05/10/2006

Record-Eagle/Jan-Michael Stump
Daran Penney, a paint foreman with National Coatings, uses tape to mark where an advertisement will be painted on a dugout at Wuerfel Park on Tuesday morning. The Beach Bums start workouts at the stadium today.

Wuerfel Park a hit with Beach Bums

Traverse City team holds its first media day

BY JEFF PEEK

jpeek@record-eagle.com

and DENNIS CHASE

dchase@record-eagle.com

Record-Eagle/Jan-Michael Stump
Traverse City Beach Bums pitcher Steve Shippey, who played in Australia last season, jokes around with teammates during media day Tuesday at Wuerfel Park.

TRAVERSE CITY — Ten hours into a 13-hour drive from New Jersey to Traverse City, Shaun Parker realized his baseball career had taken an interesting turn.

"Once I got past Detroit I was in the middle of nowhere," said Parker, a left-handed pitcher for the first-year Traverse City Beach Bums. "It was dark. There were no lights anywhere. There wasn't anything for miles.

"I thought, 'What have I gotten myself into?' "

Parker soon found out.

"After looking around a little bit — a lakefront town with people who are pretty excited to have us — I'm excited," Parker said Tuesday at Wuerfel Park, where the Beach Bums met with local media before today's first day of training camp. "It's nice here. I'm looking forward to playing here."

The Beach Bums' inaugural season in the independent Frontier League begins two weeks from today, on May 24, with a home game against the defending champion Kalamazoo Kings.

Manager Jeff Isom said the 29 players in camp — only 24 will make the team — reacted much like he did when he first saw Wuerfel Park.

"It's jawdropping, I'll tell you that," Isom said. "It's definitely the crown jewel of the Frontier League. It's setting the standard for new stadiums in this league. There's nothing that compares to it in our league ... actually in all of minor league baseball.

"We have six guys here who were in Richmond (Ind.) last year, and I would rate Richmond's stadium fair at best," Isom said. "The facilities here — the locker rooms, the players' lounge, the dugouts — little things like that. It's almost overwhelming at times because it's so nice."

Right-handed pitcher Tony Casoli, who lives 20 minutes south of Philadelphia in Turnersville, N.J., called the opportunity to play for the Beach Bums "definitely one of the top experiences of my baseball life."

"I knew I was coming into a good situation, but I didn't know it was going to be this good," Casoli said. "When I got here I was completely blown away. I had seen pictures of the ballpark on the Internet, but there's nothing like seeing it in person.

"The Wuerfels (owners John and Leslye) did a great job putting everything together. This is a big league organization. I'm impressed."

Outfielder Kevin White, a Spartansburg, S.C., resident who is in his second season in the Frontier League, arrived in Traverse City on Monday.

"Compared to other places in the league, this by far is the best," White said. "This is above and beyond what I expected. You look around and it's amazing.

"I can't wait to see this place filled with people. It's going to be unbelievable."

Outfielder Mike Reese, the first player the Beach Bums signed, said he kept a close watch on the team's Web site over the winter.

"The anticipation was incredible," he said. "May 8th seemed so far away. I was glad to see it finally get here. That 21-hour drive (from his home in Orlando) took forever."

Reese said he drove 15 hours to Richmond, Ind., and visited his host family from last season, when he played for the Roosters. Then he stopped to see more friends in Kalamazoo before completing the trip to Traverse City.

His first impression?

"What a great facility," he said. "The pictures don't do it justice."

Players and personnel have also been impressed by the fan reaction.

"The outpouring of support we've had in Traverse City is like nothing I've seen anywhere else," said Chad Cooper, the Beach Bums' director of media and broadcasting, who held a similar position for three seasons in Evansville, Ind. "We've got less than 100 tickets available for opening day. It's incredible."

Season ticket sales are exceeding expectations, too.

"If you are running 8 to 10 percent capacity on season tickets you're doing average to good," he said. "We're running at about 25 percent. You can imagine how that translates."

Fans, Cooper said, will be in for a treat at Wuerfel Park.

"I've been to over 15 different ballparks in this league; I've been to over 25 different minor league facilities," he said. "There is nothing like this anywhere else."

Casoli is sold.

"I love this town.," he said. "We're right on the lake. We have a beautiful ballpark. How can you lose? It's just a good fit. It feels right."