Oakland County(Mi) Baseball

[alkalinefan]

Glad to be on board for the first time.Not to beat around the bushes but does anyone know what is going on with the Oakland County(Mi) Cruisers.Not one shovel has touched the ground at the proposed stadium site.My hopes for a minor league baseball team in Metro Detroit seems to have vanished.

[GoCyclones!]

Oh wow. Has anything been said in the papers? Probably the usual red tape wrangling. I thought it was a done deal. Try emailing someone from the Frontier League.

[alkalinefan]

I sent an e-mail a week ago.No reply.Like I tell my friends,even if I don't like it,just tell me whats going on.I put a $50 deposit on two season tickets in April of '08.

[Hawk87]

I don't have any knowledge on the situation, but as a former midwesterner, I really love the Frontier League. Wish they could've gotten this thing off the ground in the Detroit, but the way its been, it doesn't look like it'll pan through.

[GBearFan]

According to Oakland County's website, they plan to have an "official" groundbreaking on October 29th. They plan to pull up stakes in Ypsilanti and play in their own half completed park this upcoming season.

[alkalinefan]

Thank you for the information,DK

[ca]

wont be restricted to just one team imo as i can see the southern burbs getting a club as well

[ATigerfan]

http://www.cruisersbaseball.com/default.aspx

[patmc16]

I've said many times I am very happy about the idea of minor league baseball coming to metro Detroit after all of the failed attempts over the last 10-15 years. That being said I have virtually no faith that this is going to happen anymore. This organization is all over the map (in some cases literally) in the things they say. You get different stories as to what is going on from everyone and in some cases from the same person asked the same question at different times.

I went to 2 Sliders games this season, the second and the last home game. The first and second game they accurately reported attendance at 127 & 187 respectively. After the second game they never reported less than 500. I had a feeling this was not true and confirmed it at the last game. They announced attendance at nearly 600. At most, there were 150 at the game. There were more people at the EMU women's soccer game going on beyond the left field wall. Those kind of numbers don't give me much encouragement, let alone any perspective investors. Speaking of which, they were supposed to offer stock in the organization to the public in June (I was told a couple of times this spring). I don't believe that ever happened. At the last game they were offering 2010 season tickets for $99 each and I didn't see anyone lining up to buy them. Now on the website they are $450. At that game they were saying 2010 games through July were going to be played in Ypsilanti and August & September games would be in Waterford. That was on August 30. On September 10, the story in the Oakland Press (the only paper to give the team any coverage) says they will play in Waterford at a half completed stadium. What changed in 11 days? I find it interesting that quotes in the article from Rob Hilliard use the word "would" instead of "will".

Some site preparation would begin after the groundbreaking late this year, Hilliard said. During winter, work would be done offsite on temporary locker rooms, ticketing and souvenir facilities, said Hilliard.

In March 2010, work on a concourse, 1,250 permanent stadium seats and 1,750 lawn seating would be completed.

It’s like you expect to hear “preparation would begin, BUT….”, “work would be done, BUT….; or “seating would be completed, IF…” Again, gives me little faith. Even the announcement of the groundbreaking say the team has “scheduled” groundbreaking ceremonies not that there “will be” a groundbreaking. Maybe I’m reading too much between the lines but it just sounds like they are hedging on everything they say and do.

It may still happen and I will be happy to go to games in Waterford if it does but, until there is something at the corner other than the “coming soon” sign that has been there for well over a year, I am not holding my breath.

[GBearFan]

Congrats to the Oakland County Cruisers!

Nearly two years after they were approved as owners of a Frontier League team (Jan 17, 2008 ), the group now known as Diamond Heroes of Southeast Michigan Inc. finally broke ground on their new ballpark in Waterford Township, MI on October 29th. The turnout for this ceremony was actually larger than the game attendance for some of the team’s games last season in Ypsilanti, where they drew less than 125 fans to 3 of their first 6 home games.

According to an article in The Oakland Press, DHSM CEO, Rob Hilliard stated “We will open July 16, 2010 and play our first home game”. The article goes on to say the team will play its first 9 home games in Ypsilanti.

