No one's crabby about baseball

Season in stadium scores a home run

Wednesday, Sept. 24, 2008

The inaugural season at Regency Furniture Stadium ended much the same way it started for the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs back in the spring.

An overflow crowd filled the seats, youngsters in team jerseys flooded the concourse and fans mobbed Brooks Robinson seeking the Hall of Famer's autograph. Best of all, the home team rallied for a 4-2 victory over the Bridgeport Bluefish, just like their come-from-behind 3-2 win over Lancaster in the May 2 home opener.

The victory pulled the Blue Crabs to within three games of first place; they finished one game shy of the playoffs. But wins and losses had little bearing on why team owner Peter Kirk sported a broad smile and seemed to walk with a bounce in his step at last Wednesday's home finale.

"We didn't have the opportunity to plan the season the way we normally do … and it still ended with a fantastic year on the field and off the field," said Kirk, a longtime front-office executive who initially pitched bringing an independent franchise to Southern Maryland in 2003.

Indeed, things are off to a good start if the first year is any measure. Attendance figures met expectations, fan reviews are generally positive and tax revenues are supposedly on target.

The state, Charles County and Kirk's ownership group, Opening Day Partners, invested nearly $8.5 million apiece to finance construction of the 4,500-seat ballpark in St. Charles. A portion of concession proceeds, advertising revenues, naming rights and more that will help pay off the county's debt on the stadium has reached its first-year projection, said Kirk, who declined to elaborate or provide financial records.

"All of the numbers are right where we expect them to be," he said.

Local politicians who faced strong opposition in backing the project that was initially planned for Hughesville also gave high marks on the inaugural season and are confident that the investment will prove fruitful.

"I think it's working out exactly as promised by the owners, and I think the county should be very happy and the state should be very happy," said Del. Murray D. Levy (D-Charles), who was county commissioners' president when the project was first put on the table. "It's very gratifying. There's lots of decisions you make as an elected official that are difficult and not popular and also decisions you make that don't turn out as you anticipated. This is none of the above. It turned out exactly as we hoped and I think the citizens are very happy with this."

Despite opponents' calls that the stadium was a waste of taxpayer dollars, Levy maintained that it was a wise investment

"It's a $26 million facility that cost Charles County $8 million," echoed Kirk. "That's not a bad business deal."

But some fans are reserving judgment about the team's future profitability.

"I guess time will tell if it brings in the revenue it projects for it to be worthwhile," said Pat Suit of California, who attended about 10 games this season.

Such a wait-and-see attitude is standard, said Kirk, joking that even the venerable 57-year-old FirstEnergy Stadium in Reading, Pa., home of the double-A Philadelphia Phillies farm club, probably still has its doubting Thomases.

Kirk is counting on fans like Suit to ensure that the first-year honeymoon doesn't subside. The attendance of more than 225,000 — a per-game average of just below 3,300 — ranked sixth in the eight-team Atlantic League, but that's about what Kirk expected for a market that lacks daily media coverage and a site that is a bit off the beaten path. Turnout for a half-dozen weekday games didn't crack 2,000.

The limited press exposure might prove to be the team's greatest long-term challenge.

"This is a word-of-mouth market," he said. "We expect that attendance and support will build over time."

La Plata resident Peter Hanke was skeptical about the project's merits when it was proposed, but came to see its value this year. Although the season finale was only the second game Hanke attended — he went to the REO Speedwagon concert in August — he believes the stadium can enhance the area's quality of life without being a fiscal liability.

"I wasn't a big fan at first, but seeing it and the great response, it looks like it could be a win-win," he said. "This is a great facility, and I think it will definitely show its worth over time."

As chairwoman of the Southern Maryland Travel and Tourism Committee, Kim Cullins has similarly high hopes that the stadium can be an entertainment draw for visitors, as well as locals.

"I only see this growing and getting better," said Cullins, who lives in Helen. "It takes a few years for any program to grow and for the word of mouth to get around."

Still, the inaugural season had a few bumps early on, even though much of the early opposition to the stadium had waned.

On opening day, the use and occupancy permit was obtained only hours before the first pitch and the unfinished parking lot forced cars to park along the shoulder of Piney Church Road for a mile in both directions. Inside, the permanent concession stands and a bumper boat pool beyond the centerfield fence were not ready.

But those shortcomings were minor compared to the inaugural game at York's Sovereign Bank Stadium in 2007. There, parking was limited, makeshift trailers served as the teams' clubhouses, construction vehicles were parked on a dirt hill beyond the right-field wall and the entire upper deck was off limits.

Much of the unfinished work at Regency Furniture Stadium went unnoticed by the opening day crowd and would be completed by the next homestand. The team only sold 10-year corporate licenses to 10 of the stadium's 16 skyboxes, but the other six were rented out to various groups on a nightly basis, so no revenue was lost, Kirk said.

About the only thing that didn't go according to script was the close-but-no-cigar hunt for the playoffs. The Blue Crabs finished in second place during both halves of the season, four games back of Camden in the first half and only one game behind Long Island in the second half.

Still, Kirk was pleased with the team's overall performance.

"With an expansion club, usually it's a couple years before they get the chemistry right, to get the players used to each other and used to playing in the league," he said. "To get within one game [of the playoffs] was pretty phenomenal."

And baseball was only part of the equation. More than 4,000 people attended the REO Speedwagon concert in August and thousands more came to a two-day music festival that featured country star Gary Allan on Saturday and funk band Kool & the Gang on Sunday.

Blue Crabs fan Scott Creelman, who attended between 15 and 20 games this season, doesn't expect enthusiasm to slide after one year. It's closer to home for local families, more affordable than going to regional major league ballparks. "You can bring your family here and not go broke," Creelman said.