I'd much rather go to a minor league game than a major league game. You just see more interesting play on the field. Not always better, but more interesting. Last year in one three game AA homestand I saw three (!) catcher interferences (I had no idea what the call was, never seen even one before), a triple play where one run did score, and a steal of home (and I'd never seen one live). Plus, in a Dig in the Dirt fan gimmick, a friend of mine's daughter found a $1500 diamond ring in the pitcher's mound. It was nicer than her mom's wedding ring....
I love minor league baseball too as long as the antics between innings are kept to a minimum. Play ball...shoot the tshirts into the crowd at the end of the game...
RAMAPO — A federal grand jury investigating the town’s sale of millions of dollars in bonds for a baseball stadium and certain bank loans has subpoenaed records from the agent for the bond sales as well as from town auditors and Provident Bank. Information about what investigators sought is revealed in a 157-page document outlining Ramapo’s plan to obtain a $31.2 bond anticipation note to pay off some previous short-term bonds and support future infrastructure projects. The document shows that federal agents reached out to more sources in this probe than initially reported. And it states a federal grand jury is issuing subpoenas. The grand jury subpoenas go beyond the electronic records and boxes of papers the FBI and Rockland District Attorney’s Office detectives seized on May 15 during a more than seven-hour raid on Ramapo Town Hall. Those records involved the financing and construction of the Boulder’s minor-league baseball stadium, which was supported by a $25 million bond guaranteed by Ramapo and its taxpayers through the Ramapo Local Development Corp., or LDC. Officials told The Journal News the investigators are reviewing documents to determine whether Town Supervisor Christopher St. Lawrence overstated assets, such as incoming revenue, for the bonds and their refinancing. Pannone Lopes Devereaux & West LLC, Ramapo’s bond counsel, issued the report on Tuesday in advance of the sale of one-year bond anticipation notes. The town is seeking to pay 4.7 percent interest, due May 2014. The short-term notes come after the town backed off a 25- to 30-year bond following the May 15 raid. The report also states it has been issued a subpoena for information on bond financing by the town and the LDC dating to January 2009. The report says investigators seized documents from other sources on bonds and securities issued by Ramapo since 2009, as well as on town bank deposits from January 2013. Jefferies LLC, the placement agent for bond notes, has told Ramapo that the grand jury has issued a subpoenaed requiring the company to provide documents relating to bond financing by Ramapo and the Local Development Corps since Jan. 1, 2009, the report says. Jefferies also told the town that the U.S. Attorney’s Office does consider the company a target of the investigation. The report says investigators have given Ramapo copies of the subpoenas served on Provident Bank or the town auditor. Investigators also seized documents and electronic data from the Town Attorney’s Office relating to “correspondence with the town’s auditors concerning the town’s 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012 financial statements, and the transfer of funds held by the town or the corporation (LDC) to or from Provident Bank between March 2013 and May 15, 2013,” according to the report. Provident Bank also provided the LDC and the town with millions of dollars in financing for a 126-unit housing complex on Elm Street outside Spring Valley. The town’s financial adviser, Environmental Capital, on May 17 told the town the FBI would likely ask for information and documents relating to the investigation, according to the report. The adviser was told it was being contacted as a potential witness and has agreed to cooperate, the report states. Officials have told The Journal News investigators also are looking into the movement of money among accounts, possible commingling of funds and whether the LDC generated money and repaid the town. Among the documents taken were emails from St. Lawrence, Town Attorney Michael Klein and Finance Officer Nat Oberman. One town critic, former Legislator Bruce Levine, said that based on the report, federal investigators were “clearly seeking what statements the town or individuals in the town made about the fiscal condition of the town on security filings.” He said false filings can amount to security fraud and additional charges when sent through the mail or on the Internet. “You can’t lie or deceive on these filings or with the auditors and the banks when seeking loans,” Levine said. “They want to know what the town’s official statements were.” St. Lawrence has declined to comment on the investigation or what records were seized. He previously stated the town filings all followed the laws. The FBI raid at Ramapo Town Hall came about 15 months after the release of a scathing audit by state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli that raised serious concerns about the stadium project and found taxpayers could be left holding the bag for $60 million in related costs. The audit, released in February 2012, said that “town officials have inappropriately mingled the activities of the town and the Ramapo Local Development Corporation (RLDC) in the construction of a minor league baseball stadium. These actions allowed town officials to circumvent laws the town is required to abide by for the approval and construction of such projects.” The state isn’t alone in its scrutiny of Ramapo. Last spring, Moody’s Investors Service dropped the town’s credit rating two notches, citing the debt guarantee as a factor in addition to the town’s finances.
