Hot Stove Banquet story

He're the link to the Hot Stove Banquet story that was written by former O-R Sports Staffer John Sacco.

Read the story here.

Hot Stove Banquet

The Wild Things will hold their second Hot Stove Banquet tonight at the Meadow lands Double Tree by Hilton Hotel in Meadow Lands.

The event will feature 2012 Pro Football Hall of Famer Dermontti Dawson, former Pirates Sean Casey and Bob Walk, and new Wild Things manager Chris Bando. Lanny Frattare will be the emcee.

There will be a cocktail hour, dinner, live and silent auctions and plenty of baseball talk. Among the items up for auction is a Dermontti Dawson autographed Pro Football Hall of Fame helmet.

I attended last year's Hot Stove Banquet and have to say it was an enjoyable evening. I wish I could attend tonight, but that's not possible. As for this sports writer, the Wild Things couldn't have picked a worse night (expect for maybe next Saturday) to hold this event. So if any of you attend, don't be shy about commenting on what happens.

Among the things that might come out of the event is some word on Washington's pitching coach. I had posted on this blog last month that it appeared that Tim Ferguson would be hired as Mark Dewey's replacement. No word has come from the Wild Things, though Ferguson does have a Linkedin profile page that states his job is Pitching Coach/Player Procurement at Washington Wild Things.

See the profile here.

Will the Kings be overthrown?

The three-ring circus in Kalamazoo continues, and it's apparently reached the crisis point.

According to commissioner Bill Lee, the Kalamazoo Kings are still in the Frontier League. The league's schedule, released months ago, still shows that the Kings will open the 2011 season at home May 21 against the Traverse City Beach Bums. Spring training begins in less than three months.

However, according to team owner owner Bill Wright, there's no guarantee the Kings will be around in May.

Wright still hasn't stated publicly that the Kings will play their 11th season in Kalamazoo. In early January, Wright told the Kalamazoo Gazette that a decision on whether the Kings will play in 2011 will be made "early next week." No announcement has been made and Wright hasn't returned phone calls made by the newspaper.

Several front office employees, including the general manager and director of baseball operations, are no longer with the organization. According to the newspaper, the Kings' office has been empty during the winter, except for somebody stopping by to pick up the mail from time to time.

The Kings did pick up the contract options on 27 players, including designated hitter Brendan Murphy. That was in December, and Murphy says that's the last contact he's had with anyone associated with the Kings.

“It’s not looking too good as far as playing in Kalamazoo,” he told the Gazette. “I’ve just been telling the other guys (from last year’s team) to find another place to play, if they can.”

During the Wild Things' Hot Stove Banquet last month, I asked members of Washington's front office and coaching staff if they knew what is going on in Kalamazoo. The answers were "I don't know. I haven't heard anything," or "Who knows? What have you heard?"

Unless there is something going on in Kalamazoo that the Frontier League isn't telling us (very likely), then the league is taking a laissez-faire approach to something that should be treated with the seriousness of a heart attack.

Perhaps the situation is Wright is finalizing the sale of the Kings. If this is the case, then Wright might not want to make any hirings or enter into contracts with players or advertisers until the sale is complete. If this isn't the scenario, then you have to wonder if the Beach Bums will show up in Kalamazoo May 21 only to find Homer Stryker Field locked and empty.