By Bob Hersom
Staff Writer
The debut Tuesday night of the Triple-A Championship Game in Oklahoma City begs two questions.
Why Oklahoma City? Why one game?
The person with the answers is RedHawks executive director
John Allgood, who, at the behest of team owners
Bob Funk and
Scott Pruitt, got the ball rolling, so to speak, at the 2004 winter meetings.
So... Why Oklahoma City?
"We were able to get the game based on the fact that Oklahoma City has hosted events that are neutral, like the Big 12 Tournament and the Triple-A All-Star Game in 2002,"
Allgood said. "I know some other cities that were interested, like Round Rock and Tucson, but we were very aggressive in trying to get the game."
So... Why one game and not a five-game series, such as the Triple-A World Series that was held in Las Vegas from 1998-2000?
"One of the issues of the seven-game series in Las Vegas was the timing of the games,"
Allgood said. "They were wrapped around football season, and one of the important things was having availability on
ESPN2 as well.
"
ESPN was not ready to commit to seven games yet, and neither was
Major League Baseball, so this was somewhat of a compromise. We'll start with one game this year and there could be more games next year."
The RedHawks paid Triple-A Baseball $75,000 for the rights to the game, which is being billed as the Bricktown Showdown. The Oklahoma City ballclub has a three-year contract with Minor League Baseball, with the option to end the deal after this year if it's not successful.
"I think we'll be successful,"
Allgood said. "So far we're doing really well. We've sold 7,000 tickets for the game already, and the way everybody's responding to it, I think it's very likely that we'll extend it.
"We just feel like this is a great opportunity to show off our franchise and also Oklahoma City. We think it's a great time in Oklahoma City to show off the development of downtown and Bricktown. We think this is just another step in furthering Oklahoma City as a major sports town in the
United States."
Ticket prices for the Triple-A championship game are the same as RedHawks regular-season tickets.
AT&T Bricktown Ballpark has a capacity of 13,066.
The '02 Triple-A All-Star Game attracted 11,343 fans, and two major-league exhibition games between the
St. Louis Cardinals and
Baltimore Orioles drew crowds of 13,066 and 11,343.
"If we get over 10,000,"
Allgood said, "I think we can call it a success on a Tuesday night during football season at 6 o'clock. I hope that happens. It's trending that way. The weather's supposed to be great, and if we can get a good walkup, I think we've got a chance."
The average attendance for the Triple-A World Series in Las Vegas was dreadful: 3,368 in 1998; 4,002 in 1999; and 2,311 in 2000.
Five years ago, the International League suggested that the Triple-A World Series be a best-of-three series and moved to the tiny
Baseball Hall of Fame ballpark in Cooperstown. The PCL said no.
And IL president
Randy Mobley last month endorsed Oklahoma City as the Triple-A game's host.
"From Triple-A Baseball's standpoint," Mosley said, "we're viewing it as a long-term deal with Oklahoma City as its home."
