Minor league baseball in Cape?

~ Two experts say that Cape could become a successful minor league baseball town.

The slow-moving traffic to the riverfront stadium offers the biggest headache for baseball fans on a lazy summer evening, but it's really more just an inconvenience.

After all, the Cape Girardeau Cardinals are in town, an affiliate of the major league club in St. Louis, and fans are eager to watch future Cardinals greats take their cuts at the new ballpark along the Mississippi River in Cape Girardeau.

A minor league baseball team with a new stadium in Cape sounds beyond wishful thinking to most, but steps are being taken to make it a reality.

"For the very first time, the prospects have the possibility of becoming reality," Cape Girardeau Mayor Jay Knudtson said. "In the past, in some respects, they have been pipe dreams. Now I think the prospects are much more encouraging and I could anticipate at some time really formalizing that effort and possibly being in a situation where we evaluate two or three different offers."

Knudtson warned against anyone getting too excited, saying that the process is still in its infancy. But there have been discussions about bringing minor league baseball to Cape, and two experts agreed that Cape has the potential to thrive as a minor league baseball community.

Marvin Goldklang serves as chairman of the Goldklang Group, which owns five minor league baseball teams and manages many others. He said there are three factors that must be considered when determining if a city can support a team.

Goldklang said the most important factor is the market, which he defined as the area within 20 miles of the proposed stadium. According to the 2000 U.S. Census, Cape boasted a population of 35,349 people and Cape Girardeau County was home to 68,693 people.

Cape's numbers stack up well with two minor league baseball leagues located in the Midwest, the independent Frontier League and the Class A Midwest League. Cape is larger than eight of the 12 cities in the Frontier League, although two of those eight cities are suburbs of St. Louis. Cape is larger than four of the 14 cities in the Midwest League and is nearly the same size as one other city in the league.

Plus, since the nearest large city to Cape is more than 90 minutes away, that's another point in Cape's favor, said Robert Tuchman, the president of TSE Sports and Entertainment, which works to market sports events.

"There's not a lot of competition," Tuchman said. "If there isn't that competition, then that's a first and foremost thing that's going to be able to put you in a space where you can do well and compete because there's really no competition."

But there's more to consider than straight population numbers and the lack of entertainment-based businesses that would offer competition. Goldklang said it's also important to look at the support the local business community would offer, a factor that's difficult to measure.

"You take a look at the ... business community, the existence of the kind of advertisers who would be interested in advertising to the demographic that a minor league baseball game would attract," he said.

The second factor on Goldklang's list is the facility where the team would play. Capaha Park serves as Cape's primary baseball field, but Knudtson said there's no way the tradition-rich park could support a minor league team.

"Capaha Field simply can't do it and shouldn't do it. It's our city field and gets a tremendous amount of play right now the way it is," Knudtson said. "So the field has always been the largest impediment. But most recently there's been some real solid discussions with some very capable folks that might be able to bring that dream to reality. We're in the midst of those discussions now, the very early stages of that."

There are two potential locations for a new stadium. One would be on the Mississippi River, near the Bill Emerson Memorial Bridge. The other would be near the new Interstate 55 interchange on the north side of Cape.

"There have been some dreams that if they could come true, they would be amazing dreams with the bridge overlook and the river overlook and that kind of thing," Knudtson said. "Clearly something along the river is one possibility.

"The new interchange that's going in to the north, that development is going to be a massive development and the discussions I have with that developer, every time I hang up the phone I'm just excited and the sky's the limit of what that development might include. I think we have a couple different areas that could lend itself to it. The good news is we are having meaningful discussion about it."

Even if a site is agreed upon for a new stadium, the cost would be a huge obstacle to overcome. Goldklang said the cost depends on the type of team, whether it's affiliated with Major League Baseball, meaning a farm team for a big league club, or an independent league, one without any ties to Major League Baseball. While a Class A team, especially one affiliated with the St. Louis Cardinals, would be appealing, the cost to build a new stadium would be considerably more.

"At the [Class] A level these days, to build a facility that would be suitable, you're probably looking at something that would be upwards of $15 million, absolute minimum and very likely more than that," Goldklang said. "The minimum range is probably $15 to 20 million, but most new [Class] A level facilities cost more than that.

"Independent baseball really has no defined facility standards, so the ballpark is usually what the owner, the league and the community can agree upon. Very often you can find an independent professional baseball facility constructed at maybe 25 percent, if not more than that, less than it would cost the community to build a ballpark for an affiliated team."

Arranging the funding for a project that size would be daunting and likely take a combination of private and public funds to pull it off.

"It would probably be very difficult to expect a private entreprenuer and or developer to come in here and completely fund something like that without any public assistance," Knudtson said. "On the other hand, I think you would be perhaps unrealistic for the public sector or the city to construct something like that solely on its own for the use of some team or organization.

"In the end, I'm sure it will have some type of balance and some type of revenue share and some type of public/private component that comes together to hopefully create an atmosphere that can be attractive and can serve this community and region for a long time to come."

