Double A Round Rock Express Owner Nolan Ryan was
interviewed by CBS' Bryant Gumbel on "The Early Show." Ryan
noted previous failed attempts to bring minor league
baseball to Central TX and said this time, "the timing was
right." He said he went to the community and presented the
team as "a partnership. ... We weren't coming in and asking
one of the communities just to build us a ballpark and then
we would come." Ryan's son Reid is the team's President &
CEO (CBS, 4/17). In Dallas, Bill Campbell writes that the
home debut of the Express Sunday "was more cultural landmark
than pennant chase," as "its moments will be remembered for
their community significance, not as baseball
accomplishment." The debut brought pro baseball to Central
TX for the first time in 30 years (DALLAS MRN NEWS, 4/18).
OTHER NOTES: In Baltimore, Peter Schmuck wrote that the
IBL announced the completion of the deal (see THE DAILY,
2/29) that makes Orioles 3B Cal Ripken Jr. sole owner of the
BayRunners. Ripken had originally purchased 10% of the club
in October, and bought the remaining 90% of the team from
the league, which had owned the team. Although specifics of
the agreement weren't disclosed, the IBL said that Ripken
will continue to head the BayRunners' radio and TV
promotional campaign (Baltimore SUN, 4/13)....In Orlando,
Susan Strother writes that the Orlando Predators Ent., which
owns the AFL Predators, "scored" its first profit as a
public company, earning $215,355, or $0.04 per share, in
'99, as revenue increased 37% to $5.1M, compared with a loss
of $884,341 in '98. The team is the only publicly held
franchise in the 17-team league (ORLANDO SENTINEL, 4/18).
ROUND-UP: In UT, Amy Donaldson writes that the IHL MI
K-Wings, the league's oldest franchise, "went out of
business," as team Owner Ted Parfet said that he will ask
the league to put the team "on inactive status" (DESERET
NEWS, 4/17)....In Pittsburgh, Paul Zeise wrote that the NLL
CrosseFire must "figure out whether a second season in
Pittsburgh is going to become a reality." The team sold
"only about" 1,000 season tickets and averaged "right
around" 4,800 fans per game, "far short of the goals they
set before the season." CrosseFire GM Dave Huntley: "We
wanted to be successful on the field and in the box office,
and to be honest, we were neither" (POST-GAZETTE, 4/16).
