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In the midst of questions and grousing about distance, the reality is that the OHSAA worked out a winning combination with Akron and the Rubber Ducks hosting the tournament.
No fewer then a dozen times this week people have asked face-to-face, or by email, or text…why does the OHSAA baseball tournament need to be played in Akron?
No names, but here’s a sample:
“The state tournament should be played where everyone can get there as easy as possible.”
“All of the tournaments should be played in Columbus.”
“This smells like money to me. I’ll drive to Columbus, but not to Akron.”
“There has to be a better way.”
Etc., etc., etc!
But here’s the facts, in general, for why the state baseball tournament, in particular, is not being played in Columbus, like it used to be.
The tournament is a willing relationship between host and contractee. It has to be a good thing for both parties, and in Akron that’s apparently the case.
One, the tournament has to have a willing host. And just because the Columbus Clippers play on Neil Ave. in downtown Columbus doesn’t mean that the OHSAA can commandeer Huntington Park for the state tournament. It doesn’t work that way. That said, the Akron Rubber Ducks appear to be a willing host, where the Clippers never really were, despite appearances.
The Clippers cited scheduling conflicts with the other International League teams, but in reality there were other more manageable issues like the cost of personnel to man the tournament – security, concessions, grounds crews, etc. And here’s another factor that goes unnoticed. The Clippers are the Triple-A affiliate of the Cleveland Indians (er, Guardians) and Triple A groundskeepers are notoriously obsessive about unnecessary wear and tear on their field. From personal observation, three days of high school baseball is noticeably hard on a professionally-maintained surface.
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Second, it’s been brought to my attention that Ohio State should have offered to host the tournament. After all, it is the OHIO State University. How about doing something for Ohio?
Uh…Ohio State doesn’t even want the football and basketball tournaments any more, for many of the same reasons – the cost of staffing the event, and to put this in the most delicate terms that you might understand without being offended, they have other priorities. They priced themselves out of contention, purposely. It’s one less thing to do, and several less headaches.
Three, for those who cite the other minor league parks in Ohio…Toledo and Dayton, principally…Toledo is another Triple A park (Detroit Tigers) and an even farther drive for three-quarters of the state. And the Dayton Dragons, to my knowledge when it was announced, made it clear that they didn’t want the tournament, either. Again, wear and tear, and the cost of staffing. Plus, parking in downtown Dayton is a nightmare, even for Dragons games.
Which brings us back to Akron. In this case, as in the case for football in Canton, and basketball in Dayton, the Ducks, and media coordinator Jimmy Farmer, have been very welcoming to the tournament, and to media, in large part because of high school baseball success in northeast Ohio. Despite the rotten spring weather, high school baseball has always been strong in that area and the Ducks have used this opportunity to market themselves to an already-eager professional baseball market.
The facility itself is about 30 years old, the Ducks are the Double A affiliate of the Cleveland Indians (er, Guardians), and the relationship with local baseball at any level around Stark, Wayne, Cuyahoga, Lake, and Trumbull counties seems to be a win-win. Canal Park is right downtown, easy in and out, and aside from parking, seems to be a perfect fit.
Except for the distance if you’re driving from say, Mercer County!
Editor/publisher Sonny Fulks writes OHSAA sports and Ohio State baseball for Press Pros Magazine.
“It just seems like they could do something better that would be good for everyone,” someone suggested.
That person might have just talked to the one who suggested “This smells like money.” Because, in the next thousand years I can’t imagine anyone, or any entity, offering up 15 million dollars to build a facility exclusively for high school baseball and softball in central Ohio…notwithstanding the cost of the land. Yes, take a deep breath. It DOES smell like money.
So with all this in mind, please take a moment to appreciate the relationship this weekend…and the reality of the city of Akron and the Rubber Ducks actually working out a deal with the OHSAA that is something good for kids and high school baseball.
If that’s still not enough, think of it this way.. It’s kind of nice to see so many smiling faces.
