http://www.herdzone.com/genrel/052913aaa.html

“We will have a ballpark built before I leave office, by any means we can,” Williams said during a recent interview in his City Hall office. “There’s no doubt in my mind about that.”

Good news

I really hope this works out and is done right. They have tried other times and it fell through. Like with the bonds we tried a few years back. Not having one is beyond dumb.

I know its a long time away but I think we'll have a stadium in 4-5 years.

(05-29-2013 01:03 PM)SVHerd Wrote:  I know its a long time away but I think we'll have a stadium in 4-5 years.

I hope so. And I hope (and believe) Marshall fans will adopt their baseball program. A stadium could do wonders.

I would definitely attend games if we had a real stadium and done right. No shortcuts.

Beckley is an easy drive for me. Huntington is not!

Haha... not that it matters at all to Herd fans.

(05-29-2013 01:03 PM)SVHerd Wrote:  I know its a long time away but I think we'll have a stadium in 4-5 years.

If Hamrick and Williams (Huntington Mayor) work together 3 1/2-5 years would be about right if they were to put it where Williams was talking about. If the ACF parking lot and property were bought it would have to be cleaned up first and that would take at least 2 years for the clean up.

Im guessing if the city and Marshall work together to get a baseball park, Huntington would have to join the Frontier League or Midwest League. I doubt the WV Power in Charleston would allow Huntington to join the SAL. Each SAL team have a 150 radius that they can protect. Any team wanting to move in that 150 miles that team/s have to approve the move.

Its actually refreshing to have someone in office that's talking about building Huntington up and making it destination for people to come. It shows he is a forward thinker. For the most part Huntington and the state of WV have lived in the 1930-1980 era. During that time the steel industry and coal were booming and WV had a great economy. The thing is when the steel industry left WV and coal started to change with more machinery work the state didn't adapt to the changes and the rest of the United State left them behind. Hopefully we start to get more people in office that thinks like the Huntington Mayor.

I hope you all get that baseball stadium. The new one built here has been met with rave reviews and baseball fans have been enjoying the hell out of the new digs, our AA team (Barons) has been playing "light's out" baseball since moving in. And I'm hoping that UAB becomes a tenant there in the near future, as well as it becoming a site for a Conference USA Baseball Tournament very soon. As football goes, I'm completely outdone that UAB doesn't have an on-campus football stadium like 95% of Conference USA does, but we know what we're dealing with here on political and bureaucratic levels. I like the fact that Huntington's Mayor is committed & outspoken about how badly he wants this project to come to fruition. With that kind of leadership, your community can only look forward to a thriving sports climate.

(05-29-2013 01:57 PM)HerdZoned Wrote:  Im guessing if the city and Marshall work together to get a baseball park, Huntington would have to join the Frontier League or Midwest League. I doubt the WV Power in Charleston would allow Huntington to join the SAL. Each SAL team have a 150 radius that they can protect. Any team wanting to move in that 150 miles that team/s have to approve the move.

Rookie-level Appalachian League maybe an option? They're short season starting in June so it won't overlap with the college season.

the 150 mile rule must be new, or SAL only. in the mid 90's the Cardinals moved their short season A-League team a county over to a stadium that is less than 60 miles from New York City and I remember at the time that the Mets and Yankees veto power only extended 50 miles.

(05-29-2013 03:01 PM)devyanks90 Wrote:  the 150 mile rule must be new, or SAL only. in the mid 90's the Cardinals moved their short season A-League team a county over to a stadium that is less than 60 miles from New York City and I remember at the time that the Mets and Yankees veto power only extended 50 miles.

It's a South Atlantic League (SAL) rule. It's been a rule since Ive known. Even in the 80s when the Power was known as the Charleston Wheelers. In 1987 or 88 Ashland KY wanted to bring a SAL team in and The Wheelers organization wouldn't agree to let them in.

But I agree Huntington could start out with a short season league or even a Wooden Bat league.