More than 50 Stadiums Considers. Ownership Groups Impatient

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By Barry Lann,
San Francisco, CA- It may be a beautiful day for a ball game, but the Pilgrim Baseball league has yet to secure any venues to hold their nine inning extravaganzas. Ownership groups say they are anxious, and frankly a little perplexed by the delays and lack of transparency coming from the league office.

“I don’t understand it.” Dante Shumacker, who represents one of the Philadelphia ownership groups. “We know they have to have a team in Philly and I just wish they’d tell us which stadium we’re using. It makes no sense. We’ve got our act together. We have a third of our roster ready to sign, announcers, bat boys, vendors, you name it. They have nothing. All I freakin’ want to know is are we setting up at Baker Bowl, Shibe, Veterans, or some dump in Trenton or Pennsauken? If it’s Trenton, I’m gonna cut someone.”

“Of approximately 190 stadiums used for major league baseball in the history of the game, we have narrowed down the list to about 55 semifinalists. A few cities have more than one site up for consideration, and some cities have locations being considered because of historical significance, even though Major league baseball did not last long in those areas.”

When asked about front-runners, league officials said. “It’s about two things: franchises and the venue itself. We have a preference for stadiums that have been in use for decades, but aren’t going to throw out a venue just because it was only used for a couple of seasons. Cities like Philadelphia, Cincinnati, and New York have some great historical stadiums. Stadiums in every current major league city and several former cities are included since we have not yet selected the final franchises.

Sources who declined to be named that are familiar with the bidding process say that many of the Players League and Federal League franchises want in, in addition to four to six Negro league teams.
“In addition to the 30 current franchises, we have about 40 additional franchises seeking consideration. Altoona, Buffalo, Indianapolis, Worcester, Troy, Rochester, Hartford, Providence, Richmond, Louisville, Indianapolis among others have all said they want to be a part of the Pilgrim league.”

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