August 29, 2004


Readers  want

“A” league  ball

Downtown ballpark

EDITOR: Real baseball back in Sonoma County! What a concept. Santa Rosa has long contemplated the way to create a vibrant downtown core area. These ideals could become a reality if our city leaders got behind this idea and figured out a way to make it happen. I say, forget the food and wine center and build it in
Railroad Square
.

M. PALMERCO
Santa Rosa

Ready for baseball

EDITOR: Great article on minor-league baseball. I was one of the original season ticket holders with the Crushers -- at one time I controlled 12 seats for the full season and I ended up with 8 -- probably making me the best customer in the WBL.

I attended a Sacramento River Cats game last year and was really impressed with the facility. It was night and day different from
Rohnert Park's funky stadium. I believe that Sonoma County would really respond well to a stadium of Sacramento's quality, although I do understand that a Class A baseball facility would not be as elaborate as Class AAA.

I would like to suggest
Doyle Park as a site. It already hosts a baseball stadium with night lights and parking. The whole thing seems feasible to me if you have support on the Santa Rosa City Council. Considering the revenue this would bring to the city, I think you could find the support.

GLEN HUNTSBERGER
Santa Rosa

EDITOR'S NOTE: Pro sports are not allowed at
Doyle Park as part of an agreement reached when the land was donated to the City of Santa Rosa.

Casino site ideal

EDITOR: I imagine that a few people, besides myself, will suggest that the new stadium be sited next to the new casino/resort hotel near

Stony Point Road
and Rohnert Park Expressway.

I was a season ticket holder with the Crushers every season, the foggy weather could be a factor some evenings but that would be an issue wherever the new facility was placed near 101. The Native Americans involved might even be willing to become partners in and/or developers of the stadium. I sure hope that it works out somewhere around here!

CLIFTON BUCK-KAUFFMAN
Cotati


Why not LBC?

EDITOR: I would love to see a minor-league stadium, and I think a location that deserves attention would be at the Luther Burbank Center for the Performing Arts. They could share parking, and it would give them a ready-made facility for outdoor concerts. If they built it on the south side it would be away from the neighborhood that is having difficulty with the noise.I think a stadium would be a very complementary facility for the LBC, but of course I'm biased, since it would be within walking distance for me.

BRIAN BERTOLI
Santa Rosa

A call for action

EDITOR: Bravo for the folks who still want to make minor-league baseball happen here. What about all that land just beyond the new housing subdivisions along Stony Point Road, right after Northpoint Parkway? It seems possible that with housing nearby, the sewer and water needs would be addressable. The freeway access is present, and Starbucks, a sure sign of cosmopolitan development, just went in nearby.

It would be a much better use of that land than present, which, near as I can tell, consists of locked "evidence" bunkers that, aside from providing shelter for the homeless, serve no other purpose other than to be a dark and useless place no sensible person should go. I understand that this land might be protected as "open space," rendering it untouchable. If so, that's sad.

MATTHEW T. WITTHAUS
Santa Rosa

New independent league

Editor: I read Ralph Leef's column and I think Sonoma County can and would support minor-league baseball. A ballpark in downtown Santa Rosa would be wonderful but not practical. I think something up toward the airport by Windsor could work or even back to Rohnert Park. There is a new independent league forming that you might check out on the Web ... www.goldenbaseball.com. They look like they may play at some of the old Western Baseball League sites.

GERRY RAMSEY
Santa Rosa

Perfect for families

EDITOR: I read with great enthusiasm Ralph Leef's articles about the potential for Class A professional baseball in Sonoma County. I was able to attend a couple of Crushers games with my 3-year-old son a few years ago. It was a delightful experience! The environment was perfect for kids with the silly entertainment and the cute mascots. The baseball was fun, and the players very talented.

I was really looking forward to taking both my boys to future Crusher games, so when the team disbanded it was disappointing. I did take my kids to a ballgame this summer in
Salem, Ore., where the Salem/Keizer Volcanoes play. This stadium is an example of the charm that a small ballyard can bring to a community.

I look forward to reading updates on the status of Chris Lee's attempts to bring pro ball back to
Sonoma County.

KEVIN MAUCH
Windsor

Let's get it done

EDITOR: As someone who regularly saw the Crushers with my grandson and his friends, it was shocking to see the Rohnert Park bureaucrats kill a precious family entertainment. I was raised on minor-league baseball and totally support its return to Sonoma County. Put the stadium near the airport.

Santa Rosa residents can catch bus transport to the stadium. When my wife and I lived in SF and had 49ers season tickets, we never took our car to the stadium No fuss, no muss. Also, offer a private bond issue for public financing participation. I'm sure there's lots of folks like me who would love to be a part owner of a baseball team.

Let's get it done.

MICHAEL A. TOMS

Ballpark as open space

EDITOR: I'd like to suggest that the Open Space District set aside the land for a minor-league ballpark.

I believe that what the public really intended when they approved the tax was to simply have more places to enjoy. Places that weren't boxed-in by office space or apartment buildings, places that didn't look like urban sprawl was taking over and places they could possibly use for recreational purposes.

After the early "out of touch years" of spending millions of tax dollars on thousands of acres that most of us will never even see, I don't think it's too much to ask for 20 acres next to 101 for a pretty little ballpark that will touch so many people's lives.

There's never going to be enough money in the budget, so we just have to decide as a community that if we're going to live and work and sit in traffic in
Sonoma County, can't we have a little fun while we're at it?

KEVIN WOLSKI
Santa Rosa

Getting involved

EDITOR: Great news and article about the potential of a Class-A team for the Santa Rosa area. I suggest the following stadium sites: behind Taco Bell on

Airway Drive
and
Hopper Road west
of Highway 101; east of 101 on
Redwood Road
or farther north on 101 by River and Barnes roads.

Can I please get Chris Lee's e-mail to further discuss acquiring a team and building a stadium.

LOU TULIPANO
Santa Rosa