Kamloops,B.C.(CP)-It's official. The Truro Bears last games in the
Canadian province of Nova Scotia will be played today, then the team
will pack its bags and be moving out west. Where to, you ask? Winnipeg?
Vancouver? Nope. The Truro Bears will be moving to the mountain town of
Kamloops, British Columbia, a 3 hour drive east of Vancouver.
Bears owner Paul Glass negotiated through the night with local
governments in Vancouver, Victoria and Winnipeg before they got a call
from Rex Recchi, mayor of Kamloops at about 3:00 AM. Half an hour later,
Glass was on a charter to B.C. to inspect the facilites.
"We were minutes away from agreeing to a deal with the city of Vancouver
to move there when we got the call from Kamloops. They've been trying to
attract professional baseball for 5 years. Just wait until you see this
stadium, it's spectacular!"
Glass was referring to Douglas Fir Field, a ballpark which was
constucted by the local governments to attract professional baseball.
With the dimensions of Camden Yards in Baltimore, this park is towered
by majestic 400 foot trees that give the park its name behind the
outfield bleachers in left and right. An opening in the trees in center
field give the fans a view of the Candian Rockies in the distance.
"It's a Canadian 'Field of Dreams,'" Glass announced, "At first we were
worried about the fan base in a city of only 80 000 people but the city
has 25,000 baseball fans waiting in line for season tickets. The 32,000
seat stadium should be filled every night."
The Bears are holding a contest among the citizens of Kamloops to come
up with a new name for the team. Until a new name is decided, they will
be the Kamloops Bears. Results of the contest are expected in early next
week.
Pitchers Denny Neagle and Armando Reynoso have expressed displeasure at
the move and have requested to be traded. In return, the Bears are
interested in young pitching, bullpen and starters, and a young second
baseman as well as draft picks. No players are untouchable although at
this point, I'm not looking to trade my huge prospects but I won't pass
up an amazing offer.
