Field of Schemes

by Neil deMause

  Likewise, the work of researching this book was far beyond the means of we two alone. Ted Benson, John Cheney, Rob Daviau, Janet Pope, and Wendy Roth were instrumental in providing news clippings of stadium battles in the days before easy Web access to newspapers; since then, that role has been ably filled by readers of fieldofschemes.com and the Field of Schemes e-mail list, including Charles Everett, John Cheney, Bob Trumpbour, Darren Dahl, Mike Marshall, and especially the tireless Erika Tarlin, who has a standing invitation to be the official Field of Schemes archivist as soon as we can secure funding. Bettina Damiani, Dan Steinberg, and Stephanie Greenwood of Good Jobs New York were invaluable in helping untangle the thicket of sports subsidies in New York (not to mention the arcane world of Freedom of Information Law requests). We are also indebted to several of our colleagues in the newspaper world: G. R. Anderson of the Minneapolis City Pages, Patrick Arden of Metro NY, Charles Bagli of the New York Times, Matthew Futterman of the Newark Star-Ledger, and Jay Weiner of the Minneapolis Star Tribune, and our Village Voice colleagues Jarrett Murphy and Tom Robbins, who provided aid and assistance both directly and through their reporting; as much as you may hear us complain about the shabby state of journalism these days, these folks are distinct exceptions. Louise Quayle and Anne Savarese provided sage publishing advice and counsel that helped get this new edition from dream to reality. Jim Bouton and Sandy Padwe were relentless in their enthusiasm for this project (and Jim’s ever-expanding Ball Four was inspiration for a book that keeps growing to include the latest information). And though they may not make an appearance in the book, no acknowledgments would be complete without a shout-out to Morgan Andrews and the Shoddy Puppet Company of Philadelphia, whose play “The Big Bailout” not only performed the seemingly impossible task of translating this book into shadow puppets speaking in rhyming couplets but helped prevent a baseball stadium from landing on the edge of Philadelphia’s Chinatown.

  Writing a book, especially a collaboration, is a bit like running a marathon, complete with the cramping and self-recriminations that hit about halfway through. We survived only with the tireless enthusiasm and support of friends and family. Joanna’s thanks go out to Jennifer Eaton, Miles Seligman, Regina Shields and Jeanette Valentine, for their timely meals and free clipping services, and unwavering faith in this project; the long-distance advice and camaraderie of Susan Snyder and Lisa Tozzi; the constant cheerleading of Jessie and Shauna Cagan; Craig Campanella for an impeccably timed e-mail and Lisa Sklar for her daily enthusiasm; and, finally, to her parents Beth and Steve Cagan—who offered endless advice, patience, humor and compassion. Neil would like to thank: Matthew Amster-Burton, Steve Bernard, Adam Cadre, Stacy Cowley, Liza Daly, David Dyte, Lenny Pitts, Dan Schmidt, and Dan Shiovitz, for online kibitzing at all hours; the members of the echonyc.com writing conference who helped kibitz the title into shape; Dave Cutler, driving partner and research assistant extraordinaire; everyone at Fairness and Accuracy In Reporting, for generosity of both time and resources; the brilliant oral historian (and almost equally brilliant center fielder) Jeff Kisseloff, for the reassurance that all books take forever to write and twice that to rewrite; and, most of all, Mindy Nass, for her wisdom, clarity, humor, and the continued patience for a partner inclined to disappear at odd moments into the computer.

  Finally, this expanded edition of Field of Schemes almost certainly would not have come about without the encouragement and inspiration of Doug Pappas, the longtime writer for Baseball Prospectus and the Society of American Baseball Research. In his spare time from his day job as a Manhattan attorney, Doug simply redrew the map of baseball business writing, relentlessly questioning official league pronouncements and questionable economic claims with brilliant analysis and his trademark quick humor; Doug’s Business of Baseball blog was the first thing Neil read every day in the morning throughout much of the research for this book. Doug died in May 2004, while pursuing his other avocation: hiking in America’s national parks. (His travel writings, and his baseball writings, have been preserved at roadsidephotos.sabr.org.) With his passing, the sports world lost not just one of its most brilliant analysts, but one of its nicest, funniest, most humane people. Doug should have been here to write the introduction to this edition of Field of Schemes; since he’s not, he gets a featured role at the end, instead. Farewell, Doug, and thank you for showing the way.

  Notes

  All unattributed quotations are taken from interviews and firsthand reporting conducted by the authors between February 1996 and December 2006.

  1. A Tale of Two Inner Cities

  “It is simply unconscionable.” Peter Richmond, Ballpark (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1993), 97.

  “It’s unbelievable, the callousness.” Robert McG. Thomas Jr., “Colts’ Move to Indianapolis Is Announced,” New York Times, March 30, 1984.

  “If the Colts can be moved that way.” Dave Anderson, “12 Vans to Indianapolis,” New York Times, April 1, 1984.

  The local government had already poured more than $400 million. Jacob V. Lamar Jr. and Don Winbush, “‘India-no-place’ No More; The Subject of a Joke Gains Major League Attention,” Time, June 11, 1984.

  Construction of the Hoosier Dome was under way by 1982. Andrew H. Malcolm, “The Colts’ Move: For Indianapolis It’s a Boon… but in Baltimore, It Leaves a Void in the Hearts of the Fans,” New York Times, April 8, 1984; Kent McDill, “Why Is Indianapolis Building a $75 Million Domed Stadium?” United Press International, June 27, 1982.

  By 1982, however, it had become clear. The Raiders’ ultimately successful lawsuit challenged the NFL’s right to control franchise movement; until it was resolved, the league put its expansion plans on hold. Mark Fury, “Will Indianapolis’ Domed Stadium Become a White Elephant?” Bond Buyer, July 28, 1982.

  Articles started appearing in financial publications. Fury, “Will Indianapolis’ Domed Stadium Become a White Elephant?”

  In 1979, with the Colts floundering on the field. Charles C. Euchner, Playing the Field: Why Sports Teams Move and Cities Fight to Keep Them (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1993), 105.

  The Colts, tipped off to the city’s plans. According to Hudnut’s chief negotiator, the deal was finalized in just three days because of fears of legal entanglements. “Rushed Negotiations for Colts Revealed,” United Press International, April 1, 1984.

  “a monument to the progressive spirit of the city’s people.” “Most Modern Stadium in the World, and One of Most Beautiful,” Cleveland Plain Dealer, July 31, 1931.

  When eighty thousand fans jammed into Municipal Stadium’s wooden seats. Carol Poh Miller and Robert Wheeler, Cleveland: A Concise History, 1796–1990 (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1990), 143.

  Year after cellar-dwelling year. Local baseball fans, desperately searching for explanations for one of the most ignominious reputations in professional sports history, were willing to turn to any explanation. Besides the stadium’s inhospitability, Clevelanders pointed to the legendary “curse” of Rocky Colavito, the popular Indians outfielder who was inexplicably traded before the start of the 1960 season. Terry Pluto, The Curse of Rocky Colavito (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1994), 47.

  The city, which had lost 23 percent of its population between 1970 and 1980. Poh Miller and Wheeler, Cleveland: A Concise History, 183–84.

  The choice of a property tax to fund the initiative. Mark Rosentraub, Major League Losers: The Real Cost of Sports and Who’s Paying for It (New York: Basic Books, 1997), 256.

  Indeed, Campanella himself would later speculate. “All it took was a significant proportion of the political elites to contest it,” says Elkins, who points out that even Voinovich “had to be persuaded and cajoled.” In the course of his own research on the domed saga, Elkins spoke with Campanella and many of the other key figures.

  “Cleveland leaders can’t ignore a study.” Paul Attner, “For Many Cities, There’s No Place Like Dome,” Washington Post, June 8, 1994.

  And although their referen
dum failed. Elkins also speculates that there may have been a greater than normal turnout by African American voters on that day in May 1984—it was the same election day that would see Jesse Jackson score significant numbers in the city of Cleveland in his presidential campaign.

  The Civic Committee would later become. Poh Miller and Wheeler, Cleveland: A Concise History, 189.

  “We are not going to be able to do anything.” Richmond, Ballpark, 49.

  “For as long as the city will support the team.” Richmond, Ballpark, 58.

  “unless private enterprise builds it, we won’t build it.” Euchner, Playing the Field, 115.

  While Marker sat, several legislators expressed concerns. Richmond, Ballpark, 96.

