Got a note recently from one of those friends that it seems like you've known forever.
Well, 40+ years can seem like forever, doesn't it Ted Tornow? Ted, a multi-sport guy from Menasha, Wisconsin (Go Bluejays!) enters his 23rd year as general manager in Clinton and will have been involved with pro baseball teams for 38 years in all with additional stops in Green Bay, WI; Memphis, TN; Huntsville, AL; Jackson, MS and Butte, MT.
It wasn't a typical Christmas/New Year's Letter. It was a press release, confirming unthinkable news.
The death of the Clinton LumberKings, the only remaining charter member of the Midwest League, part of Major League Baseball's minor league system. Well, MLB killed off some 42 teams last week. Maybe killed isn't the right term, as some will survive by hooking on in other ways, with Independent Leagues or wood-bat leagues that feature college players (the successful Madison Mallards of the Northwoods League being one of those.)
But many may not survive. That's a shame, as MLB issued "invitations" to 120 of 162 teams to remain affiliated with a professional franchise. Cities like Appleton, WI, home to the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers, were invited to remain part of the Milwaukee Brewers' organization. Appleton is also a Midwest League member, at one time known as the Appleton Foxes.
For the LumberKings, it's more than being part of a league. It's being part of a community. In this case, the 'Kings have been playing baseball in Clinton, Iowa as part of the Midwest League since 1954 -- and has been playing ball at a stadium built in 1937 as a project of the Works Progress Administration.
A community-owned team like the 'Kings brings jobs to the area as well as millions of dollars in impact. That's the kind of impact that 42 cities are trying to absorb.
Tornow will not let the LumberKings, who over the years were affiliated with 16 different MLB franchises, go gently into that good night. He has vowed to the community, to ownership, to the politicians, that there will be baseball at Nelson Corp. Field in 2021. This despite the fact that, once the 'Kings lost their MLB affiliation, the current lease with the city was terminated.
It may not be baseball affiliated with a Major League team, as it has in the past, but it will be baseball. Tornow is very optimistic.
"We've talked with the Frontier League, the Prospect League and the Northwoods League," explains Tornow. "The Frontier is an Independent League, and the team pays their players, so that's probably not in the cards for us. The Prospect and Northwoods are college wood bats league. They play 60 or 70 games a year and the college guys aren't paid."
MLB has assured the LumberKings, as well as the 42 other "orphans" that it will assist entry into others leagues.
"They (MLB) said they won't leave us hanging," said Tornow. "They promised our senators, our governor, our mayor all of that. We (the LumberKings) will have a board meeting and move from there, determining which league to join."
Clinton could well go two routes, joining the Prospect League as well as forming an additional league with other orphans.
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