New-look at CEP

Here's a shot, taken by the O-R's Scott McCurdy, of Consol Energy Park during the Trinity-Chartiers Valley high school baseball game a few days ago. Click on the photo for a larger image.

Turf work continues

Installation of the ProGrass playing surface is continuing this week at Consol Energy Park. Note that the pitcher's mound is in and much of the dirt-colored infield turf. You should be able to click on the photo and get a larger image.

Turf work resumes

Work on the conversion of Consol Energy Park from a grass and dirt field to an all-synthetic surface resumed last week. The Wild Things posted several photos on their Facebook page. Here's one that shows the bullpen mounds will be along the foul lines instead of behind the outfield fences.

Hot Stove news

Here's some news that came out of the Wild Things' Hot Stove Banquet, which drew approximately 240 people Thursday night at the Holiday Inn Meadow Lands:

* Pitcher Justin Edwards had shoulder surgery in November. After experiencing pain after his last start of the 2010 season in Traverse City, a scan of his shoulder revealed a cyst on his lambrum that had caused a tear. Edwards was told he's at least a month ahead of schedule in his rehabilitation. He plans to start throwing in a couple of months and is hoping to be ready sometime in May. Here's thinking you won't see Edwards in a game until July. It's better not to rush a return from shoulder surgery.

* Only one player who had the option in their contract picked up last month has decided not to return to Washington. Eryk McConnell, who was the Wild Things' closer last year, has retired.

* The final phase of installing the ProGrass playing surface at Consol Energy Park will be begin when the weather breaks. There will be no dirt on the playing field. Both the mound and home-plate area will be turf.

* The Wild Things debuted their 10th anniversary logo (shown above).

* The Frontier League changed their roster classifications.

Previously, players were classified as Rookie-1, Rookie-2, L1, L2, Vet and Super Vet. Rookies had the equivalent of less than 1 full year of pro experience, L1 had 1+ years, L2 had 2+, Vets had at least 3 years of pro experience and the Super Vet (also known as the Vet-2) was a player older than 27, with at least 3 years of pro experience and had played at least one year with his FL team.

Now, the classifications are Rookie-1, Rookie-2, Experienced and Super Vet.

On a 24-man roster, each club must carry a minimum of 11 rookies (combination of R1 and R2 players) and a maximum of 13 players with unlimited professional experience. The rookie minimum will be 10 for a 23-man roster and 9 for a 22-man roster. All players with the equivalent of at least one year of pro experience will be classified as Experienced. The 21-year old rule will remain.

The parameters to qualify as a Super Vet have been modified so that he has played 100 games on an active roster over the previous two seasons within the Frontier League as opposed to with one specific team.

The advantage of this setup is obvious. No longer will teams have to dump as many guys from a previous season just to meet the roster rules. In the past, if you had seven L1s who were productive, you had to get rid of at least four of them in the next offseason because you could carry only three L2s - unless you went under the limit on veterans.

As I understand it, FL teams can, if they prefer, put together clubs with 10-12 rookies, a Super Vet and 11 guys who were classified in previous seasons as Veterans.

* If there is one Wild Things player who benefits from the roster classification change it's outfielder Luis Rivera. As a Veteran, his roster spot might have been shaky at best. Now, he seems much more likely to be here on opening day.

* The Wild Things will play two home exhibition games, May 12 and 13. That's a Thursday and Friday.

Going, going, gone

The first phase of switching Consol Energy Park from a grass field to a synthetic playing surface began Thursday afternoon when a bulldozer began stripping topsoil from the field. The installation process for the ProGrass surface is expected to be two months, according to Wild Things managing director Todd Marlin.

Turf update

The Wild Things are in the final stages of selecting a brand of synthetic turf that will be installed this fall at Consol Energy Park. Bids and samples from roughly a half dozen companies have been received and head groundskeeper Steve Zavacky has visited several college and professional ballparks to see various styles of turf.

"We're close to making a decision," Wild Things managing director Todd Marlin said. "Steve went and looked at different fields from Louisiana to Kansas to Kentucky and Ohio. He's met with the sales representatives and given his reports. We're in the decision-making progress right now."

Zavacky saw turf college fields at Wichita State University and Louisiana-Lafayette, in addition to Lake Erie and Florence in the Frontier League.

With roughly half of the cost of the turf installation coming from a state grant, it will be interesting to see if the Wild Things will go with the only Pennsylvania-based turf company, Pro Grass LLC, which is headquartered in Pittsburgh.

Installation won't start until late September at the earliest because of an event scheduled at the ballpark in the middle of the month.

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.