Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, February 24, 1994 TAG: 9403010202
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: By RALPH BERRIER JR. STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: PULASKI LENGTH: Medium
Less than one week after the Pittsburgh Pirates announced that they would not come to town, the Boston Red Sox and the Appalachian League are beginning discussions that could eventually lead to Pulaski getting a minor league baseball team.
Red Sox minor league director Ed Kenney said Wednesday that the club is looking into joining the Appalachian League "as a possible option in the future." The talks are in an extremely early stage - Kenney and Appalachian League president Bill Halstead had their first conversation just Wednesday.
"It's probably premature to comment," Kenney said from the team's spring training complex in Fort Myers, Fla. "I'll talk to [Halstead] in the future."
The Red Sox entered the picture last week after the financially strapped Pirates dropped out. A group of Pulaski businessmen had been negotiating with the Pirates on and off for 18 months before the club made its final decision last week.
The Appalachian League had planned to add Pulaski as one of two expansion sites in 1995 but the league put its expansion plans on hold after the Pirates made their announcement.
There is still hope that the Pirates could re-enter the picture if the franchise comes under new ownership in the near future. Reports from Pittsburgh indicate that the club's sale is imminent.
"That looks like about the only optimistic thing there is," said Dave Edmonds, a print shop owner who is one of the potential owners of a Pulaski minor league team.
Time is running short. Pulaski, which has been without a minor league team since the Atlanta Braves moved their Appalachian League outfit to Danville in 1992, needs to become affiliated with a big league club by June if it wants to join the Appalachian League next year.
"About the only hope we've got is there's a quick sale, [and] Chet [Montgomery, the Pirates' minor league director] works the new owners for a quick commitment," Edmonds said.
In December, it appeared that the Pirates were ready to come to Pulaski. Continued financial turmoil, however, forced a change in the thinking of the Pirates, who reportedly lost $20 million over the past two years and believed they could not afford to start up a minor league club.
"I feel like the situation would be different if they get bought out," said Tom Compton, another potential Pulaski owner. "New money would be better."
Compton said he knew nothing about any potential dealings with the Red Sox.
"I haven't talked to anybody," said Compton. "If Bill's working on it, good."
Halstead learned that the Red Sox might be in the market for a rookie league club from Steve Noworyta, the Chicago White Sox director of Minor League Operations, when the two were discussing the Appalachian League's expansion plans last week. The White Sox are working toward putting an Appalachian League team in Beckley, W.Va., if the league expands.
Now is a good time to talk to the Red Sox about joining their farm system. All of the Red Sox Player Development Contracts with minor league affiliates run out this year and the club may be looking into making some changes in its farm system.
"We've talked about revamping our minor league system," said Eddie Kasko, the Red Sox personnel director. "We've been having trouble with our half-season leagues. We might be looking for a league with lesser competition or another half-season league. Where [the talks with the Appalachian League] stand right now, I really don't know."
by CNB