A check of the 2010 Frontier League Schedule shows the team playing 45 home games (18 during the first half of the season and 27 during the second half which resumes play on July 16th after the All-Star Break). If the first 9 games are in Ypsi and the last 27 are in Waterford, where will the other 9 “HOME” games before the All-Star break be played???

8)

[patmc16]

The turnout for this ceremony was actually larger than the game attendance for some of the team’s games last season in Ypsilanti, where they drew less than 125 fans to 3 of their first 6 home games.

Where did these figures come from? Unless I'm missing something, I don't see this on the Cruisers website or the Oakland Press story.

Again, they are all over the board with their info. The team never reported less than 127 to any game (their first game) and (I believe) never reported less than 500 after the second game. Now, all of a sudden they had less than 125 at 3 out of the 1st 6 games??

Now they are back to playing some games in Ypsi. Again, the story changes. Maybe they plan on selling some of their home games to the other team again like they did the last home series this past season??? 9 home games before the all-star game? Come on.

If they were going to do this right, they need to play in Ypsilanti (or somewhere else) next season and get the stadium built right and open it in May 2011. There has been 2 years of delays and a whole lot of nothing and now they have to hurry and play in a half built stadium? It just doesn't make sence to me. I don't think the saying goes, "Build half of it and they will come."

I really do want this to work. It's just that, after seeing a game at All Pro Freight Stadium this season, it is very frustrating to see how little the Cruisers have accomplished. Wern't the Lake Erie Crushers announced after the Cruisers were? I see what they have and what we have and it is hard not to get discouraged about what this organization has done.

[GBearFan]

Where did these figures come from? Unless I'm missing something, I don't see this on the Cruisers website or the Oakland Press story.

Again, they are all over the board with their info. The team never reported less than 127 to any game (their first game) and (I believe) never reported less than 500 after the second game. Now, all of a sudden they had less than 125 at 3 out of the 1st 6 games??


I STAND CORRECTED on my attendance statement in my earlier post. It should have said "... where they drew less than 130 fans to 3 of their first 6 home games".

The attendance numbers that I gave came from the Frontier League website under "Boxsores". They have been posted there since May and June of 2009 so they are not "all of a sudden" numbers.

The league shows the Sliders first six attendance figues of 2009 as follows:

187 - May 29 vs Windy City (Fri. Opening Day in Ypsi)
127 - May 30 vs Windy City
172 - May 31 vs Windy City
174 - June 2 vs Rockford (Tuesday, Monday was an off day)
125 - June 3 vs Rockford
-86 - June 4 vs Rockford

I didn't go to the FL site to look for these firgures. I have access to a spreadsheet with the reported attendance of every FL regular season game in 09 and the Sliders extremely low numbers just stood out from everyone else's.
BTW - the Sliders largest "reported" attendance was 863 on July 12 (Sun.) vs my local team, the Gateway Grizzlies.

I too, wish the Cruisers the best of luck. They have spent a lot of money attempting to make this work in Waterford Township. Hopefully, sometime in 2011, we will be able to say "the Frontier League has a pretty nice ballpark in Oakland County MI".

As for 2010, I just want to know where the Cruisers' "HOME" games #10 thru #18 will be played.

8)

[patmc16]

Thanks for pointing out the box scores link. I honestly never noticed that before. Through the season, I followed their attendance by looking at the standings link on the league website which had attendance figures for "yesterday's games" and a season average. I remember the first and second game being 127 & 187 but I know they showed around 500 or more each time after that. Your numbers look much more realistic. Can you tell me what your spreadsheet shows for the game on 8/30/09? The number reported on the standings page was 682 and I see now on the box score they are holding to that. I was there and I can tell you there were less than 150 actually there (& my tix were freebees).

Pics on this site were taken on 7/25. Reported attendance was 585. There can't be 100 there:

http://mysite.verizon.net/charliesballparks/stadiums/emu.htm

Hopefully, sometime in 2011, we will be able to say "the Frontier League has a pretty nice ballpark in Oakland County MI".

