Sarasota Orioles/Ripken Academy Redux Pt. II

After reporting on a seemingly broken promise from the Baltimore Orioles and Cal Ripken Jr., I saw today baseball's biggest critics in Sarasota have taken to the opinion page.

Cathy Antunes and Pat Rounds, with "Citizens for Responsible Government," wrote in Tuesday's Sarasota Herald-Tribune that "(t)he Orioles' commitment to bring a Cal Ripken Youth Academy to Sarasota is proving to be as elusive for the team as a winning season."

Continue reading here.

Sarasota Orioles/Ripken Academy Redux

Several weeks ago, I wrote about how the Baltimore Orioles appear to be striking out so far on a promise to Sarasota County for a Cal Ripken Jr. youth baseball academy. It was one of the key elements to a $31 million stadium package the team got for its spring training relocation in 2009.

This past weekend, Sarasota Herald-Tribune columnist Eric Ernst piled it on with a column criticizing county commissioners:

So where's our academy two years later? At best, heading to Charlotte County where the minor league Stone Crabs play. Note to the Charlotte County commissioners: Believe this one when you see it.

It turns out that all the talk about the synergy to be created between the Orioles and Sarasota County's youth was just that, too. Talk, albeit talk with a purpose, to distract the commissioners and the community from the shortcomings of a one-sided investment.

The talk never made it to the contract.

The Orioles maintain they are still in good position to land Ripken's facility in Sarasota, but they still haven't identified a way to pay for it.

Could Tampa Bay learn from Cal Ripken's stadium snub in Sarasota?

SARASOTA, Fla. - While Tampa Bay tries to sort out its stadium stalemate, critics of public subsidies in Sarasota are sending a warning to their friends to the north.

Three years after Sarasota landed Orioles spring training with a $31.2 million upgrades package, some of the promised benefits to the county still have yet to materialize. That includes a Cal Ripken Jr. Youth Baseball Academy, similar to two other year-round facilities in Aberdeen, Md., and Myrtle Beach, S.C.

"The public was promised one thing and now the Orioles and Cal Ripken aren't coming through," said Cathy Antones, president of Sarasota Citizens for Responsible Government. "It seems that when you put the name Major League Baseball or someone like Cal Ripken or the Orioles on it, [county commissioners] lose their common sense."

Ripken is now in talks with neighboring Charlotte Co. to possibly build his youth academy in Port Charlotte. The Ripken Baseball Group claims economic impact from the facility could reach $40 million.

But the Orioles, who put out a press release in 2009 touting the Ripken academy, never wrote a guarantee into their contract with Sarasota County. They say nobody was misled and they still plan on developing a youth academy, even if Ripken builds his own just down the road.

Continue reading here.

Orioles Hit Sarasota Up for More Dough

It's a lesson learned in a different stadium saga - warnings ignored in 2009 potentially coming back to haunt Sarasota in its Orioles spring training deal.

The team is now asking the city to kick in an additional $420,000 "to tear up and rebuild fields at its spring training practice grounds, blaming poor drainage on an old city dump buried beneath them."

More than two years ago, I covered a contentious meeting where then-city commissioner Kelly Kirschner warned the city's cost of the ballpark upgrades could balloon:

The fear is construction could cause problems at the site (a former landfill) and while commissioners wanted to cap the city's liability (one idea thrown about was a $1M cap), the Orioles implied they would not sign any deal where they would be responsible for environmental problems.

Commissioner Kelly Kirschner, who voted against the agreement, called it a "blank check" for the Orioles over the course of their time in Sarasota, since they have final say in any and all construction at the site but the city has the
liability.

"I'm not sure that's the wisest thing to do in negotiations," said Kirschner. "I would have liked to see more time and talk to some consultants to come up with a better-negotiated solution between the two parties."

"If this were a true partnership, (the Orioles) would be willing to accept a limitation of the city's liability," say Kathy Antunes of "Citizens for Responsible Government," a group against the deal. "Right now, the way this was just approved, they can make any kind of construction plans they want, regardless of how it impacts the environment and cost to the
city."

The Sarasota Herald-Tribune reports that City Manager Bob Bartolotta accused the Orioles of "'trying to make a convoluted argument' to get the city to pay for field upgrades that should have come from a $24 million stadium renovation funded by taxpayers."

And you thought the Rays had the exclusive rights to stadium soap operas in Greater Tampa Bay...

Sarasota Will Build It, Orioles Will Come

After a marathon meeting featuring pleas from dozens of passionate residents, Sarasota County Commissioners approved a "memo of understanding" with the Baltimore Orioles on Wednesday night.

The agreement - signed by the county and team - is essentially a rough draft of a lease. It will bring the Orioles' spring training to Sarasota in 2010 and preserve an 86-year tradition of Major League Baseball in the city.

For more, continue reading here.