[SRQ Baseball] Orioles Fly Away


Sarasota has officially struck out with a third Major League franchise. The Baltimore Orioles officially turned down a Sarasota County Commission proposal to renovate Ed Smith Stadium for spring training. Deputy county administrator Dave Bullock said government efforts now focused on other areas.

“Baseball, with one team or another, has consumed us for months,” said Bullock, who was also involved in talks with the Cincinnati Reds and Boston Red Sox. “We’re not consumed for now, and that allows us to think about things that matter like budgets, the economy and many other things like making government more efficient.”

Ed Smith Stadium’s future is in question, as the Reds are expected to leave after 2009 spring training is done. The team has an option to stay through 2010. The city, which budgeted $845,000 in operating and maintenance costs for Ed Smith Stadium this year, has talked of selling the stadium for a county recreational site, though no genuine discussion has begun.

“If you keep it at major league standards, it is an expensive enterprise,” said city spokeswoman Jan Thornburg.

While Bullock said the Orioles did not close the door should a new offer be proposed, the team has offers from Fort Lauderdale and Vero Beach, and is talking with Fort Myers. No other teams seem in a position to move, Bullock said. “But if there is one we’ll hear about it,” Bullock said.

SRQ [Statistics] Realtors See Boost in Sales

Pending sales of properties stood at 504 in November, according to the Sarasota Association of Realtors. That number is a slight boost from 489 pending sales in November 2007. The association said pending sales for the first 11 months of the year were slightly better than 2007—4,250 this year compared to 4,214 last year. Condominium sales, however, are down 20.6 percent this year.

"I think if they (the Orioles) had their druthers, they would like to come here." - Ken Shelin, Sarasota City Commissioner.

A push to bring Baltimore Orioles spring training to Sarasota got several boosts this week, most recently with a vote by the Tourism Development Council recommending Sarasota County Commissioners increase the bed tax by a quarter cent to pay for needed renovations of Ed Smith Stadium.

City Commissioner Ken Shelin said the council was largely wooed by a promise to bring a Cal Ripken Baseball Academy to the area.

But even if commissioners take that advice, the county falls short of the $65 million asking price suggested by the team.

The Sarasota County Legislative Delegation voted on Friday on a resolution sponsored by Rep. Doug Holder to support efforts to bring the team here. Holder worried that if efforts to lure a team here to replace the Cincinnati Reds fail, Sarasota would lose its standings in the Grapefruit League.

“I think this is a critical part of the economy,” Holder said. The resolution won the support of all local lawmakers except Sen. Mike Bennett, who said the issue was for the county and city officials to decide.

More public negotiating is likely this Wednesday, when the County Commission meets to discuss the potential bed tax hike. The county previously had discussed a half-cent increase in an attempt to lure the Boston Red Sox.

Vero Beach has also been wooing Baltimore and set a deadline for the Orioles to respond to an undisclosed offer by Monday. But team attorney Alan Rifken was in Sarasota Monday and no response was sent. Indian River County commissioners are expected today to begin soliciting other occupants for Dodgertown stadium

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