nope that's actually Dutchess Stadium located in Wappingers Falls, NY and they are an affiliated mino-leage baseball team...this is Independent League baseball and the Boulders stadium is located about a mile off the Palisades Interstate Parkway exit 12 in Pomona...
Speaking of minor league baseball, I'll be visiting my brothers in Chicagoland this summer, and we'll take in a couple of Frontier League games. I'm hoping to see the team with my favorite nickname in all of baseball, the Joliet Slammers (non Illinoisans need to know that Stateville Penitentary is in Joliet, hence the name). Damn fine design work for this team, though the logo practically designs itself...
the Montgomery Biscuits are pretty good too...probably tasty as well!!! http://www.biscuitsbaseball.com/GRFX/WALLPAPER/MB_10_WALLPAPER_Web_S.gif
I've met a few guys who played a bit then washed out short of their dreams. If possible, I try to thank them, because the guys who make it wouldn't be as good as they were if they weren't pushed at least a little bit by the guys who didn't get there. I also used to know a guy who played 24 games with the White Sox. Full credit to him: most guys who've ever been paid to play the game... they make sure they let you know that before you can even figure out what color their eyes are: this guy... read about it in a newspaper article about him as a local artist. http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/m/mccalbr01.shtml His two home runs were in the same game. In Yankee Stadium. Which got him back in the news last year... http://triblive.com/neighborhoods/2...rose-studio-church-former-grace#axzz2Yegf0Tn3 But McCall's past as a major league baseball player is back in the spotlight, all because of two home runs against the Miami Marlins by 19-year-old Washington Nationals rookie Bryce Harper. Harper became the third teenage centerfielder to post a multi-homer game. Ken Griffey Jr. was the second in 1989. Harper's homers on Aug. 28 slammed McCall's forgotten MLB history into the present. McCall was the very first teen centerfielder to hit two home runs — as a 19-year-old White Sox rookie in 1962. “In company with Harper, Griffey — Brian McCall draws more than a blank,” according to the headline on an Aug. 30 story written by Washington Post sportswriter Dan Daly. After the brief blip of notoriety, McCall, 69, is right back to living in the present. “It was just one of those events that are good but you have to forget about it and move on,” said McCall ...
Hudson Valley Renegades (New York/Penn League). Ironically, they are right next to a very large penetentary. Where do the Boulders play/where was the stadium built? Pomona? Ramapo sounds like a disgusting mess. It was heading in that direction when I left the area in 1993.
yep Pomona...directly in front of the HiTor animal shelter. Which is great torture to the animals on the 20 fireworks nites...yet they were only approved for 5...so go figure.
more about the financial mess in Ramapo and the Boulders and their stadium...still await some arrests... http://www.businessweek.com/news/20...ws-risks-of-local-stadium-boom-muni-credit#p1
Newark Bears to Hold Liquidation Sale, Auction - Star-Ledger http://www.nj.com/essex/index.ssf/2014/04/newark_bears_to_hold_liquidation_sale_auction_1.html
Mariners Affiliate Finishes 16-run Comeback - ESPN http://espn.go.com/minor-league-bas...ners-class-affiliate-finishes-16-run-comeback
Wow: My older sister lived in Burlington when I was a kid and I've seen maybe a dozen games there (most recently three seasons ago). None as memorable (or forgettable for the hardcore Bees fans) as that one. Makes me feel a bit less bad about watching Liverpool give up three goals in the last 12 minutes. Okay not yet... and not quite. But still.
Here's the boxscore. Two surprises: http://www.milb.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?t=g_box&gid=2014_05_07_cliafx_burafx_1&sid=l118 Time of Game: 3:28 Attendance: 558 Community Field is old and run down, but COME ON!
What's in a Name? Tacos and Cash - ESPN http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/1...ies-specialty-rename-tacos-already-paying-off