Now, that would be cool.

BTW, just curious, your in O'Fallon but consider the Grizz your team instead of the Rascals? I was at the Rascals park in '07. Nice place (& really cool store). I would be more than happy if the Cruisers could build something like that.

[GBearFan]

Yo patmc16, you’re 100% correct. After the first two home series last season, Midwest never reported a crowd under 500. In fact, their smallest was 532 on June 10th vs Florence. Bear in mind however, independent baseball leagues report attendance as “number of tickets sold” instead of the number of butts in the seats. So, if 500 tickets are sold to companies or corporate sponsors and given out as freebies, but only 10 people show up, the reported attendance for that day is 500 not 10. I’ll bet that was the case for the Sliders’ August 30th season finale when 682 was the reported attendance.

If any of you guys in the Detroit area hear any news about the Cruisers, please post it here. News about the Oakland County team doesn’t fly around the internet as fast as other teams. Heck the last press release on the “Official” team website is dated 9/10/09 (nearly 2 months ago).

BTW, just curious, your in O'Fallon but consider the Grizz your team instead of the Rascals?

Here’s my response to me being a Grizzlies fan. Metro St. Louis has TWO suburban cities named O’Fallon. One is to the west in Missouri (St. Charles County) where the Rascals and T.R. Hughes Ballpark are located and the other is to the east in Illinois (St. Clair County) where the Grizzlies, GCS Ballpark, and the Frontier League Office are located. I live in O’Fallon, IL about 17 miles from GCS.

8)

[patmc16]

I wasn't aware of the 2 different O'Fallons. You learn something new every day. I guess I can take the rest of the day off now. lol I didn't get to the Grizzlies stadium on the trip that took me by Hughes. We do plan on going back to St. Louis sometime in the future and plan on seeing it when we do.

I don't go through Waterford too often but I will make sure I check out the progress when I do. If I think about it ahead of time, I will bring along a camera and post pics here. Hopefully, if things go well, the stadium can revitalize the area. The land is between a dead indoor mall and a near dead strip mall. Half of the land was actually part of the Sears parking lot at the mall. The indoor mall is 90% empty if not more. The team office was in the mall until they opened the academy in the strip mall. It was creepy walking through the mall to their office. There were 2 stores opened between the doors and the office out of 20+ store fronts along the route. There was 1 place to eat in the entire food court but that has since closed too.

I've heard that teams report numbers that way but, this issue with the Sliders is that their tickets were not only general admission seating but general admission games. That is, any ticket could be used for any seat at any game. Unless they added up all of the freebees and spread them over the season and added them to each game, I can't see how they came up with the numbers they did. I would guestimate they over stated by about 400 per game vs. actual butts in the seats. That would mean around 15k freebees over the course of the season!

[ca]

and we use that term loosly

[patmc16]

I don't go through Waterford too often but I will make sure I check out the progress when I do.

Finally got to the stadium site yesterday for the first time since the "ground breaking". There has been absolutly zero progress at the site. To be honest, I couldn't even tell where the ground breaking took place. In fairness, there is about 1/2" of snow on the ground and I'm sure the earth has been disturbed somewhere on the site under the snow but I couldn't see where. It looks exactly the same way it did 3 months ago, 6 months ago, a year ago.... The part of the site that was part of the Sears parking lot still is. Maybe they plan on using the black top as the playing surface?? If Tiger Stadium could have a flagpole in play in the outfield, maybe the Cruisers can have parking lot light poles in play (they are still there too). No way this happens in time for the '10 season (or probably ever, imo).

Some site preparation would begin after the groundbreaking late this year, Hilliard said.

Umm, no.

In March 2010, work on a concourse, 1,250 permanent stadium seats and 1,750 lawn seating would be completed.

Umm, really no. Nearly 4 out of the almost 7 months between this being printed in the paper and the March deadline have passed and nothing has happened. The coldest months are still ahead of us. It sucks, but this is simply not going to happen. Hopefully Oestrike is still available.

