Major League Baseball coming to the Brick

[Patrick]

"Games announced for spring
Posted: Tuesday, November 16, 2004
OKCBusness NewsWire

Games announced for spring

Today, the Oklahoma Centennial Commission announced two pre-season exhibition games between the National League Champion St. Louis Cardinals and American League's Baltimore Orioles to be played at SBC Bricktown Ballpark in Oklahoma City March 31 and April 1 at 7:05 p.m. Crowds on both evenings will enjoy many surprises and several special guest appearances.

"This official Centennial project is a tribute to our state's great history in baseball and the many contributions Oklahoma has made to this great American sport, known as our national pastime," said Lee Allan Smith, Chairman of Centennial Projects and Events. Oklahoma baseball heroes "Diamond" Jim Gentile, former Orioles first baseman who hit five grand slams in 1961 and held this AL record until 1987, and Yankee great Bobby Murcer who drove in 102 runs in 1972, attended the news conference.

Tickets ranging from $25 to $50 will go on sale December 2 and can be purchased at www.oklahomaredhawks.com or by calling 218-1000.

In accepting the exhibition game invitation, St. Louis Cardinals President Mark Lamping said, "The entire Cardinals organization is pleased to be coming to Oklahoma to play in your magnificent ballpark. Our owner Bill DeWitt is especially proud to have the championship team play in Oklahoma, the home of so many baseball heroes and Hall of Famers."

Baltimore Orioles CEO Joe Foss responded, "We are glad to come to the great state of Oklahoma to help celebrate the state's upcoming 100th birthday in 2007."

These two franchises have a storied history. The Baltimore Orioles franchise was the original St. Louis Browns, who won the 1944 American League pennant. Later that year, the St. Louis Browns and St. Louis Cardinals battled for the World Series Championship. In 1953, the St. Louis Browns was sold to Baltimore, putting an end to the team's 52-year history.

"These Major League Baseball exhibition games could not happen without the cooperation of Oklahoma RedHawks' majority owner Bob Funk, managing general partner Sen. Scott Pruitt and assistant general manager John Allgood. We appreciate the RedHawks not only for making this facility available, but for all of their wonderful cooperation," said Blake Wade, Executive Director of the Oklahoma Centennial Commission.

Smith and Wade also expressed great appreciation for the cooperation from the City of Oklahoma City, and especially Mayor Mick Cornett.

Mayor Cornett responded, "My special thanks go to the Oklahoma Centennial for helping to bring Major League Baseball to Oklahoma City. As a community we continue to reap the benefits of MAPS and other civic initiatives. Obviously, this opportunity contributes and adds to the high quality of life that we all enjoy in Oklahoma City."

The presenters of the Oklahoma Centennial Major League Baseball games are Kerr-McGee Energy Corporation, The Oklahoman and Integrated Medical Delivery. BancFirst is a sponsor of the games, along with American Airlines, the official airlines of the Centennial.

"We'd like to give a special thank you to the generous Oklahoma Centennial sponsors who are already providing families with opportunities to celebrate our state's milestone in 2007,” Wade said.

[Patrick]

I'm always glad to see major league sporting events come to our city. It gives us an opportunnity to show our support for major league sporting events in our city. If we support it well, hopefully some day, someone will notice.

We can thank our good mayor Mick Cornett for bringing this to town. I figured having Mick as our mayor would help lure major sporting events to our city. Why? Because that's his area of interest! Afterall, he started out as a sportscaster!

[Luke]

Very cool!

[Midtowner]

We had the Yankees here last year.

We also hosted an NBA exhibition recently at the Ford Center.

As of right now, I don't think Oklahoma City could support a major league franchise -- especially baseball. I don't think we have the facilities or the money to get it done.

[Patrick]

You're definitely right about not being able to support MLB. There's so way we could put 40,000 bodies in a stadium each night to watch so many baseball games. How many are there in a season.....like 45 home games? I'm all in favor of keeping the Redhawks!

And with NHL being in the shape it is.....we're probably better holding off for now. NBA could be a possiblity, but we've had some failures with basketball over the years, namely, the Cavs! I don't really see a bright future for the Ballhawgs either, especially with them playing at Millwood High School.

At this point, maybe we could just move our hockey team up a level. The American Hockey League would be nice.

At some point we need to try to land one major league team.....hockey seems to be the most successful sport in town, but unfortunately, the NHL just isn't a good investment right now.