Let's go to our ring announcer ...

In an earlier post on this blog, I told you about how the Frontier League's London Rippers are not permitted to sell beer at their home games at, of all places, Labatt Park. The reason is a law that restricts liquor licenses to only one per address, and the one for Labatt Park is held by the London Majors, an amateur team that also plays at the park. This must be a London law because I can't imagine the Toronto Blue Jays are selling beer at the Rogers Center and the CFL's Toronto Argonauts are not.

In a move straight out of 1970s pro wrestling, Rippers manager David Martin has come up with a solution, albeit a ill-advised one, to settle the liquor-license debate. He has challenged the Majors to a best-of-three series with the winners gaining control of the liquor license and the loser having to leave town.

To use wrestling terms, the Rippers are playing the role of the heels and the Majors are the faces. The only thing missing is Mean Gene Okerlund as the ring announcer.

If Frontier League commissioner Bill Lee heard about this idea during morning, then it surely brought up his eggs. Thuis is one problem the league doesn't need.

"Obviously, this park isn’t big enough for the two of us," Martin told the London Free-Press. "They’ve been doing everything they can to block us and now this has become a manipulative thing. They’re trying to make bad business for us, so I’ve got nothing to do but fight for my ballclub."

Majors co-owner Scott Dart, not wanting to get involved in a "Battle for Labatt" made the right move and declined the offer.

“Bottom line? No," he said.

Here are links to two stories about this issue:

http://www.lfpress.com/sports/baseball/2012/06/26/19923246.html

http://www.ballparkdigest.com/201206265095/independent-baseball/news/no-beer-for-rippers-fans-owner-seeks-unique-solution

Minor-league baseball has a history of whacky and strange promotions, but this one is simply a bad idea. As I said previously, the Frontier League really doesn't need London or all the hassles that have come with putting a team in the city (not to mention all the bad press the Rippers are getting). And the Rippers have more important problems. Maybe they should be focusing more on trying to get work visas for three of their players who can only play in road games than beer.

This entire issue smells of an incident in the independent Pecos League last year:

http://www.pecosleague.com/pecosleague.asp?page=28&article_id=84