The Official Mesa Miners thread

[Brian in Mesa]

Just heard today that Mesa, Surprise, and Japan are all gone in 2006.

League schedule comes out at 11...

 

[maddogkf]

http://www.azcentral.com/sports/azetc/articles/1122goldenleague.html

Mesa, Surprise no longer in Golden Baseball League

Exits leave six teams for 2006 season

The Golden Baseball League announced today it is suspending operations of its two Valley teams for the 2006 season with hopes of returning to Mesa and Surprise by 2007.

Mesa Miners and the Surprise Fightin' Falcons were the league's worst performing clubs at the gate, and the situation was further complicated by a “challenging situation” involving concessions revenue in Mesa, said league CEO Dave Kaval.

“That just made it very difficult to approach break-even in that market,” Kaval said.

Kaval said the contract with the city's concessions operator in Mesa expires next year, at which point the league hopes to return.

“Hopefully if that gets sorted out, we would like to return,” Kaval said.

With the Mesa situation untenable, the league was down to seven teams. Kaval said the GBL had been working on replacing Mesa with another “western region” team, but when they were unable to iron out those details, they suspended operations in Surprise to avoid having an odd number of clubs.

The league would like to add amenities such as a misting system in both Mesa and Surprise to help combat the summer heat.

“We're looking at this as an opportunity to continue to work with them to bring them back for the 2007 season in a stronger position for the city of Surprise and the GBL,” said Mark Coronado, the city's director of community and recreation services. “We're not looking at this as, ‘They're gone.'.”

In a statement issued by the league, Hohokam Stadium Manager David Dunne said the city and facility “look forward to working with the GBL to bring back the Mesa Miners in 2007.”

The GBL operated with eight teams during the 2005 season, with all the teams owned by the league.

Also being eliminated in 2006 is the Japan Samurai Bears, a traveling team. The league will field a team in Reno in 2006.

 

[Ryanwb]

RIP, this thread

 

[Diamondback Jay]

Sorry to bump an old thread here, but what's the probability of the Miners ever making a triumphant return?

 

[Brian in Mesa]

Sorry to bump an old thread here, but what's the probability of the Miners ever making a triumphant return?

Still not likely, but who knows with this league.

They wrap up their first Winter League, a 4 team league that has played games every day in Yuma since mid-January and features coaches from the Summer League, on February 16th.

-----------------------------------------------

Here are the 2007 teams:

Chico Outlaws
Nettleton Stadium, Chico CA

Fullerton Flyers
Goodwin Field, Fullerton CA

Long Beach Armada
Blair Field, Long Beach CA

Yuma Scorpions
Desert Sun Stadium, Yuma AZ

Reno Silver Sox
Peccole Park, Reno NV

St. George Roadrunners
Bruce Hurst Field, St. George UT

2007 schedule

 

[Brian in Mesa]

Baseball Surf Dawgs won't play in '07

By Glae Thien
SPECIAL TO THE UNION-TRIBUNE
February 8, 2007

Rickey Henderson played for the Surf Dawgs during their inaugural season in 2005, and Jose Canseco spent one game with them the next. However, no former major leaguers – or anyone else – will be on the club this year.

After an offseason of mixed signals about the Surf Dawgs' future, the Golden Baseball League suspended the club's operations with the announcement Tuesday of this season's schedule. The decision was attributed to the inability to readdress the club's original five-year lease with San Diego State for Tony Gwynn Stadium.

GBL President and founder Amit Patel said yesterday that the Surf Dawgs could resurface as soon as 2008 at SDSU or another county location. The league has explored playing in Oceanside, Escondido or the East County, but a new or improved venue would be needed in any of those locales.

“San Diego State is the only (local) facility that you can play a minor league game at today,” Patel said. “If there was another venue we could have moved to, we would have done it in a heartbeat.”

The Surf Dawgs were not profitable in part because of a “significant six-figure investment” made upfront to upgrade stadium seating, according to Patel.

Six clubs will comprise the independent GBL this year for the second straight season, with the expansion St. George (Utah) Roadrunners replacing the Surf Dawgs. The league began with eight teams.

“You don't want teams for the sake of having teams,” Patel said. “They have to be business units that make sense on a stand-alone basis.”

SDSU administrators in charge of facility use were unavailable for comment.

 

[SECTION 11]

NNNOOOOOO!!!! SAVE THE SURF DOGS!!!!!!!
The Horror of it all.