ABC7 Sports: Noah’s Notes

Red Sox to Sarasota? The Real Deal…

Journalism is a delicate thing. When the proper ethics and standards aren’t exercised - the public becomes misinformed and sometimes panicked. Sensationalist reporting has become a plague to our business.

That’s why I’m proud to say that for the third time in a month, ABC 7 was the only news outlet in Southwest Florida to sort out the facts from the rumors in the Red Sox Spring Training saga.

Last month, when Sarasota first started to chase the Sox and other media outlets were reporting they could leave Fort Myers in 2013, ABC 7 was the only outlet to actually get the team’s lease with the county and discover that they could leave Fort Myers in 2010.

Last week, when everyone else was reporting that Red Sox GM Theo Epstein was�in Sarasota to scout out a possible new stadium - we were the only outlet to contact the Sox and find out he was just there (so they say) on a routing scouting trip to watch a couple of high schoolers in the state finals.

And last night, following a report in the Sarasota Herald-Tribune that the county was going to try and put a $70M stadium package together to lure the Red Sox away from Lee Co., we were the only outlet in SWFL to show restraint with the rumors and cast some doubt on Sarasota County’s ability to follow through with the plan.

While other outlets were touting “a new 70-million-dollar plan,” we pointed out that Sarasota County was unable to get a $40M plan approved (twice) to keep their current team, the Reds…and�that was just a couple of months ago.

Sarasota’s problem is that several county comissioners have refused to dedicate tax dollars to a professional team when their roads, fire departments, and police stations need it more.

Personally, I think spring training is a terrific investment since the Sox bring $25-30M each spring to the local economy, but politicians will be politicians.

Don’t get me wrong - there is news value to Sarasota’s dealings.  The Reds will leave them after 2009 and they’ll be desperate for a team. They can also offer Boston a centralized training site (right now, the Sox’ practice fields are several miles from their stadium) and the opportunity to bring their single-A affiliate to the Florida State League (right now, Minnesota’s affilate, the Ft. Myers Miracle, own the territorial rights to Lee Co.).

However, the Sox are extremely happy in Ft. Myers and welcome this competition to help get them a bigger, better site in Lee Co. sometime next decade.  You’re more likely to see a new 12,000- to 15,000-seat Sox stadium in Lee Co. than Sarasota Co.  The Sox also say the location of their Single-A affiliate won’t factor into their spring training plans and when Sarasota tried to get them to sign a 90-day exclusive bargaining agreement - they balked.

I spoke with Lee County Manager Bill Hammond today and he says that he’s not worried because Sarasota’s dream is just that…a dream.  He said the latest $70M number thrown out isn’t enough to rebuild a MLB-ready complex on the county fairgrounds where the White Sox used to train.  He should know - he helped lure the White Sox there in the 1970’s.

ABC 7 don’t plan on snoozing on this story, but you don’t need to start losing any sleep over it either. While Sarasota will somehow find a way to make a run at the Sox, it will take a lot of time, a ton of money, and maybe even more luck for them to field a competitive offer.