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Blaze given one more year

California League to the plug on Bakersfield franchise following 2009 season

BY ROSS PRIEST, Assistant Sports Editor
rpriest@bakersfield.com | Wednesday, Aug 27 2008 11:19 PM

Last Updated: Wednesday, Aug 27 2008 11:23 PM

The rumors were true. The Bakersfield Blaze is, in fact, heading East to join the Carolina League. Just not as soon as previously planned.

Blaze owner D.G. Elmore said Wednesday that fans will have one more year to see California League baseball in Bakersfield.

"It's one last hurrah," said Elmore of the team's announcement to return to Bakersfield for the 2009 season. "But unless something happens to change the state of affairs, baseball is not going to allow us to play beyond 2009.

"This is beyond me, this is beyond the Cal League, this is minor league baseball and Major League Baseball."

The team's tenure in Bakersfield was questioned after an article in Baseball America reported there were talks to transfer two California League franchises to the Carolina League next season, and "Bakersfield and High Desert are at the center of negotiations."

Richmond, Va., and Fayetteville, N.C., were reported to be the destinations for the Cal League teams. Those plans took a hit with a recent report that Richmond has tentative plans with a Double-A team for the start of the 2009 season.

"The decision to stay was really one that came from that the Carolina League just wasn't ready yet," Elmore said.

Minor league baseball president Pat O'Conner takes responsiblity for moving the Blaze.

"Lay this at my feet," O'Conner told The Californian. "This is a project that I laid out and I initiated. My job is to maintain a relationship with Major League Baseball. We're not serving our client (by keeping a team in Bakersfield)."

At the root of the Blaze's potential departure is the Blaze's aging home field, Sam Lynn Ball Park, which has been a constant sore spot with professional baseball officials.

The park opened in 1941 and various proposals to build a new stadium in Bakersfield have failed to materialize.

O'Conner said the failures of three separate owner groups and the city to reach an agreement for a new ballpark in the past 10 years is one of the reasons for the move.

"If there was a new stadium, or one under construction or a tangible sign that one would be built, we don't make this move," he said. "Bakersfield made (the decision to move the Blaze) easy.

"I'm not trying to blast the city, I'm dealing in reality," he said. "The stadium is borderline horrible. It's not conducive to developing players and it's not drawing 1,000 fans a night. They need a new ballpark."