Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, November 15, 1994 TAG: 9411150091
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RAY COX STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The 711 names for the Colorado Rockies' Class A affiliate in Salem submitted in a public contest ranged from Aristocrats to Zebs.
There were 40 Mountaineers, 29 Peaks, 17 Mounties and 16 variations each of Stars and Rockies.
And there were a few entries that would not be suitable for publication in a newspaper, not to mention blazed across the front of a baseball shirt.
And the winner was ...
The Avalanche.
The Salem Avalanche will take up residence at the new Salem ballpark when the 1995 Carolina League season starts in April, but the new team logo and perhaps some sample merchandise will be unveiled today at a 2 p.m. news conference at the site of the new ballpark.
``We're hoping to have caps, T-shirts and golf shirts for sale in the next couple of weeks,'' said Sam Lazzaro, the Avalanche's general manager. ``It'll be here for Christmas.''
The winning entry turned up on five different ballots that came in through The Roanoke Times & World-News InfoLine, mail and by delivery to the newspaper office. There was a drawing to determine who would be the grand prize winner (the winner has not been announced) of two season tickets for 1995, a baseball autographed by the team and a chance to throw out the ceremonial first pitch on opening night.
The ballclub chose to withhold announcement of the new name until a trademark search could be completed by lawyers for the National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues. Four names were submitted by the ballclub prior to the contest, but those were rejected.
How times change. When Salem chose its previous name, Buccaneers, there was no problem even though that name was already owned by the National Football League franchise in Tampa Bay.
``That was what I kept bringing up to the attorney,'' Lazzaro said. ``How could we get Buccaneers through, and we've had so much trouble this time? He said that 10 years ago, minor-league baseball wasn't that important. Now it's big business.``
Which is what Salem hopes to be doing with its new black, purple and silver merchandise. The Colorado Rockies lead all big league clubs in sales of team logo goods.
Lazzaro is optimistic.
``We like the new name,'' he said. ``It turned out a lot better than we thought it would, and we're happy about the name and the logo both.''
The new name came with the new affiliation. When Salem didn't renew its player development contract with the Pittsburgh Pirates, the old name and black and gold colors were obsolete. The Buccaneers name has now been taken up by the Lynchburg franchise, which affiliated with the Pirates after the Boston Red Sox bolted town following the past season.
The hope was that the new Salem name would tie in with both this area and with the Rockies.
AVALANCHE DEBRIS: Salem City Council voted Monday to approve Avis Construction Company, Inc., of Roanoke as the general contractor for the construction of the concrete portion of the new ballpark. There were 10 bids for the work, six for the cast and place concrete work and four for the structural precast and prestressed concrete work. Avis, which was one of four companies to bid on both jobs, had the low bid of $4,063,000. Construction is expected to begin soon. The project is expected to cost $1 million more than the $5 million that voters approved in the non-binding referendum this summer ... The playing surface at the new ballpark is almost entirely in place. In early January, the new sod will be covered with a mesh material for the winter. ``We're going to have one heck of a stand of grass in the spring,'' said Salem assistant manager Forest Jones, who is overseeing the project. ...
Pending the signing of a contract, Wallace Family Enterprises, operators of Domino's Pizza in the Roanoke area, will be the new vendor of pizza and related products at the ballpark next year. ... The Avalanche is close to signing a contract for a new $250,000 scoreboard. The scoreboard will be 39 feet high and 58 feet long and will be positioned 22 feet above the ground. The scoreboard will have a 13-foot by 25-foot full color matrix television screen.
The identity of the new field manager is expected to be revealed soon. ... Three of the 10 luxury boxes at the new ballpark have been sold. The three large ones behind home plate are going for $10,000 per year (three-year minimum) each; the seven smaller ones are also being leased for three-year periods but are going for $7,000.
by CNB