‘It’s just a crazy time.’ Legends president discusses baseball’s uncertain future.
Few things herald the shift from winter to spring quite like the buildup to baseball season. Once pitchers and catchers report for spring training, fans can begin looking forward to spending an afternoon or evening at the ballpark rather than hunkered down in the house avoiding the elements.
But this year baseball, like most everything in the world, has been put on indefinite hiatus because of the spread of the coronavirus. Major League Baseball’s opening day has been pushed back to at least mid-May, and on Tuesday MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred officially suspended the minor league baseball season, which was scheduled to begin April 9. In a letter sent to minor league clubs around the country, Manfred wrote: “While I fully anticipate that baseball will resume this season it is very difficult to predict with any accuracy the timeline for resumption of our season.”
Though the official call to postpone minor-league opening day wasn’t made until Tuesday, the Lexington Legends and teams throughout the U.S. suspended activities on March 12 shortly after Major League Baseball put things on hold.
Legends President and CEO Andy Shea spoke with the Herald-Leader by phone last week. He discussed the uncertainty surrounding the baseball season because of the coronavirus pandemic as well as the proposal by Major League Baseball to drastically reduce the number of MLB-affiliated minor-league clubs.
“This is probably the longest period of time I’ve been away from the stadium in the last 15 years since I moved to Lexington and started working for the Legends,” Shea said. “We’re 99-percent remote. We still have someone coming to check the mail and pick up deliveries, but other than that we are all off-site doing what planning and preparation we can without knowing exactly if, what, when we’re looking at starting up.”
The Legends were already deep into the process of gearing up for the season when the dominoes began to drop a few weeks ago.
“Everything happened so fast. After the NBA decided, and rightly so, to (suspend its season) everything else just happened so quickly and precipitously,” Shea said. “We try to prepare as much as possible for opening day so we had a lot teed up ... We were in the hiring process for the upcoming season, but that’s obviously frozen right now because we just don’t know what we’ll be able to offer and when we’ll be able to offer it.”
Baseball facilities require a lot of upkeep, but Shea said the Legends should be in good shape from that standpoint. Two full-time employees are dedicated to taking care of the field and stadium, and Whitaker Bank Ballpark was already in good shape because the Transylvania University baseball team played its home games there before college sports abruptly halted.
“We’ll certainly have some bugs to work out but all things considered we’ve got a plan in place for when the season begins. When it comes to the facility part I think we’ve got a great plan in place,” Shea said. “Transylvania had been playing their games at Whitaker, so the field was in great shape.”
Shea said there’s been broad discussion about how an unusual season might eventually play out when the pandemic passes, but no concrete plans have been settled upon.
“It’s been all speculation in terms of when we would start and how a season would look. Are there more doubleheaders? Do you make the regular season longer in the calendar?” Shea wondered. “Right now it’s just purely speculation and hope. There has not been any defined scenarios on the table so far. So much of this just follows Major League Baseball’s lead, so we’re kind of in limbo ... It’s just a crazy time”
Future uncertain
Adding to the chaos is the uncertainty surrounding the future because of last year’s proposal by MLB to remove the major league affiliation of more than 40 teams, including the Legends.
After heavy pushback from minor league franchises as well as some politicians in markets that would be affected, Manfred appeared to walk back the proposal, indicating it was just an opening negotiation. At the MLB winter meetings, Manfred said: “This has been portrayed as a decision that has been made. The fact of the matter is, at the point in time this became public, we had precisely three negotiating sessions. It is by no means a fait accompli as to what the agreement is going to look like.”
The current Professional Baseball Agreement, which governs the relationship between major league franchises and their minor league affiliates, expires Sept. 30, 2020. Shea is hopeful a new deal can be reached that will allow the Legends to retain their affiliation with the Kansas City Royals.
“It’s my understanding that there’s been a hit on the pause button. I know both sides, major and minor league baseball, have been actively communicating and negotiating. So that’s all we could have ever asked for. So there’s been a pause on negotiations while we try to figure out what’s in front of us right now,” Shea said. “It seems like there’s so much support from so many politicians and private businesses and people in the baseball world for minor league baseball that you couldn’t help but notice it. But in terms of anything remotely specific about plans going forward, there isn’t anything yet.”
The Legends got some backup from Frankfort on Thursday when the Kentucky Senate unanimously passed a resolution urging MLB to abandon its proposal to eliminate the team’s MLB affiliation.
The resolution concludes: “The Kentucky Legislature hereby urges Major League Baseball to rescind the ill-advised proposal that threatens the future of professional baseball in Central Kentucky and the benefits in tourism, job creation, quality of life, and charitable assistance that our citizens and communities now enjoy because of Minor League Baseball in Central Kentucky.”
Beyond baseball
In the meantime, while baseball and the rest of the world await a return to normalcy, Shea said the Legends are considering ways to help the Lexington community.
The team has been talking with local businesses, vendors and food-truck operators about participating in a festival at Whitaker Bank Ballpark.
“It’ll be free entrance, free participation for local businesses to set up at the ballpark. It’s another way to try to help out with the small businesses and help out on the entertainment and community side.”
Shea said several businesses have already committed to the plan, they’re just waiting on the go-ahead from government officials. He said local restaurants Pasta Garage and Spotz Gelato are on board, along with Southern Drawl Creations, a local company that produces etched glassware. Obviously, given the current climate, a date has not been nailed down for the event.
“As soon as we can, that’s what we’ve been saying to everyone. As soon as we’re able to do this, we’re doing it,” Shea said.
The Legends are also being proactive when it comes to helping the community deal with the fallout from the pandemic. Shea said he’s been in contact with hospitals, emergency service departments and Lexington Director of Homelessness Prevention and Intervention Polly Ruddick about ways in which the Legends’ facilities could be used for testing, supply distribution or any other services that could mitigate the the crisis.
“Right now we’re dedicating a lot of our resources to how we can be a true community asset and resource for people,” Shea said.
This story was originally published April 2, 2020 at 7:29 AM.
