Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Diamondbacks haul out league commissioner scam

Similar to the one attempted by the Chargers/NFL

The baseball team sued Maricopa County for repairs to Chase Field.
The baseball team sued Maricopa County for repairs to Chase Field.

Remember in the early part of the century when the Chargers brought out the National Football League commissioner to blackmail San Diego taxpayers into paying for a new stadium? The commissioner declared that San Diego would not get another Super Bowl until it got a new stadium. Thank goodness, San Diegans didn't fall for the shakedown and are now being celebrated in intelligent media for voting the Chargers down.

Now baseball's Arizona Diamondbacks are putting the same scam to use. The team got the commissioner of Major League Baseball to come to town. He declared in a speech, "To be a major-league quality stadium [Chase Field] needs work. We take very seriously the obligation to have a major league-quality facility in each and every market."

Sponsored
Sponsored

Background: Chase Field, which is air-conditioned, opened in 1998, so it is only 19 years old. Taxpayers shelled out $238 million and the team only put in $115 million. In recent months, the Diamondbacks have pulled out every trick in the stadium scam book to get Maricopa County to put $187 million into Chase for so-called "renovations." Neil deMause of FieldofSchemes.com points out that some of the things the Diamondbacks are demanding are "upgrading scoreboards and refurbishing luxury suites."

The team, demanding the loot, sued Maricopa County over the matter in January. However, the field is owned by the municipality in a lease that runs through the 2027 season. Under terms of the contract, the team cannot pursue a new ballpark until 2024.

Back in the 1990s, when taxpayers were expected to pay two-thirds of the ballpark cost, the Maricopa County said it would boost its sales tax by a quarter percentage. The controversy got so hot that one of the local politicians was shot by someone pointing out that the county was in bad fiscal shape and couldn't spend this kind of money. The politician was not injured seriously. Phoenix needs some hot controversy — without weapons — to thwart the Diamondbacks now.

The latest copy of the Reader

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

East San Diego County has only one bike lane

So you can get out of town – from Santee to Tierrasanta
The baseball team sued Maricopa County for repairs to Chase Field.
The baseball team sued Maricopa County for repairs to Chase Field.

Remember in the early part of the century when the Chargers brought out the National Football League commissioner to blackmail San Diego taxpayers into paying for a new stadium? The commissioner declared that San Diego would not get another Super Bowl until it got a new stadium. Thank goodness, San Diegans didn't fall for the shakedown and are now being celebrated in intelligent media for voting the Chargers down.

Now baseball's Arizona Diamondbacks are putting the same scam to use. The team got the commissioner of Major League Baseball to come to town. He declared in a speech, "To be a major-league quality stadium [Chase Field] needs work. We take very seriously the obligation to have a major league-quality facility in each and every market."

Sponsored
Sponsored

Background: Chase Field, which is air-conditioned, opened in 1998, so it is only 19 years old. Taxpayers shelled out $238 million and the team only put in $115 million. In recent months, the Diamondbacks have pulled out every trick in the stadium scam book to get Maricopa County to put $187 million into Chase for so-called "renovations." Neil deMause of FieldofSchemes.com points out that some of the things the Diamondbacks are demanding are "upgrading scoreboards and refurbishing luxury suites."

The team, demanding the loot, sued Maricopa County over the matter in January. However, the field is owned by the municipality in a lease that runs through the 2027 season. Under terms of the contract, the team cannot pursue a new ballpark until 2024.

Back in the 1990s, when taxpayers were expected to pay two-thirds of the ballpark cost, the Maricopa County said it would boost its sales tax by a quarter percentage. The controversy got so hot that one of the local politicians was shot by someone pointing out that the county was in bad fiscal shape and couldn't spend this kind of money. The politician was not injured seriously. Phoenix needs some hot controversy — without weapons — to thwart the Diamondbacks now.

Comments
Sponsored

The latest copy of the Reader

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

At Comedor Nishi a world of cuisines meet for brunch

A Mexican eatery with Japanese and French influences
Next Article

Gonzo Report: Hockey Dad brings UCSD vets and Australians to the Quartyard

Bending the stage barriers in East Village
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader