To pull off a successful suicide squeeze, a runner at third takes off at the same time the pitcher winds up for his throw, hoping the batter can bunt the ball well enough for him to score. A botched play could easily result in two unnecessary outs.
Likewise, a series of very specific actions must occur in a very specific order if the Tucson region wants to keep professional baseball teams coming in March each year.
 Pima County told the Diamondbacks Wednesday that they’d have to stay at TEP if two teams play in Tucson. Nicholas Smith photo |
Both the Rockies and Diamondbacks indicated it was the number of teams currently training in Tucson that led them to the decision.
Last week, on June 24, Pima County responded to the Diamondbacks saying their agreement requires the team to remain at Tucson Electric Park (TEP) through 2012 as long as at least two professional teams play in the city and that the county would block any attempt to leave before then.
Meanwhile, the Pima County Sports and Tourism Authority is continuing to pursue the idea of a three-team complex to be built in Marana that would be used to lure more teams to the region.
A bill that would allow Pima County voters to decide to fund this through a series of tax increases cleared the state House of Representatives June 22. It still needs approval from both the Senate and governor. Still to be decided is how money raised from the taxes would be spent.
“I think it’s real premature to talk about solely the option of a three-team Spring Training facility in Marana,” said Pima County Administrator Chuck Huckelberry, adding he considers the Diamondbacks’ TEP facilities to be in the top 10 percent of Major League Baseball training parks.
TEP won’t sit empty for the time being, the county is currently looking at proposals to have other tournaments and training at the 2500 E. Ajo Way facility.
“With youth and amateur sports, it’s collegiate teams or tournament teams that families are heavily invested in, so they generally travel with the teams and rent hotel rooms and eat meals at restaurants just as much as those who go to Spring Training,” Huckelberry said.
Of the $5 million the White Sox paid to the county, $300,000 has been allocated over two years to the Pima County Sports and Tourism Authority to attract professional teams and youth and amateur events.
TEP costs about $1.4 million to operate each year, with money coming from the team, rental taxes and vehicle and bed taxes. TEP takes in $4.2 million in revenue, but must also pay $3 million as debt service until 2018, meaning that unless tourism levels pick up, TEP will be running at a deficit of about $200,000 annually.
Another group that might feel the affects of baseball leaving are the resurrected Tucson Toros, now in their inaugural season as an independent minor league team.
The Toros play at the city’s Hi Corbett Field in Reid Park, which is also the Cactus League home of the Rockies. To keep it more appealing to players and fan-friendly the Colorado team asked the city upgrade Hi Corbett, which was originally built in 1937 and remodeled in 1972.
The plan unveiled in March to build a three-team facility in Marana included $15 million on renovations to Hi Corbett, including a new scoreboard, seating behind the outfield and upgraded clubhouses for the teams.
The upgrades would be “critical for the business function, but not critical for the facility,” said Tucson Parks and Recreation Deputy Director John Sefton, adding voter-approved Spring Training taxes would be the only funding source for the improvements.
Hi Corbett will cost the city $737,000 to maintain next fiscal year.
Though the Diamondbacks and Rockies plan to be in the Phoenix area for Spring Training 2011, there is still the possibility of luring more of the 15 teams remaining in Florida. Although some of the argument for leaving Tucson concerns the drive between Tucson and Phoenix, that could wind up being a selling-point trying to win over a team that’s currently training in the Grapefruit League.
“A lot of the teams that are leaving Florida are having huge drives,” said Marana Mayor Ed Honea. “They’re all up in the east and west coast of Florida. What’s happening is every one of those towns that has a team are an hour, two hours apart. Actually the drive from the Marana area to Phoenix would be half the drive that a lot of these teams have in Florida.”
Earlier this month, the sports authority sent the Baltimore Orioles a proposal to move to Tucson to train. Persuading one more team to move to Arizona from Florida would for the first time tip the balance toward the Cactus League with more teams.
Still, adding a new facility in an area of Marana that is planning an adjacent shopping center and auto mall would put the northwest side municipality even more on the sporting map.
“I think this could be a tremendous boost for our region,” Honea said. “Not only will it provide several hundred jobs to build our facilities… but it would generate a lot of jobs for years to come, whether it be through youth sports, professional baseball and bringing softball and soccer tournaments here.”
Contact reporter Nicholas Smith at nsmith@azbiz.com or (520) 295-4238.
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