[alkalinefan]

I drove by the stadium site about a month ago or so.Its the same as it was or has been.I had hopes briefly back in Oct. with all the hype and shovel digging.It looks like the Lansing Lugnuts will be my home team again for another year.I live 9 miles from the ballpark site but my hopes of having a team in my backyard are fading again.Are the Cruisers playing at EMU again in'10.From a money standpoint that could be tough.Will they slip out of town sometime between now and May.It will be interesting to see how the 2010 season plays out for the Cruisers

[ATigerfan]

Jerry Garland posted this on the Cruisers official facebook page. When somebody asked about construction.
construction starts no later than 3/1

[ca]

and bad pk budgeting may force this team back to ypsi

[patmc16]

Jerry Garland posted this on the Cruisers official facebook page. When somebody asked about construction.
construction starts no later than 3/1

Went by the site again today (3/15) for the first time since January 2. Not a single thing has changed except the snow has melted. I still can't tell where the groundbreaking took place. Still mostly a parking lot with light poles intact. They are still holding to the story that the first game will be there on July 16th. No way it happens. I'm waiting for the "this season at Ypsilanti, next season at Waterford" rerun press release any time now.

[alkalinefan]

You are correct,the site still looks the same.I was there 10 days ago or so.It looks like JC Penney is closing up at the Summit Place Mall.I think Sears is the only business left now.This will be interesting to see what progresses at the ballpark site and also what will become with the mall which is pretty much empty now.

[ca]

the cruisers are going to intro a new member to the front office this week that is a former tiger all star . hopefully he brings pk $$$ and or the ability to get people to want to buy tickets for imo this club needs a permanent pk along with some better hurlers to be seen as legit

[ATigerfan]

DMITRI YOUNG:)

http://www.frontierleague.com/cgi-bin/dist/news.cgi?id=1269024636

[alkalinefan]

My past Sunday drive to the Oakland County Cruisers home park site was disappointing for me.There is nothing changed over the past year at the site.Actually there is one thing that has changed.If you look southeast from where the future homeplate will be you will notice that JC Penney is in the process of closing (or maybe has closed by now).I say this scenerio is disappointing because I'am disappointed but not mad ,p-ied off or anti Cruisers in any way.I'm sure everyone involved with the organization wants to bring a team to the area in a very strong way.The only thing that bothers me however is that news of the progress of the team and stadium construction is very hush-hush and almost non-existant.Sometimes I stay out of touch with what is going on in the world with work and all .But I'am still under the impression that opening day at the park will be July 16th.That is only 108 days away.Which also means that is 2,592 hours away.My point to this rambling on in this post is that just tell me what is going on even if it is not what I want to hear.On April 20th 2007 I put a deposit on two season tickets.We are going on three years since I did this and my hopes of a baseball team playing in my backyard began.The deposit($50)is not an issue but just let me know as a future season ticket holder what is going on.As time goes on thou,I have a bad feeling in my heart of ever seeing baseball played at that site.

[J.J. Smith]

I've been following this story for quite awhile. My brother lives in Oakland Co., and I asked him this weekend what he knows about it. He's never even heard of the Oakland County Cruisers, but knows the mall, which he says is now completely empty. Wasn't that the whole point of building the stadium there, to bring interest back to a failing mall?

Does anyone out in Oakland Co. believe anything these owners say anymore? I mean, they've done nothing but make false promises for how many years now. Will this be the last year for them, as they must be loosing a bunch of money on this year after year.

[NankerPheldge]

Does anyone know what is happening with the Cruisers? There is no way they can have a ballpark built in time for a July 16 game. They have to announce something ASAP. It's amazing the Frontier League has let this hoax go on this long.

[ca]

the cruisers say they will have their pk by mid july although i think they are better off dropping the midwest label from their old name , dropping ticket prices and staying at emu

[alkalinefan]

I drove by and walked around the mall area yesterday.Nothing has changed at the ballpark site.No sign of any progress.

