Part 4: Bye-bye baseball

After this season, my baseball team is leaving.

I call it "my" team, but I don't own it. The folks that do own it are moving it to Bowling Green, KY.

Fans like me in the Columbus area will be without baseball. The good news is, not many people will be affected.

Why do I say that?

Because if you don't care, you aren't affected.

I'm affected, because I care. But most folks in the area don't care, because most folks in the area don't go to the games.

But I'm a fan, and I go.

And so do sports reporters.

Sure, it's there job. But I've seen some of them at games when they aren't working. For instance, it's not unusual to see Andrew Whittenberg of WTVM and WXTX sitting behind home plate on his day off if the Catfish are in town.

Sure, he's got a life. And one of the ways he enjoys life is to take in a ball game.

Andrew works with Dave Platta, who's been doing sports in Columbus since the mid-1980s.

Dave's a baseball fan, too. He enjoys covering the games, because, despite the fact it's work, it's also fun for him.

The sports guys will be two of the local fans who will miss baseball when it's gone.

We've been through this before. I've only been in the Columbus area since the mid-1990s. And I was here when the Columbus RedStixx left. I wasn't here when the team before them, the Columbus Mudcats (nee Astros) left.

Dave was. He did a 5-part report on the Columbus Astros in 1988. When he told me about it one day earlier this season, I told him I'd love to see it if he could locate it.

Well, the series was located, and WTVM is sharing it, not just with me, but with everybody. They have the entire series posted on their Website. You gotta dig a little for it. But it's not too hard to find.

I'm posting the series here, too. I've already shared parts one, two and three. Here's part four. Oh, a warning. Part four has some noise in it. Think nails on a blackboard. It's not that bad, but it's annoying. Still, all in all, I enjoyed it.



The Charleston Wheelers still exists, though they went through a couple of transformations. They became the Charleston Alley Cats, then finally, the West Virginia Power.

The Catfish beat the Power for the South Atlantic League title last year in a 3-game sweep. But in Columbus, winning it all isn't enough.

And, if everything isn't enough, nothing is.

Part 3: Looking back on a departed baseball team

Earlier this year, the Columbus Catfish were sold. The new owner wanted a team to move to Bowling Green, KY.

He got it.

And I'm losing a baseball team.

Oh, not just me. The whole Columbus area. But don't but a few people care. Because, if they did, they'd have been at the games and the team wouldn't be packing up and moving out.

Columbus has been through this before.

Back in 1988, Dave Platta of WTVM did a report on the plight, and possible departure, of the Columbus Astros.

The Astros didn't leave in '88. But they were gone just a couple of years later.

This year, it's a done deal about the Catfish. They are leaving.

And speaking with Dave earlier in the season, he had mentioned his 5-part series from 1988. Naturally, I wanted to see it. Only he couldn't lay his hands on it.

Well, the series was finally located, and WTVM has posted them on their Website.

And, I'm taking advantage of their offer to share it over the Web.

I've already posted videos of parts one and two. Here's part three.



Dave, along with another WTVM sports anchor, Andrew Whittenberg, are running a series this week on their 11 PM newscasts, about the Catfish departure. I'm enjoying it immensely.

But the thing is, the current report is a lot like the 1988 report: no fan support, old facility, no money for improvements, and so on.

History repeats itself. Except for one thing. The last two teams to leave -- the Astros/Mudcats in 1990 and the RedStixx in 2002 -- each had another team to replace them. The Mudcats (nee Astros) were replaced the next year by the Indians (who renamed themselves "RedStixx"). The RedStixx were replaced by the South Georgia Waves (who renamed themselves "Columbus Catfish").

There's nobody waiting in the wings this time.

Bye-bye baseball, part two

WTVM/WXTX sports anchor Dave Platta is a baseball fan. He's a sports fan. I mean, you don't do his job for as long as he has without loving it. And, no, he's not the only long-time news or sports anchor in Columbus.

But I like Dave. And, truth be told, the others sports reporters I've met at the ball park. Both those that are still here and those that have moved on. Still, Dave's a fixture here in Columbus. It just wouldn't be the same without him.

But enough of that.

Dave and I share a love for baseball, and a frustration that baseball will leave Columbus.

Only, Dave's been through it before. Twice before.

There used to be a team in Columbus called the Columbus Astros. They were, of course, an Astros affiliate. They called Columbus home for 21 years: 1970-1990, the last two years with the nickname "Mudcats."

In 1988, there was fear the team would move. They didn't. Not in that year. They were sold, and moved two years later.

And, when that team moved out and another moved in -- the Columbus Indians/RedStixx -- Columbus stll had a team. Then they were sold and moved. Columbus got the South Georgia Waves, who changed their name to the Columbus Catfish, and they've been here since 2003. This is their last year. They were sold. And they're moving.

I was here for the RedStixx departure. But Dave was here for, not only the RedStixx leaving town, but the Astros/Mudcats exodus.

Back in 1988, Dave had a report on the situation with the Columbus Astros. And I've enjoyed watching it on WTVM's Website.

That report is all too familiar, even though I hadn't seen it before (I didn't move here until the mid '90s).

Anyway, I've enjoyed watching it. Yesterday, I shared part 1 of the 1988 report. Today, part two.



By the way, Dave, along with anchor Andrew Whittenberg (who I also enjoy; they guy's a good reporter and funny as heck in person), is currently running a report on WTVM about the Catfish departure, and the reasons behind it.

It's an interesting series, and I'm looking forward to seeing it all as it airs this week.

The thing, though. The current series reminds me a lot of the 1988 series. I hope it ends with Columbus getting another team.

But I'm afraid it won't.