Florence Freedom Fire GM Pat Daly
by Chris Meiman
June 29, 2005 - Frontier League (FL)
Florence Y'alls
The Florence Freedom fired General Manager Pat Day last Saturday, only slightly better than five months after he was hired to turn around the troubled franchise. The Cincinnati Enquirer quotes Freedom Owner Clint Brown as saying, "We were not reaching our goals, and Pat and I were not in agreement as to how to go forward. He wasn't a good fit for us." Daly had spent twenty years in minor league baseball, including two stints as General Manager of other Frontier League teams.
The Freedom have improved significantly on the field this season. Florence is 18-14, just one game out of a first place tie. Led by Triple Crown threat Mike Galloway, the Freedom had won 4 straight before falling in Evansville last night. Florence is currently 3rd our of 12 Frontier League teams in Our Sports Central's Massey Rating. What has dogged Florence is the poor home attendance, despite the improved product. The Freedom average only 1600 per home game, 7th out of the 12 team Frontier League. There are those who believe that an independent league team can not exist in the same market as a Major League team; however, the Gateway Grizzlies lead the league in attendance with better than 3300 per game. Gateway plays in Sauget, Illinois, just four miles from Busch Stadium, home of the St. Louis Cardinals. The St. Louis market also supports the River City Rascals in O'Fallon, Missouri, who are 3rd in attendance.
Freedom Owner Brown says that no replacement will be sought until the end of the season and that an "Office of the GM" will be a committee of Freedom employees, including Field Manager Jamie Keefe, Assistant GM Morgan West, and Director of Ticket Sales and Operations, Yumi Blackburn, according to the Enquirer.
The Freedom will play the rubber game of their three game series in Evansville tonight at 8:05. A Florence win tonight combined with a Washington loss to Chillicothe would mean a three way tie for first place between Florence, Evansville, and Washington. Florence then returns home for a 9 game home stand over the July 4 weekend with Washington, Ohio Valley, and Kalamazoo providing the opposition at Champion Window Field starting Thursday night at 7:05.
Frontier League Stories from June 29, 2005
- Hawks take series from Rascals - Rockford RiverHawks
- Freedom take series - Evansville Otters
- ThunderBolts come up short in rally - Windy City ThunderBolts
- Freedom Fire GM Daly - OSC Original by Andrew Kappes
- Grizzlies hold on for series win - Gateway Grizzlies
- Freedom Fall to the Otters - OSC Original by Andrew Kappes
- Florence Freedom Fire GM Pat Daly - OSC Original by Chris Meiman
- Roosters Split Doubleheader - Richmond Roosters
The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer(s), and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