[ca]

no sign of progress id say the ypsilanti sliders at emu's oestrike stadium makes more sense day by day

[patmc16]

Does anyone out in Oakland Co. believe anything these owners say anymore?

If anyone does, they are fooling themselves. The longer this goes on, the worse it is going to look when they finally admit the stadium is not going to be ready for play in mid July. I wonder when the teams in this league book their hotels for road games? The other teams in this league are probably going to be PO'd if they book their rooms in Waterford only to find out they will be playing in Ypsilanti. The 2 cities are not exactly close to each other.

I realize this is the bush leagues but this team has really seems to have taken the term to heart in the way they operate.

[ca]

better find a tweener place of lodging and name dy the owner

[NankerPheldge]

Are the Cruisers trying to sell tickets for games in Waterford in July or do they tell people the ballpark won't be ready?

[ATigerfan]

Articles from the Oakland Press. Doesn't sound good.
http://www.theoaklandpress.com/articles/2010/05/03/sports/columns/doc4bdde32a40756365609507.txt
http://www.theoaklandpress.com/articles/2010/05/02/news/local_news/doc4bddd00e79c02644339104.txt

Intersting posts on the Cruisers facebook too.

[patmc16]

Articles from the Oakland Press. Doesn't sound good.
http://www.theoaklandpress.com/articles/2010/05/03/sports/columns/doc4bdde32a40756365609507.txt
http://www.theoaklandpress.com/articles/2010/05/02/news/local_news/doc4bddd00e79c02644339104.txt

Intersting posts on the Cruisers facebook too.

Doesn't sound good is putting it mildly. This team is dead in the water. If it wasn't for the league needing an even number of teams, I'm guessing they would be gone already. So, they are essentially a road team again. This really sucks but, sadly, is of no surprise to probably anyone.

The Facebook comments are laughable at best and, at worst, very telling of how this franchise is run. They are correct in that they have not lost their funding as the Oakland Press reported. That's only because they never had it to begin with. You can't lose what you don't have. For Jerry Garland to criticize Pat Caputo (OP reporter) is laughable. Pat "The Book" Caputo has forgotten more about sports than Garland will ever know. The first time I met Garland, my first impression was "this guy is goofy". My first impression of Rob Hilliard was that he seemd like a used car salesman, and a shady one at that. For Garland to ask people to contact him "for the real story" is laughable too. In the past, when I commented on how you couldn't get a straight answer out of anyone with the team and how you would get different stories from the same people at different times, Garland was one of the main people I was referring to. Right down to the fact that he introduced himself to me (and again later to my wife) as the General Manager of the team when he never actually held that title and was little more than a ticket sales associate at the time (and is "Director of Sales" now) shows the level of professionalism he displays.

This team is doomed and, once again, the fans of minor league baseball in southeast Michigan (and baseball in general) get screwed. This sucks!!!

[Jerry Garland]

Doesn't sound good is putting it mildly.

**It is a tough situation. No doubt about it.

This team is dead in the water. If it wasn't for the league needing an even number of teams, I'm guessing they would be gone already. So, they are essentially a road team again. This really sucks but, sadly, is of no surprise to probably anyone.

**We will be playing between 18 and 21 dates in metropolitan Detroit. It is not a great situation to play so many games on the road, but delays in receiving our funding have made playing in Waterford an impossibility.


The Facebook comments are laughable at best and, at worst, very telling of how this franchise is run. They are correct in that they have not lost their funding as the Oakland Press reported. That's only because they never had it to begin with.

**Pat - you don't work for us - you have no idea of what goes on with us any more than I do with the company you work for. Here's the truth - we WILL have funding and it is delayed. Rumor, conjecture, and incorrect information are exactly that. The point of the our Facebook page is for news and information and goodwill of team. In that regard, I will apologize for being upset - but understand this is my livelihood - and if someone stated incorrect information and spread false rumors for the sake of "journalism" about your place of business - would you be happy?

