On the financial aspect:
On when the field should be ready:“Thank you all for joining us today. This is a special day for our organization and for the city of Omaha. As expected, today, we are announcing plans to knock down this amazing structure behind me and build it back from the ground up. We want the latest and greatest for our fan base. This not only shows our commitment to the fans, but also to the city of Omaha. While some franchises are willing to pack up and leave overnight, We are investing in the city with no plans to explore other options. This $61,000,000 investment should prove that.” Said Niles.
On capacity, factor changes:“Now I can uncover a bit more about what our hopes are. We are hoping to have this thing built and ready to go for opening day of this upcoming season. Obviously this is important since we are using the same land, otherwise we could be looking at 162 away games this coming year.”
On the new name:“Size wise, we’re expecting to be very similar to our current 60,000 capacity within a few years. This year, we are hoping to have capacity right at around 55,000. As for the field, it will be the same grass used in its current state. The overall ballpark, however, is going to have a tremendously different feel. For the past 25 years, we have brought some of the best home run hitters through Omaha. Now it’s time to focus a bit more on the small side of things. We plan to create offense through singles and doubles, instead of touch em all moonshots.”
Question: Is the city financing any of the new stadium?“One last thing, before I take questions. We do plan to still honor two of the greatest ever who have put on the Cyclone uniform with the namesake of the field. This field will be named Mordonez Manège. Manège Obviously, this is in honor or Emilio Morales and Orlando Ordonez. Two recent Cyclones who have now retired but made a lasting impact on the fan base during their playing careers, that were all spent in Omaha.”
Question: Any word from Emilio on sharing what was just his name?“No, we are fully financing this ourselves as an organization. We do not plan to raise ticket prices to offset the difference, nor do we plan to have the city raise taxes to fund any of it. As an organization, this is something we are more than willing to build for our fan base.”
Question: Why the change in scheme, going from homers to small ball?“Emilio and Orlando are pretty good friends away from the field. They played together their entire careers, and the respect for one another is hard to find in today’s world. Emilio actually got to make the call to Orlando to let him know our plans so that was fun to watch.”
A look at the rendering of the new stadium which includes a "berm" for people to sit on in the outfield.“We’ve done a lot of analysis on this. Yes, home runs immediately add to the score board, and you can have 20 singles in a game and score 0. Let me ask you something, when you cover a game or see a game covered on Sportscenter highlights. What do they show? Homers right? That’s because everybody is in love with homers. Everybody loves the blue power rating on the scouting reports, even if it means that they may not ever walk or are a homer or bust type player. This leaves huge holes in the lineup that lead to instant outs. Where this is going to help us as an organization is that the guys who reach base but don’t necessarily hit dingers are less in demand and arguably more in supply. We feel in a league where every dollar of your payroll counts, this can help us make a more cohesive and even team.”
