|
1910 Winter Meetings
The Winter Meetings following the 10th year of the Arizona League returned to Whisky Row, a fitting place considering Prescott has cemented itself as the team of the decade with a fourth championship.
There was very little business done outside of celebrating 10 years of baseball in Arizona. The spirits flowed freely, and the only real buzz centered around rumors that Commissioner Doc Victory had designs on stepping down from his post to take over as owner/manager of one of the teams. The buzz had him assuming command of the beleaguered Kayenta franchise (since he so badly wanted baseball to work up in Navajo country) or possibly working a takeover in his hometown of Cottonwood.
"Humbug," Victory retorted when pressed on the matter. "You never know what tomorrow may bring but for now, I'm perfectly content as the chief of the Arizona League." Off the record, Victory did express concern about Kayenta's lack of competitiveness most seasons, and Sedona's as well.
Another buzz was created when a contingent from the eastern Arizona town of Show Low arrived at the meetings. They made no secret about the fact that they wanted a franchise in their fair town. "I mean the league has teams in Prescott, Cottonwood, Jerome, Sedona and Flagstaff all slammed on top of each other, and yet the White Mountains only have one team for the whole region," one town official said. "That's ridiculous."
Doc Victory was impressed with the passion of the group and listened intently to their ideas. He was glad Payson officials had the foresight to put its Triple A farm team in Show Low. He would be very interested to see how folks in Show Low treated their minor league squad.
"If fans in your area show the interest that you say they have, then I would think in due time Show Low could be a prime spot for an Arizona League team," Victory told the group. "Plus, I can't wait to see what kind of nickname you could come up with."
That got them excited. And of course created a bit of a buzz about whether the AZL would expand or if another franchise would be on the move sometime soon.
The Show Low folks were right. There were a bunch of teams concentrated in one area around the Verde Valley/Prescott Valley and Flagstaff region. But baseball was huge there, and Victory was from there, helping to drum up all the support. Save for maybe Sedona, none of the teams was having problems drawing a following. Sedona was more into artsy-fartsy stuff, and the owner had expressed concerns about outdated facilities, but the Scorpions still were doing OK overall...
|