You can't lose what you don't have. For Jerry Garland to criticize Pat Caputo (OP reporter) is laughable. Pat "The Book" Caputo has forgotten more about sports than Garland will ever know.

**I would never and will never take any issue with anyone presenting facts - clear and proven facts. I thought the first half of Pat Caputo's article was from the heart - and was presented fairly. However, he started playing fast and loose with "facts" that were simply incorrect. First, assumptions that we drew 40 to 50 fans actual a game. Well, as head of sales I can tell you we averaged double that actual throughout our season. You can decide it's splitting hairs - but the information presented as "fact" simply was not true. Another piece of information that is simply untrue is the fact to a "rumor" he referred to as the team being sold. There is absolutely no tangible credibility to that rumor. If there supposedly is, my phone number is posted on our website - Pat is welcome to call me and let me know where he heard that.

My background:

*Oakland County Native - grew up and now live in Commerce
*Sales Representative for the Texas Rangers (Inside Sales) - MLB, Tampa Bay Rays (Group Sales) - MLB, Dunedin Blue Jays (Advanced-A Florida State League) - MiLB - Second Stint (Account Executive) - First Stint (Intern), and Detroit Tigers (Broadcasting/Corporate Sales Intern) - MLB

Media entities locally I have worked for:

- WDIV Local 4 Sports
- The Associated Press, Detroit
- The South End (Wayne State University hockey beat writer - Division I Hockey 2001)

Yes - Pat Caputo did write for Baseball America (my understanding is that he still does stuff for them from time to time) - and yes, I know full well he was beat writer for Tigers via his long-time position with the Oakland Press. I'm in my early 30s, where of course Pat being in his mid 50s naturally has seen more games. However, I've seen my share of minor-league and major-league baseball. I also have been through a season in the Frontier League - and I know first-hand that while we are an independent league - for Pat to call us or refer to us in any way as "semi-pro" shows he hasn't seen us play. The level of play is better than any of the three Midwest League teams in this state. The guys that play for us - this is their primary job during our season - they want to earn a chance to get picked up back into affiliated baseball. That said, it sad that Pat, a Lake Orion resident himself - has the overall opinion that he wants this group to fail - or he believes we will. You would think he would support us more. I wonder why he doesn't?




The first time I met Garland, my first impression was "this guy is goofy".

**When did I meet you? Refresh my memory.


My first impression of Rob Hilliard was that he seemd like a used car salesman, and a shady one at that. For Garland to ask people to contact him "for the real story" is laughable too.

**Well - as I stated earlier - do I pretend to know the inner workings of where you are employed? No. I DO know what is going on.


In the past, when I commented on how you couldn't get a straight answer out of anyone with the team and how you would get different stories from the same people at different times, Garland was one of the main people I was referring to. Right down to the fact that he introduced himself to me (and again later to my wife) as the General Manager of the team when he never actually held that title and was little more than a ticket sales associate at the time (and is "Director of Sales" now) shows the level of professionalism he displays.

**I am always professional. I would not have worked for five professional baseball organizations - including working side-by-side with Ernie Harwell - if I weren't. Let me address your statements one at a time.

During the 2009 season, I was given the title of "General Manager of Operations and Sales". Rob Hilliard along in coordination with our Baseball Operational Staff, make player personnel moves. My job was to run all pre-game, in-game, and post-game operations at Oestrike Stadium - along with the coordination of 12 staff members. Oh yes - and to sell subscription, group, and corporate packages. So to answer your question - YES - I held a GM title. I never have pretended from day one to be a part of baseball operational decisions. From time to time, on rare occasions, I am asked for my input on a player.

In October 2009, my title was changed to "Director of Sales and Customer Relations". My job duties have been expanded to handle more day-to-day seasonal operations along with all of the 2009 seasonal duties I mentioned above.

I don't think I deserve to be attacked - you and all fans are welcome to call me any time during business hours. One thing you have to understand is that the situation is an evolving and dynamic one. I am a straight-shooter. I will inform you as to what's going on.


This team is doomed and, once again, the fans of minor league baseball in southeast Michigan (and baseball in general) get screwed. This sucks!!!

