It was announced by the Monty Brewster World Baseball Association front office that the league has granted permission for the Phoenix Suns to relocate from Arizona to the town of Yellow Springs, OH, population 3,526. The citizens have been ecstatic since the owners of the Phoenix franchise first expressed interest in relocating to Ohio.
Longtime GM Mike Bieschke had been rumored for a few weeks to be leaving the team due to other commitments. Marquette Suns GM Tim Meseck saw an opportunity to provide the league with another original GBC franchise when the Phoenix vacancy opened up. He immediately checked with the leagues front office to verify if a relocation could be made. Once it was decided that it was feasible, the plan was put into motion and Meseck accepted the GM position with Phoenix. Meseck had previously inquired into relocating the Marquette franchise but it was discussed at that time that the reduction of an original franchise city and nickname would not be looked at favorably. Thus, the idea to bring back Yellow Springs was born.
It has been a number of years since the Global Baseball Consortium sported a team in Yellow Springs and it was not thought to be the front runner for a relocation. However, the Town of Yellow Springs had recently renovated their local ball field, Horace Mann Ballfield, into a top notch stadium. The ballpark renovation, completed just last year, provided additional seating so that 55,000 seats are now in place. They kept the historic value of the open air stadium and decided against a retractable roof or dome. Likewise, they have kept the original grass field in place from when the stadium was first constructed many years ago. The stadium is said to have the exact same dimensions as the ballpark in Phoenix, allowing the team to keep the consistency and history of the old team alive on the field. The new owners of the team have announced that they will help with the finances for the construction of the new stadium and that they will provide 10 equal payments of 10% each for the cost of the new stadium.
Horace Mann Ballfield
55,000 seats
Open Air
Grass Field
Payment Plan of $10 million a year for 10 years
The Yellow Springs team has also brought forward the Nine nickname that was made famous by GM Eric Ramon back in the GBC days. Nine refers to the teams that is on the field on any given day and represents a unity of whichever players are together for that game, that inning, that play, which may decide a game, a series or a season.
The Nine logo incorporates the history of Yellow Springs with the stylized number ‘9’ with a depiction of a 20th century baseball player from back in the early days of baseball in Yellow Springs. The team has announced that the uniforms will be red with black and gray accents as well.
While the stadium is located in Yellow Springs, the greater TV Market that the Nine will draw from consists almost entirely from the City of Columbus, which is about 1 hour to the East and has a population of 800,000. While the market is not as big as most other MBWBA teams, the support from the Nine’s fan base should more than make up for the size of the metro area. There are numerous reports of fan groups popping up throughout the Cincinnati/Columbus area. The citizens have already started their fan newsletter, “Everything’s Nine”, by recognizing the past year’s performance while the team was in Phoenix. Everything’s Nine should continue to be a centerpiece for any current happenings that concern the Yellow Springs Nine, or YS9, as most are referring to the team.
This first offseason for YS9 should be a very interesting time for the players and coaches. It remains to be seen which players will be brought into a core group of stars to build around and which will not make the cut with the new Front Office. It is expected that Meseck will start to announce which players are being actively shopped via trade within the coming weeks as the offseason is about to kick into high gear. The new GM will also be presented with his first huge decision when the 2014 Amateur Draft starts with Phoenix holding a very high pick. This initial decision will likely provide lasting affect for years to come as Phoenix was in need of talent at the major league level.
The Phoenix franchise has recently been chronicled as one of the most futile organizations in the MBWBA as the Talons have earned only 6 playoff appearances, none since 1995, and no Landis appearances. Only Atlantic City/Manhattan can rival Phoenix and it has had each of its 4 playoff appearances within the last 20 years. Some think that the reason that Meseck jumped ship from a Marquette team that reached the playoffs this season, and that has a bunch of star players, is that he saw a unique challenge in Phoenix. Time will tell as to whether or not any success that he has been able to install in Marquette will transfer to whatever he attempts to do in Yellow Springs.
One thing is for certain, whichever rivalries and allegiances have been in place are bound to change. Marquette had natural rivalries with New Orleans, Montreal, Las Vegas and Chicago. Chicago is really the only rivalry from the Johnson League as Marquette lost the Landis trophy to them in 1997. Meseck has completed trades with a number of franchises but most notable trades have been with JL teams, Michael Strathallan from Louisville, Carl MacNeill from Hawaii, Russell Martin with Madison and then Greenville, and Zach brown with Omaha. Some have even wondered whether there are any JL teams that Meseck hasn’t completed a trade with. That is all about to change as many GM’s are reluctant not only to trade within their division, but also to trade within their own league. It will also be interesting to see if any past relationships with players will bring them to Yellow Springs, either through trade or free agency.
One thing is certain, there is change brewing in the JL Midwest!