Knudtson said he was unsure if state funds would be available, but did say he would view a potential stadium the same way he'd view any other business moving into town that created scores of jobs.

"While it has the recreational component to it, I've always believed that that's what we need to do to really separate ourself and the region, is to leverage a recreational theme," he said. "I know that things such as a lake and that kind of thing were very controversial years ago. But the impact they have are undeniable."

The final component Goldklang says is crucial to success is the right leadership group. He said it's important to have experienced people who know how to run a successful business.

"There are lots of operators in minor league baseball who are very, very good and who are capable of maximizing the potential of a ballpark in a given market," Goldklang said. "But there are many operators who are relatively inexperienced or have not been successful or otherwise who will not run the same quality of operations."

Knudtson said there is no leadership group in place and forming a serious group is one of the next steps in the process of bringing a team to Cape.

"At this time, it has been a real focused effort on the part of myself, the Chamber [of Commerce] and some of the economic development folks around here," Knudtson said. "The discussions have been informal."

The mayor admits that the success of the Southern Illinois Miners in Marion, Ill., has helped fuel his passion for bringing a minor league team to Cape. The Miners are competing in their inaugural season in the independent Frontier League. They lead the league in attendance, drawing an average of 5,134 fans through 20 home games this season. That's almost 1,000 more fans than second-place Traverse City, Mich.

Knudtson, like many others, cautions against getting too excited about the success in Marion, since the novelty hasn't warn off yet. The true test will come in three or four years, when going to see the stadium is no longer a fresh experience. But even then, Knudtson said having a minor league team in town boosts people's spirit.

"It gives people something to cheer about," he said. "It gives people something to feel good about. I don't think a lot of people understand. It isn't so much that I'm this frustrated jock who just loves sports and wants to make sure sports survive. I think it's what it does to us from an emotional standpoint. It gives us something to feel good about."

One decision that would have to be made would be to pursue an affiliated team, one that serves as a farm team for a major league club, or an independent league team, like the Southern Illinois Miners. While the cost associated with building the facility would likely serve as the determining factor, Knudtson said he's had discussion with the St. Louis Cardinals about a relationship with a team in Cape.

"The Cardinals are very much aware of where Cape Girardeau is and we have had discussions with the Cardinal organization in some respects about the possibility of some kind of affiliated relationship," Knudtson said. "The Cardinals are very big on building a foundation for some of their foreign players and acclimating them to the American way and language. There's some talk about a possible relationship that might exist there.

"I think the right relationship clearly would be with the Cardinals, given our geographic location and the fact that it's pretty undeniable, other than a few rogue Cubs fans, who the people pull for around here. But there's a lot that has to come together for that."

The Swing of the Quad Cities, located in Davenport, Iowa, currently serves as the Cardinals' Class A affiliate in the Midwest League. The Swing, which has drawn an average of 2,010 fans through 34 games this season, ranks 10th in the 14-team league in attendance. The Swing became the Cardinals' Class A affiliate in 2005.

Goldklang said that having a team with major league ties isn't always the perfect fit for a community. He said some communities rally around a winner, which is easier to create in an independent league than an affiliated league.

"In independent ball, there is a greater focus on winning or losing than there is in affiliated baseball, where teams obviously take the field to win, but the overriding objective is to develop players rather than win particular ballgames," he said. "In independent baseball, the focus is solely on winning baseball games. If you have a town ball type of culture or history in a particular community, it may be that in that type of community, independent baseball may be more attractive."

The Capahas have been a fixture in Cape since 1894 and is believed to be the nation's oldest amateur baseball team. Jess Bolen, the team's manager in his 41st season, wouldn't be opposed to a minor league team in Cape. He said his team draws well and Southeast Missouri State's baseball team brings in fans, but he's uncertain how a minor league team would fare in Cape.

"Whether it could draw, I don't know. Why not if it was a good product and everything?" he said.

Knudtson said a potential minor league team would not replace the Capahas. He said a new team in town would actually help create more excitement about baseball and likely help the Capahas.

"I just don't see any negativity that could come about from anything as it pertains to the Capahas," Knudtson said. "They are and will be our premier amateur baseball team."

Of course if an independent league team ended up in Cape, it would have to play at a much higher level than the Capahas to draw fans' interest. Otherwise, it could be questioned if the money was worth it to add another team and a stadium when Cape already boasts a successful amateur team.

Whether Cape ended up with a farm team for the Cardinals, a farm team for another big league team or an independent league team, Goldklang and Tuchman agreed that the team's success in the community would be tied to the marketing department.

"They'd have their work cut out for them with promotions and catering to neighboring towns and driving people in there from other areas," Tuchman said. "The most important thing is the community support and the promotions. It's the other stuff, not so much the game."

For now, baseball enthusiasts in Cape will have to get their fill from the Plaza Tire Capahas and the various American Legion and Babe Ruth leagues that fill the area's fields. But if Knudtson has his wish, that will change over the next year to year and a half.

"I assure you nothing is even close to being inked," Knudtson said. "But I assure you that we are working our butts off to get something inked."