If you build it, they will come

This week, Micah and John, the namesakes of the Just Two Guys blog, each promoted the idea of building a new baseball-playing-and-spectating facility in our hometown.

Back in the late 1970s, Springfield was home to the Cardinals’ Triple-A American Association farm club. Our town got to see such players as Tom Herr, Ken Oberkfell, Glenn Brummer, John Stuper and Tito Landrum, all of whom would go on to play for the Cardinals’ 1982 World Champion team. Even Bob Sykes, the man who was traded for the legendary Willie McGee, once played in Springfield.

After the 1981 season, the Redbirds were spirited away to Louisville, and in came the Single-A Midwest League Cardinals. Guys like Ray Lankford, Bernard Gilkey, Todd Zeile, Dmitri Young and Taylorville native Pat Perry were kids playing in the Land of Lincoln. That franchise lasted through the 1993 season.

Replacing the Cardinals were the Sultans, a Padres MWL affiliate. They left after 1994, were replaced by the Royals’ affiliate in 1995, and then in 1996 followed by the Capitals (which featured a then-unknown Jason Simontacchi), an independent Frontier League franchise, which lasted until 2000.

All those teams played at Robin Roberts Stadium at Lanphier Park, which by modern standards is obsolete. Named after Springfield’s greatest ballplayer, the playing surface there is great, but the facility surrounding it is woefully inadequate. If my memory serves, there was one concession stand, and it also housed the lone souvenir outlet. I believe there was one restroom per gender, and you needn’t ask about luxury boxes, because there were none.

In order to be financially viable, a team today needs things like luxury boxes and multiple concession stands, souvenir stands and bathrooms. Which is why Springfield needs a new stadium.

But where to build it?

Micah and John both advocate a new stadium be built downtown, something I’m enthusiastically in favor of as well. A downtown ballpark would greatly increase the foot traffic in the city center. People could make an evening out of it: They could head downtown before the game and grab a bite and a beer, go watch the game and then maybe grab another bite and hit a bar with their buddies before catching a bus or cab home.

It doesn’t just have to be the hot-dog-and-beer crowd, either. A family could come to the ballpark early with picnic basket in hand, have their meal in a special area similar to those of the Quad Cities‘ and many other ballparks. A well-built minor-league park would cater to families with young children with such picnic areas and playgroundy-type amenities.

If a downtown park isn’t feasible, I think the next-best location would be adjacent to what will be called “Legacy Pointe,” the so-called lifestyle center planned for the area between Wabash Avenue and Interstate 72 along the extended MacArthur Boulevard. A park there would have the same effect as it would downtown: increasing foot traffic, this time in a high-density, more-or-less upscale retail area, rife with various shops and restaurants.

But to be absolutely certain, a downtown location would be best.

Sounds great. What about the team?

Yes. You need a baseball team to get people to come to a baseball park. As I mentioned before, Springfield is the hometown of Hall-of-Fame pitcher Robin Roberts, who enjoyed his best years with the Phillies during the 1950s. With his permission, of course, you could base the whole team concept around Mr. Roberts and his connection to Springfield and the Phillies.

First, and most obvious, the team would be a farm club for Phillies. The nickname? The Springfield Robins, of course. Uniforms could be based upon the style that Roberts wore during his time with the Phillies, such as this one, or possibly this one.

The stadium itself could evoke the grandeur of old Shibe Park, where Roberts played during his tenure with the Phillies. Something similar to this:

The historical connections wouldn’t have to be limited to Roberts and the Phillies, either. Many other accomplished major-leaguers have hailed from Springfield and the surrounding area: Ducky and Dick Schofield, Kevin Seitzer, Jeff Fassero, Tim Hulett, et al. You’ve heard of Pesky’s Pole at Fenway Park? Well, perhaps the rightfield fair pole in our new stadium could be Ducky’s Pole.

Baseball, more than any other sport, reveres its history, and Springfield would be doing itself a favor by keeping its own baseball history alive in such a fashion.

This is a Cards-Cubs town. Why the Phillies?

I’ll tell you why. To be successful, a baseball team would need more than just a local historical connection. It would need to unite the community behind it, to serve as a rallying point.

But it is well known that this is Cardinals and Cubs country. If a minor-league affiliate of either of those teams were to come to town, people who hold the opposite rooting interest might not want to support such a team.

But a neutral team such as the Phillies would not come with such baggage, and everyone can root freely.

All of this, however, is going to take much more than the online bleatings of a couple of bloggers. People are going to want to have a baseball team come back to town. And after bad experiences with the last couple of teams, I don’t blame anyone for being apprehensive.

It’s also going to take a boatload of money. But the days of A. Ray Smith are long past. There will have to be a local ownership group formed, one with extremely deep pockets. Deep enough not only to be able to get a team, but also to get a stadium built. Using public monies to benefit private business interests is something to which I’m philosophically opposed. The only possible way to get away with that is to make the city or whichever governmental entity foots the bill the owner of the stadium.

It’s been more than a decade since affiliated minor-league baseball has been played in Springfield. It’s not like this town is too small to support a Single-A franchise; Springfield would sit roughly in the middle population-wise with other Midwest League cities. Comparable cities include South Bend, Ind., Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and the Quad Cities. And small Wisconsin towns such as Beloit and Appleton have had Midwest League franchises dating back to before our own Springfield Cardinals.

We can do this. All it takes is people who want to make it happen. Count me in.

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