  In a final touch that delighted architectural critics and baseball fans. That the warehouse was owned by Schaefer’s chief fundraiser was, no doubt, merely coincidence. Euchner, Playing the Field, 115.

  “Baltimore didn’t need a new baseball stadium.” Richmond, Ballpark, 44.

  Significantly, they had made their fortunes in the Cleveland area. Rosentraub, Major League Losers, 256. In Rosentraub’s extensive look at stadium financing and the cost to local municipalities, he argues that the Jacobs brothers were seen as the ideal new owners of the beleaguered team. Rebuilding the Indians was part of the brothers’ plans for redeveloping downtown Cleveland.

  Raising $1 million from private interests. Rosentraub, Major League Losers, 263.

  “Who wins with Issue 2?…” Emphasis in original. Newspaper advertisement, Cleveland Plain Dealer, May 3, 1990.

  “Should this facility not be available in Cleveland…” Roldo Bartimole, “If You Build It,” Progressive, June 1994.

  “Anyone who thinks the Indians.” Rosentraub, Major League Losers, 261.

  The so-called Gateway initiative won. Rosentraub, Major League Losers, 263.

  But that soon turned into a much greater public investment. Rosentraub, Major League Losers, 269–78.

  It wasn’t until late December 1996. James F. Sweeney, “Gateway Agrees to Pay Taxes on Jacobs Field, Gund Arena,” Cleveland Plain Dealer, December 24, 1996.

  the future of the Browns was never publicly questioned. Perhaps it should have been. In Ballpark, Peter Richmond mentions, almost in passing, that in 1984 then Baltimore Mayor William Schaefer “mobilized a secret meeting… between [Orioles owner Edward] Williams, Governor Hughes, Cleveland Browns owner Art Modell, and Larry Lucchino. It was Schaefer’s idea: the state would donate the land, private capital would be raised, and Art Modell, a friend of Williams, would buy an NFL team, put it in Cleveland, and move his Browns in.” Richmond, Ballpark, 65.

  But Modell had also promised the city in 1994. Stephen Koff, Timothy Heider, and Evelyn Theiss, “How Cleveland Lost the Browns,” Cleveland Plain Dealer, November 19, 1995.

  It was perhaps the only time. Malcolm Moran, “Hugs, Tears and a Victory: Browns Say Goodbye,” New York Times, December 18, 1995.

  “As sweetheart [deals] go, call this one.” Tom Cushman, “Maybe S.D. Deal with Chargers Is Not So Bad,” San Diego Union-Tribune, November 17, 1995.

  But when Mayor White met with NFL officials. Stephen Koff and Tony Grossi, “City May Need New Stadium to Keep a Team, NFL says,” Cleveland Plain Dealer, January 5, 1996.

  White, following negotiations with NFL officials. Cleveland Plain Dealer, January 5, 1996.

  “The best deal possible.” Cleveland Plain Dealer, February 11, 1996.

  “the percentage of Clevelanders living in poverty rose.” Norman Krumholtz, “To Fund or Not to Fund?” Detroit Free Press, March 12, 1996; W. Dennis Keating, “Cleveland: The Comeback City,” in Reconstructing Urban Regime Theory: Regulating Urban Politics in a Global Economy, ed. Mickey Lauria (Thousand Oaks CA: Sage, 1997), 192.

  The city school system, drained of property taxes. Sandra Dallas, ed., “Tackling Football, And Oh, Yes, Education,” Business Week, December 9, 1996.

  “in the worst financial shape.” Scott Stephens, “Cleveland Schools to Cut Sports, Teachers,” Cleveland Plain Dealer, March 8, 1996.

  the Camden Yards complex ultimately drew more than $400 million. According to Jack Lapides, the poorest 25 percent of the state’s population buys 63 percent of all lottery tickets. Richmond, Ballpark, 98.

  And the city did lose many of the one thousand manufacturing jobs. Though the Maryland Stadium Authority would later rent out office space in the warehouse to local companies, as a state agency it pays no property taxes. Jack Lapides reports that over his three decades in the state senate, the portion of city land not paying property taxes had nearly doubled, from 20 percent to 37 percent, as a result of the sports stadiums, university and hospital expansion, and other tax-exempt development.

  The Orioles, bought by Eli Jacobs for $70 million. John Helyar, Lords of the Realm (New York: Ballantine Books, 1994), 569–72.

