CarL1 Myrtle Beach Pelicans

Pelicans Chairman Greenberg Wins Bid for Rangers

August 6, 2010 - Carolina League (CarL1)
Myrtle Beach Pelicans News Release


MYRTLE BEACH, SC- It may have taken longer than anybody expected, but last night in a Texas courtroom, Pelicans Chairman and Managing Partner Chuck Greenberg, along with his bidding partner Hall of Famer Nolan Ryan, outbid Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban and Houston businessman Jim Crane to purchase the Texas Rangers.

For Greenberg and Ryan, the verdict that finally came down was a long time coming as the duo had been trying to purchase the team for months. In the interim period after the end of the reign of former Rangers owner Tom Hicks, Major League Baseball had been at the helm of the currently first-place Texas Rangers, even swinging major trades for stud pitcher Cliff Lee, first baseman Jorge Cantu, and shortstop Cristian Guzman. With Greenberg and Ryan now firmly in control of the organization, the Rangers will now be able to put all their focus on making the postseason for the first time since 1999.

For a number of months, it appeared as though Greenberg and Ryan were the primary bidders to purchase the ballclub, but with Major League Baseball running the Rangers finances as well as their front office, the bidding process for the new ownership became long and protracted. The whole situation became even more convoluted when a new ownership group lead by Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban teamed up with Houston businessman Jim Crane to form a formidable alliance against both Greenberg and Ryan. What seemed like a slam dunk for the Greenberg and Ryan team was all of a sudden up in the air.

After months of negotiating and legal wrangling, the Texas Rangers were eventually put up for auction as the sale would be finalized on August 4th in one way or another. The two main groups, Greenberg/Ryan and Cuban/Crane litigated deep into the night, and for a while it appeared that the group lead by the tenacious Mavericks owner was going to walk out of the courtroom with a baseball team in hand, but at the nth hour, Greenberg and Ryan increased their bid to a number that Cuban and Crane would not match.

Adding to the drama, at the moment that Greenberg and Ryan submitted their final, and eventual winning bid, Rangers third baseman Michael Young crushed a grand slam in the seventh inning of the Rangers contest against their division rival Seattle Mariners to put the ballclub up 11-6, a lead they would not relinquish.

As it stands right now, Greenberg and Ryan would take over control of the ballclub on Friday, August 13th to preside over the final month and a half of the regular season for the first-place Rangers.

After the auction, Greenberg seemed incredibly relieved that whole process was over. "I've been at this 15 months. If you go back to November, December, there have been so many ups and downs, and the encouragement Ranger fans have given me and Nolan has been more than I can say. It's been sustaining and given me hope through tough times. Ranger fans have been great to us and we're going to return the favor."

Greenberg also owns the Rookie League State College Spikes in addition to the Pelicans.

Speaking of the Pelicans, the Birds begin an eight-game homestand Thursday at BB&T Coastal Field as the team welcomes in the Potomac Nationals to the Grand Strand.

For more information on tickets, daily promotions, and all things Pelicans, log onto myrtlebeachpelicans.com or call 1-877-918-TIXX or 843-918-6000.

Information used for this story comes from Craig Calcaterra at hardballtalk.com and Richard Durrett of ESPNDallas.com.

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Carolina League Stories from August 6, 2010


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