THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, August 25, 1996 TAG: 9608260764
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY PAUL SOUTH, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: MANTEO LENGTH: 72 lines
The Babe Ruth World Series will return to this Dare County town in 1998.
Babe Ruth Baseball President Ronald Tellefsen made the announcement minutes before Saturday's 16-18 World Series championship.
``It's a done deal,'' Tellefsen said. ``The bottom line is that the work of the local World Series Committee has been outstanding.''
Tellefsen said the eight visiting teams gave Manteo and Dare County high marks.
``For Babe Ruth Baseball, the bottom line is players. And in talking to the players from teams as they were leaving, they had nothing but positive things to say about their host families, the area and the tournament.
``I think (Dare County Board of Commissioners Chairman) Bobby Owens said it best. It didn't matter if you were a fan, player, coach, Babe Ruth official, or anyone connected with the series, you were treated well, and had a great time.''
Tellefsen said Babe Ruth officials will critique the Dare County series in depth after returning to league headquarters. On the whole, Tellefsen said, local organizers and the hundreds of volunteers turned in a sparkling performance.
``If there were any inefficiencies, they did a good job of hiding it from us,'' Tellefsen said. ``But as far as we can tell, everything was done in a first-class way.''
Owens said he was overjoyed with the news.
``I'm tickled to death,'' Owens said. ``I'm ecstatic. We caught wind yesterday that we would get it, and it was confirmed for us this morning.''
Owens said there would be a restructuring of the selection process for the 1998 host team. Many of the region's best players did not play on the Dare County team in the 1996 tournament.
``We've got two years to work on this,'' he said. ``We have time to structure this to include players from all over the region.''
Owens expressed hope that an effort would be made to work more closely with local businesses. Some store owners complained that the Series hurt their business.
``Some people made representations that there would be 100,000 people here. But I never said that. When you have teams from Oregon and California, most parents can't afford to come this far to see their kids play.''
But Owens said the long-term benefit to the county would be tremendous.
``You have to look at the big picture,'' Owens said. ``It's shallow to only look at it in terms of now. We'll reap the benefits from this in the years to come. The positive exposure we got on national television and in the media, we couldn't have even started to pay for that.''
The decision also drew favorable reaction from visiting players and coaches.
``I thought it was a no-brainer,'' Nashville manager Mike Rippetoe said of the news. ``Our host families were just wonderful to us, and our kids had a great time. I thought (local tournament chairman) Terry Wheeler and all the volunteers were wonderful.''
Series MVP Jeff Parsons also praised the area.
``This is an awesome place,'' said the Clemson-bound Parsons. ``This is the best field I've ever played on, and I've played in a lot of tournaments. I plan to come back here on vacation.''
Alacosta, Calif., manager Joe DeProspero also plans to return to the Outer Banks.
``Our host families were wonderful,'' DeProspero said. ``I plan to come back to Manteo, even if it's on vacation.''
Concord, N.H., will host the 1997 16-18 World Series. ILLUSTRATION: DREW C. WILSON color photos/The Virginian-Pilot
Chris Patrick of Alacosta, Calif., slides safely into third base
under the tag of Donnie Ross of Nashville, Tenn.
The Nashville, Tenn., team celebrates after a home run by pitcher
Jeff Parsons gave them a 3-2 victory in the final inning. by CNB