Search the site:  
National News Video
Top Jobs
Science and Technology
Headlines   |   mouseover panels to open
World
Nation
State
Local
USC Aiken wary about possible pro ball return
6/9/2008 12:24 AM   0 comment(s) on this story E-mail this story to a friend



By CAM HUFFMAN

Sports Editor

Although there are plenty of teams and organizations lining up outside the gates of Roberto Hernandez Stadium begging to be given the keys to the field, it doesn't appear as though professional baseball will be returning to Aiken anytime soon.

When it officially closed shop in February, the South Coast League, which served as the summer tenant at Roberto Hernandez Stadium with the Aiken Foxhounds in 2007, expressed interest in returning in 2009. Since that time, other leagues, including the Atlantic Coast League of Professional Baseball, have indicated their desire to bring a team to Aiken, and it seems as though the question was not whether a team would be playing baseball in Aiken in 2009 but instead which team and which league it would be.

But according to USC Aiken Director of Athletics Randy Warrick, who ultimately holds the keys to the park, the locks will not be opened for any professional team anytime soon.

"I just don't see professional baseball coming to our campus in the foreseeable future," said Warrick, who admitted he has received inquiries from a number of interested leagues. "When the Foxhounds left, it was not on a positive note. The community plays such a big part in this university, and there were a lot of ill feelings with the way that things happened. We certainly understand that. We weren't pleased with the way things were left, and I just don't see us entering into another relationship like that in the foreseeable future. I just don't think it is going to happen."

Warrick said he entered into an agreement with the SCL - which had teams in Aiken, Anderson, Bradenton, Fla., Charlotte County, Fla., Macon, Ga., and Albany, Ga., in its inaugural season - with high hopes for both the community and university. "I thought from a community standpoint, Aiken has never had a professional team," said Warrick, who will enter his 23rd year as USCA's athletic director this fall. "This was something new that I thought people in Aiken would get excited about, and they did. I think the Foxhounds did a good job selling advertisements, they did a good job selling season tickets and if you came to their games they did a lot of things in the stands and on the field to keep things interesting. So from that aspect, they brought something to Aiken that Aiken has never had before.

"From a university perspective, the contract that we signed to have them use our facility, we made some money off of it," continued the University of North Carolina graduate. "So financially we were thinking it was going to be a good deal. We have a facility that is arguably one of the best facilities in the region, and the time that they wanted to use it is a time that we really don't use it. So it was an opportunity to use the facility and bring more people on campus. The more people that see our campus and see our stadium, it helps in other ways."

Having a professional team call the USCA campus home was also a tremendous benefit to Pacer athletes looking to continuing their playing careers after their college eligibility was up.

"If they got some of our local players, it is more of a community draw that helps them," said Warrick. "It was also another avenue for our players to get into professional baseball. They had a number of players that signed professional contracts (with affiliated organizations) from their league so that aspect worked."

As the initial excitement that came with the league's opening last May began to die down, though, it slowly became obvious that the league was in serious financial trouble. The staffs in the league's cities began to shrink, reports of bouncing checks began to filter in and as South Georgia's Peanuts ran away with the league's first championship, interest in the SCL began to disappear.

Then, in the offseason, the news only became worse. Bills went unpaid, contractual obligations were not met and the league's top management officials began to walk away at an alarming rate. As winter started to turn into spring and the promised 2009 season crept closer and closer, the league's ownership group decided year No. 2 was not going to be possible and a "temporary suspension" of the SCL was announced.

"Unfortunately they couldn't make the overall financial aspect work, and that is what led to them being shut down," said Warrick, who still hasn't seen any work done on the batting cage that the SCL promised to build at "The Bert." "I thought it was a win-win situation, but it just didn't turn out that way."

So with the sour taste of the SCL's failures still sitting on their taste buds, Warrick and USCA are simply not interested in going through the process again.

"For any league - whether it is a wooden bat league, a rookie league, an independent league or whatever - you still have to have the community support," Warrick concluded. "You still have to sell tickets. Right now that is not the right thing for the community. Whether it ever happens again at USC Aiken, I don't know, but for the foreseeable future I think the door is shut on anything like that."





Share this story:

                           


  0 comment(s) on this story

Comment on this story
Comment Title:
Enter your comment here:  
Your Name:
captcha d1640f7e1a514f238e51a93dc5a52cfe
Enter text seen above:
 
Special Sections View all special sections
Medical Minute brought to you by ARMC
Weddings
Just for Fun
Entertainment
Brides
Cook-Stimpson

Ashley Elizabeth Stimpson of Columbia and Paul Gregory Cook of Columbia were married Aug. 2, 2008, in Rutledge Chapel at the University of South Carolina. The bride was given in marriage by her fath ...
10/4/2008 9:04 PM
Bookings
Obituaries
Births
Science and Technology
copyright 2008 Aiken Standard, All Rights Reserved.