Baseball entrepreneur Chris Lee will be pitching Wednesday night in Windsor, hoping the Town Council will at least take a tentative swing at his plan to return minor league baseball to Sonoma County.
If Windsor provides land, Lee said his group, Pacific Baseball Partners, will build a $10 million stadium to which they predict 275,000 to 320,000 people will come each year.
The investors group also would buy one of the California League's Class A minor league teams and move it to Windsor. Price for the team is an estimated $5 million.
"Class A is a fantastic match for Sonoma County," said Lee, a Kenwood resident since 1995. "There's no question a (Major League) affiliated team would be successful."
Asked if it might be the San Francisco Giants' San Jose Single-A club, Lee said it was "too soon to go there." Other nearby California League teams are the Oakland A's Stockton squad and a Colorado Rockies Class A team in Modesto.
Mayor Sam Salmon said Windsor could step up to the plate if the deal makes sense. "Let them make their pitch," he said. "We want to see how it would work, and if it would work."
Councilwoman Deborah Fudge said a family-oriented attraction like a baseball yard "fits into who we are as a town." Her colleague, Robin Goble, called it "an exciting opportunity."
Councilman Steve Allen said the big-bucks venture might be a wild pitch, considering the economic slump. "It seems like it's going to be a little bit out of our reach," he said.
At Wednesday's 6 p.m. council meeting, Lee will
ask Windsor to commission a ballpark feasibility study, paid for by Lee's group.
Lee envisions a 3,500-seat stadium and said he would pay for a study if Windsor officials express "a genuine level of interest" in minor league baseball.
Sonoma County's history in that area is littered with broken bats.
Rohnert Park built a 10-acre stadium in 1981 for the Redwood Pioneers, a Class A team that moved to Palm Springs in 1986.
The Sonoma County Crushers, playing in an independent league, used the stadium from 1995 until the end of the 2002 season. The facility was demolished in 2005.
Lee contends that a California League club would have more staying power than the Crushers. He has been trying to bring minor league ball to the county for five years, and still has some other locations under consideration.
"I'm obviously in this for the long haul," he said.
Merritt Paulson, son of former Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson Jr., proposed buying a California League team for an estimated $4 million and building a $20 million stadium on the Petaluma fairgrounds, but the talks broke down over financial details in 2006.
Around Windsor's Town Green on Tuesday, Lee's proposal went over like a Tim Lincecum fastball.
"I'd be for it. We would go to some games," said Lou Hayton, a Santa Rosa native who moved to Windsor seven years ago.
"That would be cool," said his daughter, Jillian, 11.
Michelle Wall, a Rohnert Park resident said she went to the Giants game on Sunday, but noted that AT&T Park is an expensive proposition, with a $6 bridge toll, $20 parking fee and a surcharge for buying tickets online.
"I miss the Crushers," she said.
Mitchell, 13, and Melissa Hanson, 15, said they recently attended a Sacramento River Cats game, but the Oakland A's affiliate Class AAA team is two hours away and plays in Central Valley heat.
"I would come here all the time to watch minor league games," Mitchell said. "Baseball is my sport to watch."
Fernando Mercado, a Windsor resident with two infant daughters
, said he's not a sports fan but likes the idea of a local outlet for youth.
"I think it would be great," he said.
Both Lee and Salmon said that Windsor's 468-acre redevelopment area, with another 200 acres added in April, could accommodate a stadium.
The town's redevelopment agency could sell bonds to buy a stadium site and pay them off with property tax proceeds from the development, Salmon said. The stadium should tie into Windsor's commuter train station, located near the Town Green, he said.
None of the town's general fund money would be involved, Lee said.
Windsor is financially solvent, unlike other cities, Salmon said, and it behooves the council to keep it that way.
"This is not the time to take risks," he said.
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