UPDATE MAY 27: Well, it seemed like a good idea at the time! The proposed sale of the Batavia Muckdogs is off. It would have created the first pro baseball team to have majority Black ownership, but the deal fell through because other entities (perhaps the Orioles, the Eastern League or the Carolina League — or all three) refused to waive their territorial rights to Waldorf, Maryland, which is where the franchise would’ve moved.
The Rochester Democrat & Chronicle newspaper has the full report.
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ORIGINAL REPORT: It’s been a common occurrence across the baseball landscape to have a franchise in an independent league take up residence in a ballpark vacated by affiliated Minor League Baseball. Many notable parks have been saved from the wrecking ball because an indy team became a tenant.
The tables could turn, because a New York Penn League (NYPL) club could be moving to an indy park. The Batavia Muckdogs, who’ve had a for-sale sign out for many years, could be sold to a group of investors based in Washington, D.C. According to Baseball America, these prospective owners would like to move the Muckdogs to Regency Furniture Stadium in Waldorf, currently the home of the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs of the independent Atlantic League. Read More