Tuesday, December 05, 2017

New baseball team for Joplin to be discussed at special City Council meeting

Notice is hereby given that the City Council of the City of Joplin, Missouri, will hold a work session beginning at 5:45 p.m. on Wednesday, December 6, 2017, in the 5th Floor Council Chambers, 602 S. Main to hear the following topics below.

AGENDA 

1. Discussion on the Southwest League’s interest in bringing a team to Joplin

2. Any other business

8 comments:

Concerned citizen said...

More money down drain for Robs folly....the value is a joke,promote youth baseball

Anonymous said...

Haha! Joplin isn't large enough to have a pro team of any kind.
Wallace Bajali's cousin must've sold the city council on that idea. Hah!
The money wasted on that ballpark could've been used for programs to help the homeless in Joplin.
Joplin City Council members must have got something out of the deal.
As usual.

Steve Holmes said...

More info on the SW League, from the Waco team's website: http://www.wacoprobaseball.com/about-swl/. Another team's website says the inaugural season has been pushed back to 2019.

The pluses: This would be a better fit for Joplin than was the American Association in which the Blasters played. Joplin was always going to be the poor relation in a league including far bigger cities. The Southwest League aims for smaller parks, more in line with Joe Becker. Ownership would be better than what the Blasters had -- how could it be worse? I was never sure whether they just didn't know how to run a baseball business, or whether they were trying to fail.

The minuses: The Texans are trying to start an entire league. That's a lot more difficult than adding a team or two to an existing league. The Blasters poisoned the market. Even a competent organization would be met with skepticism because of the soap opera that came before it. And this being a small market, hemmed in on three sides by established minor-league teams (Springfield, Springdale and Tulsa), they would need overwhelming community support to make it. They would not have that.

Anonymous said...

The ballpark was a huge waste of money. Just like the center for the arts will be. The council has been trying to do away with memorial hall for years. They are all corrupt, just looking for new ways to line their pockets.

Anonymous said...

When I ran the numbers on attendance to metro area population for the Blasters, Joplin was actually in the same ratio range as legitimate AA teams in Tulsa, NWA, and Springfield. The smaller metro area of Joplin will always pull in less people in total numbers, and total numbers are what help make it profitable. On one hand there was success, but on the other the idea of how much that success would be was way overblown. They can do things in Joplin if they want, sure. They have to be REALISTIC to the numbers. Joplin seems like a big place until you go somewhere else and realize it isn't. I mean the entire population of Jasper AND Newton county is only slightly better than just the city of Springfield alone, let alone Greene co.

Also, the entire idea that Joplin was ever going to get a legitimate A level or rookie ball franchise of an MLB team was solved by simple googling the existing leagues and seeing where they were located. Joplin is near none of them. It was never going to happen, and even the most simple business plan would have figured this out.

Joplin will be fine for a independent league franchise. Those teams come and go, so do the fans, and the financials. The worst aspect of this is the city being the landlord in such delicate matters as this. Unfortunately, they have to save face now and try and justify the expenditure for a good 20 years or so.

Steve Holmes said...

Well said, 10:39.

Anonymous said...

8:11 - show us some evidence of council corruption (woolston aside) on the current council, or quit spreading false information. Better yet, step up and run if you think you can do it better.

Anonymous said...

Joplin is a dump!