**Hang in there with us - I share your frustrations - as an Oakland County native and wanting the Cruisers to get playing in Waterford for the 2011 season.

[Jerry Garland]

If anyone does, they are fooling themselves. The longer this goes on, the worse it is going to look when they finally admit the stadium is not going to be ready for play in mid July. I wonder when the teams in this league book their hotels for road games? The other teams in this league are probably going to be PO'd if they book their rooms in Waterford only to find out they will be playing in Ypsilanti. The 2 cities are not exactly close to each other.

I realize this is the bush leagues but this team has really seems to have taken the term to heart in the way they operate.

**Pat - whether you want to believe it or not - we are in an economic recession - with our area taking a very hard hit. Borrowing money in this climate was a tremendous effort to get to.

In regards to road teams booking hotel rooms, in a perfect world, when the league schedule is finalized - usually that occurs in and around December or so - the clubs then make tentative reservations. We have a good relationship with the two hotels we will be using. The road team may have to drive a little bit for some of the games to be played in Livonia - but we will do all we can to accomodate them.

Sure - we're in a financial struggle - 'bush league' is term I find a little extreme. As I stated in another post - I don't hide - my phone number is listed on our website. If you or any other Cruisers fans have issues - simply call me. Resorting to attacks on people like me due to frustrations is simply unnecessary. I see the spamming posts people put in response to the OP online articles. You see a lot of rumor - attacking of staff - people just saying whatever to get a rise out of any of us - baseless or not.

Take Care!

[Jerry Garland]

Where did these figures come from? Unless I'm missing something, I don't see this on the Cruisers website or the Oakland Press story.

Again, they are all over the board with their info. The team never reported less than 127 to any game (their first game) and (I believe) never reported less than 500 after the second game. Now, all of a sudden they had less than 125 at 3 out of the 1st 6 games??

Now they are back to playing some games in Ypsi. Again, the story changes. Maybe they plan on selling some of their home games to the other team again like they did the last home series this past season??? 9 home games before the all-star game? Come on.

If they were going to do this right, they need to play in Ypsilanti (or somewhere else) next season and get the stadium built right and open it in May 2011. There has been 2 years of delays and a whole lot of nothing and now they have to hurry and play in a half built stadium? It just doesn't make sence to me. I don't think the saying goes, "Build half of it and they will come."

I really do want this to work. It's just that, after seeing a game at All Pro Freight Stadium this season, it is very frustrating to see how little the Cruisers have accomplished. Wern't the Lake Erie Crushers announced after the Cruisers were? I see what they have and what we have and it is hard not to get discouraged about what this organization has done.

**Pat, you make several valid points here - and yes - it is incredibly frustrating to this point. But I will tell you our best actual draw in 2009 was in the 225-275 range. I can tell you that we did all we could not to play in Ypsilanti extended in 2010 for the following reasons:

1. The business/corporate support in the Ypsi-Arbor region in 2009 was minimal and apathetic - despite all efforts from the Ypsilanti and Ann Arbor Chambers to help us - which we were members of (the chambers have now merged into one). I applaud those who did participate with us and made the efforts to help us. They all saw us, appropriately, as a temporary team and wanted no investment unless we were permanent - localized efforts to help overcome this didn't come to pass.

2. The now extinct 'Ann Arbor News' wanted no business covering an Ypsilanti-based team (many Ann Arbor residents don't like to frequent Ypsilanti - quaint as to why not) - and we had to hound them just to get the two features, occasional photos, and some 100-word blurbs. The Booth papers had no interest. The Detroit News covered us once - and The Oakland Press understandably is not going to cover a club playing in Washtenaw County. How do you get press?

3. The residential support was not what we expected. Many little leagues, upon me contacting them about group and fundraising interests - had no interest. We did have some scattered interest from a few teams, but the turnout was disappointing to say the least. We passed 8,000 vouchers out to kids in Ypsilanti Public Schools - only about 20 were redeemed. Reaching out to the Eastern Michigan University students made little sense because it was Summer Semester - most students are on break. We will be revisiting this for 2010 and we will try a different strategy.

