Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, July 21, 1995 TAG: 9507210038
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RAY COX STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
``What we're hearing from the public on the stadium is that we shouldn't open it until it's ready,'' he said.
Apparently, he's talking to different people than those talking to Salem Avalanche employees.
``They've been calling every day since the first delay was announced,'' Avalanche general manager Sam Lazzaro said during the Carolina League All Star game Wednesday. ``The calls have been running 10-1 in favor of opening the new park. People want to know why the ballpark isn't open.''
The reason cited by city officials is safety. Railings are not completely installed because of tardy deliveries of materials to the job site, Jones said.
``Our callers read the paper; they know what the reason for the delay is,'' Lazzaro said. ``They still want to know why the ballpark isn't open.''
The Avalanche's business is down and team officials believe a good reason is because people are delaying trips to games until the team is in the new stadium.
``We've had a tremendous number of season-ticket holders tell us they don't intend to come to another game until we're in the new ballpark,'' Lazzaro said.
Some of the season-ticket holders are still backing the team, but they aren't entirely happy.
``I was a season-ticket holder and sat in the same seat at Municipal Field for 15 years,'' said Bruce Briggs of Roanoke. ``But I didn't get another season ticket this spring when I found out they weren't telling us the truth. I knew they weren't going to have the stadium ready in time but they kept saying they were.
``I'm buying my tickets game-to-game. I'll buy a season ticket when they get into the new place.''
Briggs said he was opposed to paying more for a season ticket at the new stadium then not being guaranteed a particular seat when the ticket is used at Municipal Field.
``I have no problems with the delays,'' he said. ``What I do have a problem with is them not telling us the truth.''
Season ticket holder Dave Angove took a gentler view.
``I can't say that I'm not a little disappointed that we aren't in there yet, but I'm not upset,'' he said. ``I'm not going to get into any finger pointing or name calling or saying I've been lied to. I just think they got in a little over their heads when they tried to build it between November and April.''
The price increase was what rankled season-ticket holders Bob and Bertie VanKerckhove.
``The only thing that irked my husband was paying more for the ticket and still being in the same place,'' Bertie VanKerckhove said.
The delays are causing hardships for Avalanche management.
``Major-league baseball told me I had to be in a new place by 1994 and I was granted an extension,'' Avalanche owner Kelvin Bowles said. ``Not intentionally, I've misled a lot of people.''
Once again, Bowles and Carolina League president John Hopkins have had to seek another extension from the National Association of Professional Baseball Clubs, minor-league baseball's governing body.
``My knee-jerk reaction when I heard there was going to be another delay was that we've made a lot of promises to a lot of people that we'd be in the new ballpark before the end of the season,'' Hopkins said. ``National association president Mike Moore and that organization have been very accommodating with us. I don't particularly want to go back to them again.''
Hopkins said that if the national association concludes that the Avalanche has been acting in bad faith with its assurances that the stadium would be ready, fines could result.
``You'd have to ask Mike Moore what he'd have in mind with that, but conceivably, a fine could go into five figures,'' Hopkins said.
That, of course, is not what Bowles wants to hear.
``I don't think it's going to happen, but what am I supposed to do if the Colorado Rockies cancel my player development contract, which they could do? What am I supposed to do if the Carolina League revokes my franchise?
``All they'd have in Salem then is a real nice stadium for Division III college baseball.''
by CNB