In Ft. Worth, Jeff Wilson wrote the City of Surprise, Ariz., has “approved the funding of improvements” to the Rangers’ Spring Training home, “a deal that will keep” the team in the facility through ‘29. The city will spend $21.9M on improvements that “will also be made” on the Royals’ facility at the Surprise Recreation Campus. Work “could begin as soon as June 1 and will be completed by Feb. 1.” These will be the “first capital improvements since the facility opened” in ‘03. The Rangers will “get a new major-league clubhouse, a new weight room and a new multi-purpose room, in addition to other upgrades to office space and a media room” (STAR-TELEGRAM.com, 5/19).
BABY YOU'RE A FIREWORK: Reds VP/Ballpark Operations Tim O’Connell said that the right-side smokestack at Great American Ball Park, which caught fire last Friday, “has been inspected and given the OK by engineers.” O'Connell: “It was a malfunction in the actual firework itself that caused the fire. It's a lift charge, a charge that that lifts the firework into the air, that malfunctioned.” He added that “there was no damage to the structure itself” (CINCINNATI ENQUIRER, 5/20).
STICKING TO THE PLAN: Rhode Island House Speaker Nicholas Mattiello yesterday said that the Triple-A Int’l League Pawtucket Red Sox following the death of team President James Skeffington are “committed to following through with plans to build a new stadium on the Providence River.” Mattiello said that the state “must now issue a counterproposal to team owners after rejecting their initial offer.” He added that PawSox Principal Owner Larry Lucchino told him the franchise “is not entertaining offers or ‘actively looking’ at options from other communities" (PROVIDENCE JOURNAL, 5/20).
