SPORTS

Blue Rocks' new owners eye Frawley Stadium makeover

Kevin Tresolini
The News Journal

WILMINGTON – The Blue Rocks announced the first major ownership change in their history Thursday, but the most obvious makeover is coming to Frawley Stadium.

A refurbished ballpark is expected to be in place for the Blue Rocks' 25th-anniversary season in 2016, Clark Minker and Dave Heller said in announcing their joint purchase of the advanced-Class A Carolina League franchise from a group consisting of 11 partners, including Minker.

"We want to take this ballpark, which has great bones, to the next level,'' Heller said.

Heller is a Baltimore native who is president of Main Street Baseball LLC, which also owns the Quad Cities, Iowa (Midwest League), High Desert (California League) and Billings, Montana (Pioneer League) Class A franchises. Main Street Baseball holds the majority ownership stake in the Blue Rocks, but Minker will serve as managing partner.

The sale has already been approved by Major League Baseball, Minor League Baseball and the Carolina League. No financial figures were divulged.

The Blue Rocks have been affiliates of the 2014 American League champion Kansas City Royals throughout their modern existence, except for the 2005 and 2006 seasons, when they were part of the Boston Red Sox organization.

"It's a new and exciting rebirth,'' said Minker, whose father, Matt, was the driving force behind the construction of Frawley Stadium and the reincarnation of the Blue Rocks, who had also existed from 1940-52. Matt Minker died in 2007 at age 60.

Prior to the stadium's opening on April 8, 1993, Clark Minker and his father played catch in the outfield, which he has always considered somewhat of a ballpark christening.

Minker envisions "a grand reopening'' in 2016, he said. While architectural planning and financial figuring have barely begun, Minker does foresee a facility much more alluring to spectators. The Rocks will formulate those plans in concert with the stadium's owners, the Delaware Stadium Corporation.

"We're talking about a 360-degree wrap-around concourse," Minker said. "What that means for folks who don't know is, basically, our concourse ends on the third-base side and then it ends on the first-base side. There's no way to connect those two places so you cannot currently walk around the stadium to different venues.

"One of the venues we want to create that we don't have is a really large kids' play area -- an area where moms and dads can take their kids who get a little restless in a seat for three-and-a-half hours and give them a place to play, and make it a lot of fun.''

The Blue Rocks' average attendance was 4,349 per game in 2014, which ranked third in the Carolina League behind Frederick (4,991) and Winston-Salem (4,540). It was the second lowest in club history (4,235 in 2012).

The last year the Blue Rocks led the league in attendance was 2009 (4,723). Yet they have consistently been among the top draws in Class A baseball.

"I've been in minor-league baseball for 13 years," Heller said, "and I've never been more excited than I am today about the opportunity to partner with my dear friend and own the Blue Rocks.

"This is a special club and Wilmington is a special place and we are going to do special things here. We plan to energize the ballclub, bring in new promotions, new ideas, new theme nights, new giveaways that Wilmington has never seen before. We plan to reimagine and reinvigorate the ballpark.''

Heller took over Quad Cities in 2008, and the franchise has seen tremendous gains in attendance and merchandise sales along with success on the field.

Much of that has to do with Modern Woodmen Park, which opened in 1931 in Davenport, Iowa. Among its unique features are a 110-foot Ferris wheel, a corn patch from which players enter the diamond in "Field of Dreams' style, an 80-foot digital scoreboard and a hot-tub deck. It has frequently been lauded, including being voted minor league baseball's best ballpark in a 2013 USA Today and 10best.com survey.

Heller sees Wilmington as having similar potential.

"The size of the market, the location of the ballpark and the enthusiasm for sports in the community are what make this so appealing," Heller said.

Contact Kevin Tresolini at ktresolini@delawareonline.com. Follow on Twitter @kevintresolini.