wrote letters to the Rockford School District, Winnebago County and the Rockford Park District, among others, seeking tax breaks.

"Without the abatement, Park Stadium LLC stands to potentially lose (Road Ranger Stadium) to foreclosure and the community stands to lose a resource,” attorney Aaron Szeto wrote in a letter to School District officials seeking an abatement of the more than $25,000 the stadium pays to the district in property taxes.

According to Rockford Register-Star and Winnebago County records, the stadium has a fair market value of $1.4 million and in 2008 owed $38,245.32 in property taxes. The School District’s $25,622 was by far the highest share of that bill.

Kurt Carlson, majority owner of the RiverHawks and Road Rangers Stadium, said a Chicago bank that gave him and his partners money to build and operate the ballpark most likely won’t renew their loan.

“We were told it’s not likely, so we’re looking at all funding options,” he said. Carlson stated he and his partners will subsidize the team and the stadium for about $250,000 this year.

“On average it’s about $500,000 a year, and it was as high as $800,000 when we first started out because we did a lot of advertising and promotions,” he said.

Road Ranger Stadium is the only minor-league stadium among seven in Illinois that is privately owned and was built without public dollars. Rent One Park in Marion, which opened in 2007, received $3 million in state tax dollars.

* Former Wild Things first baseman Ernie Banks was named a second team all-star on Baseball America's all-independent team. Banks was one of four Frontier Leaguers to make the two-team squad. Rockford outfielder Jason James and Southern Illinois designated hitter/outfielder Joey Metropoulos were named to the first team. Banks and Lake Erie pitcher Paul Fagan were on the second team.