Texas League (baseball) - Springfield Cardinals

Springfield Cardinals Newest Member of Texas League

Hammons comes through with St. Louis-affiliated team that will start playing next year in the stadium he built.

By Eric Bailey
News-Leader Staff

John Q. Hammons received a ceremonial baseball jersey on Tuesday, and Springfield got a Double-A baseball team. Hammons — standing at home plate of the $32 million stadium he built — announced a partnership with the St. Louis Cardinals to bring affiliated baseball to Hammons Field.

St. Louis president Mark Lamping gave Hammons a Springfield Cardinals jersey with the number "05" on it, drawing cheers from fans in attendance.

"You're officially a part of the team," Lamping told Hammons.

The Springfield Cardinals will be the newest member of the eight-team Texas League in 2005, pending approval by league owners.

Affiliated baseball was last played in Springfield in 1950. On Tuesday, a giddy Henry Gerwert knew who to thank for its return.

"I wanted to come down and see John and shake his hand," the excited 77-year-old said.

"John," of course, is Hammons, who delivered on his promise to bring Double-A baseball to the Ozarks.

Lamping attended Tuesday's Hammons Field press conference to officially announce his parent club would bring its newly acquired El Paso franchise to Springfield.

Due to major league baseball rules, specifics about the minor league team's affiliation can't be released until Sept. 6.

For that reason, Lamping was very careful with his words. "We don't want to get ahead of ourselves. We certainly appreciate the consideration of the Texas League and the Texas League owners."

Tennessee Smokies president Doug Kirchhofer said St. Louis notified his Double-A team that they wouldn't extend the team's player development agreement at the end of this season.

The move allows the Cardinals to move their Double-A players from the Southern League to compete in the Texas League.

Tom Kayser, Texas League president, said an owner's vote would be held within the next few weeks to admit a new Springfield franchise. A majority vote among the current seven teams would be needed to accept the new team.

While it's expected to pass, Lamping said the St. Louis team's deal (reportedly at $9.8 million) with Brett Sports and Entertainment — El Paso's ownership group — would be voided if the Springfield franchise isn't voted in.

Springfield Mayor Tom Carlson said everyone worked together in the process.

"This is an exciting day for Springfield," he said. "The city's commitment to working with (Hammons and Lamping) and the organizations that they represent have all been part of making this dream a reality."

Hammons' dream — at times thought far-fetched — came true with Tuesday's announcement.

Hammons said he met with Lamping and St. Louis general manager Walt Jocketty 2? years ago with the vision of minor league baseball in Springfield.

"The subject was we were going to build a great stadium in Springfield, Missouri, and we wanted to see if they were interested," said Hammons, who can't own a team because of interests with a Chicago-area riverboat casino.

After a few more visits with the St. Louis administration, the parties struck a gentlemen's agreement.

Said Hammons: "Walt and Mark got up and said, 'Listen. If you will build a park like you described and we can inspect it and approve it ... we shook on the deal.' From that point on, I never failed to believe that we could bring Cardinals baseball to this city."

Hammons began work on the stadium. Hammons Field opened in April, and Southwest Missouri State — which will share the stadium with the Double-A team — hosted the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament there in late May.

The developer was happy to have college baseball, but he had minor league baseball in mind.

"This park had to be the best so we could qualify for Double-A or Triple-A baseball," he said.

Monday's revelation that the St. Louis Cardinals purchased the El Paso Diablos franchise set the stage for Tuesday's announcement.

Still, Hammons' proclamation that Double-A baseball was heading to Springfield brought cheers and after hearing the official announcement, fan Ger-wert clapped loudly.

He can't wait to bring his 13-year-old grandson Austin Lamb to see Springfield's newest team.

"It's exciting for me to see the Cardinals, but also to show him Cardinal baseball," Gerwert said.

Down the road, the Springfield-Ozark Ducks are no longer the only game in town.

A sparse crowd of fans watched the independent Frontier League game between Springfield-Ozark and Rockford on Tuesday night.

The independent minor league team's fan base has dwindled since a strong debut in 1999.

"When they were first here, it was crowded all the time," said Branson's Susan Crawford, before gazing at the empty stands, "and now, there's hardly any audience."

Springfield's minor league history has come full circle. From 1930 to '42, the St. Louis Cardinals played at White City Park, located where the Assemblies of God headquarters now sits on Boonville Avenue.

"A lot of great players went though that organization," Lamping said.

Stan Musial, Paul "Dizzie" Dean, Walker Cooper, Eddie Dyer and Joe Garagiola are some of the players that suited up for the Springfield Cardinals.

"Over at the old White City Park, from 1932, they filled the stands with 9,000 people," Hammons said.

Tickets may be hard to come by in the new team's inaugural summer. A waiting list for season tickets at 8,100-seat Hammons Field will begin at noon today. Interested fans can call 863-2143 to get on the list.

Ticket prices weren't announced (they can't be until league approval), but Lamping said the Cardinals' primary mission is to a "provide high-quality entertainment value."

Prices for area Texas League teams range from $5-$10 for single games and $150-$460 for season tickets.

Reporters Allen Vaughan and Kyle Neddenriep contributed to this story.

This article was taken from springfield.news-leader.com.  All rights reserved.