Asheville – McCormick Field has fallen short of the new standards Major League Baseball (MLB) has set for its affiliated minor league teams. The City of Asheville, which has owned the stadium for all but 20 years over the last century, was therefore given a choice: perform the necessary renovations or risk having the team transferred to a municipality that will.
Asheville and the team’s owners, DeWine Seeds-Silver Dollar Baseball, LLC, have been in negotiations with MLB since the new standards were issued in 2020. They agreed that if the city would only commit to funding the upgrades by the original deadline, April 1, and completing the upgrades within two additional years, DeWine could keep its license and remain in Asheville.
The city is now reaching out to find partners to help foot the bill. The most obvious partnership would be with DeWine, so the city expects they’ll sign a new lease agreement before the boys of summer are gone. Terms to which the team has already agreed include managing parking for all events at the stadium and, respectful of the city’s noise ordinance, revoking its request for more evenings with fireworks. The city is also angling to get the team to manage the nearby Memorial Stadium, for which the city has committed $4.4 million in capital improvements.
The city’s staff report says the team has committed to staying in Asheville for at least 22 more years. During that time, the tourists will pay the city at least $450,000 a year in rent and spend at least $75,000 a year on capital improvements. The report also claims, “The economic impact of the Asheville Tourists baseball team is very positive for local businesses at $9.8 million annually to Buncombe County.”
For its part, the City of Asheville is committing to invest $19 million in capital improvements for McCormick Field, payable over the next 20 years. Mayor Esther Manheimer told the over 1,700 people who had emailed pleas to councilmembers to save the Tourists should forward their requests to the legislative delegation because the city is lobbying the state for funding. She said that tourist games were one of the few events in town where families could enjoy wholesome entertainment.
Councilwoman Maggie Ullman said she had changed her mind about the funding. One of her first questions was, “If we say yes, what are we going to have to say no to? That’s just fiscal responsibility.” Secondly, “We have a long list of needs, and, just to be real, is baseball a top priority? … Where I have landed is that we do have so many challenges in our community, but we can’t only focus on the problems. We need to invest in the good things, too, or they’ll tarnish.”
Thirdly, she wanted to know if the price was right. She approached the tourists and requested financial records—twice. “I assure you, the tourists are not Scrooge McDuck sitting on a pool full of doubloons… When they make money, they invest it back into the team. They’re making an honest living. They’re a good community partner.”
Councilwoman Kim Roney called her peers out for framing the issue as a false dichotomy. She said the community could keep the stadium and play baseball without the Tourists. The tourists were capitalists seeking public dollars. Minor League Baseball was an industry that “extracted the labor of players.” Then she concluded, saying she could “root for the home team,” and that was why she was going to support a vastly improved contract.
The public comment was festive. People wore their tourists’ gear and spoke nostalgically.
Bob Kearney counseled the council to negotiate. For example, he said they should reduce their capital investment to $15 million and get the tourists to pay one-third of the total. Secondly, the city could collect tens of millions of dollars by leasing naming rights for the stadium. Thirdly, he said, the council should “reject any contractual requirement that forces the city to make future, unspecified capital improvements. Just collect the rent.”
It was Leo Capelli who stole the show, though. The young tyke evoked chuckles with precocious remarks like, “In fact, some of my fondest life memories involve watching baseball at the oldest baseball stadium in minor league baseball,” and “Nothing is more magical than seeing those fireworks exploding in the warm Asheville summer nights over McCormick Field.”
He then told how his parents had used the baseball games to teach life skills. “The best is if you catch a game on Friday night during the summer. If you time it just right, you need to head over to the Dippin’ Dots stand about 40 minutes before the first firework can go off.”
He told how his dad gives him and his brother $7 to spend at each game. “Did you know the most efficient way to spend $14 is to make sure you go on Dollar Dog Night? You convince your brother to split peanuts with you. Then, you can both still get your own Dippin’ Dots. Did you know you could teach financial literacy at a baseball game?”
Leo spoke about “rights of passage,” like the first time he got to go to a concession stand on his own. He then implored members of the council, if they wouldn’t save the tourists for his sake, to save them so his little brothers could enjoy “the same magical experiences” he had.
The council approved the measure unanimously. Then, Manheimer invited the fans in the audience to attend the Buncombe County Commissioners’ meeting the following week, where they would vote on pitching in $5 million for the Tourists.