Baseball-to-Orlando Efforts Stalled

With their attempt to lure Major League Baseball to Orlando going nowhere, it seemed the folks with "Bases Loaded Orlando" were planning to hang a"Mission Accomplished" banner atop an acquisition of the Tampa Yankees of the Florida State League (high-A). They promised to build a new stadium in Orange County on their own dime - a deal described as "a bad one" by league insiders - but a possibility for young investors with disposable income.

However, it seems Armando Gutierrez and co. are learning it's a lot harder to land a minor league baseball team than they thought.

Wednesday morning in Apopka, Fla., at a press conference where Gutierrez had promised "a big announcement" and "once in a lifetime experience" that "is usually not even done outside of New York," all the investors had to show for months of work was a Yankees-sponsored youth baseball clinic.

The Orlando Sentinel writes that "their initial (stadium) proposal struck out with former Orange County Mayor Richard Crotty, and negotiations have fallen to newly elected mayor Teresa Jacobs...Jacobs and Gutierrez have not spoken since she was on the campaign trail."

Gutierrez says there's more coming from his group, which I can attest from conversations with him, is a very determined one.