  The Indians, whose new stadium coincided. Team-value figures drawn from annual estimates compiled by Michael Ozanian for Financial World magazine from 1991 to 1997. Since 1998 Ozanian has compiled similar yearly figures for Forbes magazine. All the Financial World and Forbes team-value estimates are available from economist Rodney Fort’s Web site: www.rodneyfort.com/SportsData/BizFrame.htm.

  In 2000, the Cleveland Plain Dealer put the public’s final tab at $470 million. Alan Achkar and Bill Lubinger, “Gateway’s Scorecard; Sports Complex Still Trying for Home Run a Catalyst for Economic Renewal,” Cleveland Plain Dealer, September 10, 2000.

  “I didn’t have a clue what this project was going to cost.” Kevin J. Delaney and Rick Eckstein, Public Dollars, Private Stadiums (New Brunswick NJ: Rutgers University Press, 2003), 73–74.

  “Today, the main streets in and around the Gateway.” George E. Jordan, “Games Cities Play,” Newark Star-Ledger, December 5, 2004.

  “All told, each dollar of extra revenue from the ballpark.” Doug Pappas, “New Stadia: Baltimore, “ Boston Baseball, May 2000.

  2. Stealing Home

  “It’s amazing what a pretty picture you can draw.” John Williams, “Early Stadium Sketches Unveiled,” Houston Chronicle, October 12, 1996.

  The bill for the ’90s is expected to exceed $12 billion. These figures do not include the more than a hundred minor-league ballparks and arenas built during the decade, which could add another billion dollars or two to the numbers. James Quirk and Rodney Fort, Hard Ball: The Abuse of Power in Pro Team Sports (Princeton NJ: Princeton University Press, 1999), 218–25; Tom Farrey, “New Stadiums, New Fans,” ESPN.com, September 18, 1998; John Riley, “Where the Grass Is Always… Greener: An $8.1B Building Boom in Pro-Team Stadiums: How Public Money Is Fueling Private Fortunes,” Newsday, August 18, 1996.

  percent of stadiums and arenas in use were publicly owned. James Quirk and Rodney Fort, Pay Dirt (Princeton NJ: Princeton University Press, 1992), 127.

  What some have called “the economic war among the states.” Kary L. Moss, “The Privatizing of Public Wealth,” Fordham Urban Law Journal 23 no. 1 (1995): 106.

  In 1977 fewer than half of all states. Greg LeRoy, “No More Candy Store,” Federation for Industrial Retention and Renewal and Grassroots Policy Project, 1994, 3.

  In his study “No More Candy Store.” LeRoy, “No More Candy Store,” 3.

  Meanwhile, the automaker BMW. Phil Bereano and Todd Fedorenko, “High Tech Candy Store,” Seattle Times, March 23, 1997.

  the state of Louisiana handed out $3.7 billion in tax abatements. Moss, “The Privatizing of Public Wealth,” 107.

  The city sent thirteen hundred checks. John Butera, “The Ties That Bind,” Plants, Sites and Parks Magazine, March/April 1996.

  The following year, tiny Rio Rancho, New Mexico. Janice Shields, “Ending Corporate Welfare,” Business and Society Review, Summer 1995.

  “Despite recurring predictions.” LeRoy, No More Candy Store, 2.

  The previous year, the L.A. Rams. Mark Rosentraub, Major League Losers: The Real Cost of Sports and Who’s Paying for Them. New York:
Basic Books, 1997, 66–67.

  “the mother of all stadium deals.” Mark Thornton, “Bring Back the Football Cartel,” Free Market, January 1996.

  “It’s a wonderful thing for our community.” Andrew H. Malcolm, “The Colts’ Move… For Indianapolis It’s a Boon.… but in Baltimore It Leaves a Void in the Hearts of the Fans,” New York Times, April 8, 1984.

  “The Raiders coming to Sacramento.” Charles C. Euchner, Playing the Field: Why Sports Teams Move and Cities Fight to Keep Them (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1993), 55.

  “off the charts.” Richard Sandomir, “Mayor Says If Yanks Must Move, West Side Would Be Best,” New York Times, April 3, 1996.

  “professional sports teams generally have no significant impact.” Robert A. Baade, “Stadiums, Professional Sports, and Economic Development: Assessing the Reality,” A Heartland Policy Study, April 4, 1984.