4. Due to playing at Oestrike Stadium on EMU's Campus - alcohol was and is prohibited from consumption or sale on the grounds. That deflates your 21-30 crowd right there unless they have kids. We will have the same restrictions at Oestrike, Oakland University's field, and Livonia's Ford Field this season. (Note: we have a full beer, wine, and liquor license waiting for us for when Diamond at The Summit opens).

5. Most Oakland County Cruisers fans did not want to drive the 50-60 minutes to Oestrike Stadium. We know the great majority of fans will be a 0-35 minute drive from us. To overcome this, our desire is to set up a few bus trips from Waterford at our academy over to the game - all-inclusive - bus ride and game ticket for one price.

As I stated in an earlier post - I know you're frustrated - so are we. Hang in with us and thank you for your support!

[ca]

how can the cruisers get new pk $$$ when they had a good pk in ypsi and totally botched the marketing effort there . the only way this club make it is at emu under a new owner or the fl will have to contract both kzo n ypsi . after that they should can their commissioner for creating this fiasco in the 1st place if not before !

[NankerPheldge]

After reading these comments about and from Jerry Garland, one thing runs through my mind:

Why does the Frontier League want this organization? It's like the crazy Uncle Harold that nobody in the family wants to talk about. It's more trouble and embarassment than it's worth.

[ca]

np you make a very good post

[Jerry Garland]

After reading these comments about and from Jerry Garland, one thing runs through my mind:

Why does the Frontier League want this organization? It's like the crazy Uncle Harold that nobody in the family wants to talk about. It's more trouble and embarassment than it's worth.

**It is normally NOT my nature to respond in forums like this. If you want to have an opinion on the Cruisers, that's fine. But when someone wants to attack ME personally - I'm not going to sit around and just take it. Would you?

[Jerry Garland]

how can the cruisers get new pk $$$ when they had a good pk in ypsi and totally botched the marketing effort there . the only way this club make it is at emu under a new owner or the fl will have to contract both kzo n ypsi . after that they should can their commissioner for creating this fiasco in the 1st place if not before !

First -Eastern Michigan University is a short-term solution. The Frontier League calls for us to play 48 home dates each season. That simply is not possible as the EMU Baseball Team has priority for field use. The same applies for the University of Michigan.

Second - Please my post response above as to why Ypsilanti didn't do well.

Thank You!

[ca]

penn state and the nypl share a pk so why cant that happen here ?

[alkalinefan]

It can't and in the future(over the week-end) I will give my opinion as it is late for me and I have an early alarm in the AM

[alkalinefan]

MR. Garland,what do you mean when you say "forums like this". I visit this site often and like to see what people know and think about minor league sports and have been following the Frontier League for fifteen years or so waiting for a team to come to my area(West Bloomfield).Actually, I've become a big minor league baseball fan over the years.

[ca]

psu an the nypl share a pk and it can happen here as well

[Jerry Garland]

MR. Garland,what do you mean when you say "forums like this". I visit this site often and like to see what people know and think about minor league sports and have been following the Frontier League for fifteen years or so waiting for a team to come to my area(West Bloomfield).Actually, I've become a big minor league baseball fan over the years.

Hi AlKalineFan - let me clear up. First off, I have also followed the Frontier League since its inception. I too have been waiting for this team to come to Oakland County since 1993. A sports forum 'should' be exactly as you say - what people know and think. However, they are also a haven for people to be anonymous and talk trash and promote false rumors under the guise of a user name. My sarcastic response was aimed at the latter. I live in Commerce, worked side-by-side with your namesake, Al Kaline, as Broadcasting Intern in 2000 with the Detroit Tigers, and I am also a huge minor league baseball fan - having worked in the Florida State League (Advanced-A) where I worked with a number of future/current major leaguers such as: Dave Bush, Brandon League, Dustin McGowan, Vernon Wells among others.

I will do my best to keep everyone up to date!