Fisk’d

October 21, 1975

Since there is no baseball on tonight, I will have to bust out the Game 6 DVD and watch it.  I’m sad that it doesn’t have any of the old commercials.

Red Sox Moving To Sarasota?

Sarasota city council members and team officials of the Boston Red Sox have been in “preliminary” talks about moving their spring training facilities and offices from Ft. Meyers to Sarasota in an effort to bring together their major and minor league teams. Currently, the Sarasota Red Sox play out of Ed Smith Stadium, the same stadium that the Sarasota Reds use along with the major league team.

Certainly the Red Sox would have to renovate Ed Smith Stadium, which was the major sticking point for the Reds and Sarasota city officials. However, the Red Sox do have the financial ability to give more money from their side in order to secure and build onto the current site.

This also could be a power play by the Red Sox in order to demand renovations to their current site in Lee County and Ft Meyers, but why renovate when you can tear down and start new?

Given that talks between Sarasota and the Red Sox began just days after the Reds secured a memo of understanding from the Goodyear, AZ city council securing funding for their share of a joint site with the Indians, it would be a shame that just a few million dollars here or there could have kept the Reds in their current spring training home.

Hat tip to the following sites:

Sox Addict

Sarasota Herald-Tribune

Boston Globe