Clinton’s mayor is confident there will be games at the Clinton LumberKings ballpark next summer, but fans will see changes at the stadium that was built in 1937.
Mayor Scott Maddasion’s comments come after Major League Baseball cut ties this week with 42 minor league teams, including the clubs in Burlington and Clinton.
“We’re still going to have baseball,” he says. “It’s just going to look a little different. It won’t be the Midwest League. It’ll be a different league, different types of players.”
The LumberKings had been part of the Miami Marlins organization. Mayor Maddasion says the city will help ensure improvements at the ballpark in Clinton are completed.
“We’re just excited to see kind of where we go,” Maddasion says, “I know the ball club has a lot of tough decisions ahead of them to kind of decide which direction they want to take because I think they have three or four options.”
The general manager of the Burlington Bees says the team’s board of directors and staff are committed to keeping baseball in Burlington and beyond and are searching for alternatives for the upcoming season. The Bees had been affiliated with the Los Angeles Angels.
(By Dave Vickers, KROS, Clinton)