A new downtown Modesto baseball stadium cannot gouge taxpayers
Rumors about a revived effort to build a new baseball stadium in downtown Modesto apparently are true.
“We’re having conversations with the (Seattle) Mariners,” City Manager Joe Lopez confirmed in a recent sit-down interview.
He’s not divulging details at this point. Everything is subject to negotiation and nothing has been settled, he said.
It doesn’t take inside baseball savvy to surmise what that means: Seattle wants locals to pay for most or all of the new stadium, and it won’t be cheap.
Until we know that number — and other terms affecting local taxpayers — it won’t be easy to issue a helpful opinion. Right now, my sporting heart says “yes” while my cynical brain says “maybe not.”
Modesto’s proud 75-year relationship with minor-league ball started with the Modesto Reds in 1946, shifting to the Modesto A’s from 1975 to 2004. The team became a Colorado Rockies affiliate in 2005 and was renamed the Modesto Nuts, and pivoted to Seattle in 2017 — never leaving its roots in west Modesto’s John Thurman Field.
I was a rather young Modesto Bee reporter when assigned to cover City Hall just after Modesto leaders narrowly agreed to rehab the aging stadium in 1997, despite strong warnings from some City Council members who saw it as a lopsided deal. The city and its taxpayers bore almost the entire construction cost of $4.2 million.
Those of us who love baseball, including A-level ball, don’t have to memorize stats or even know players’ names to enjoy a warm evening in the stands. Bursts of action on the field — sometimes brilliantly athletic. A hot dog, nachos, ice cream. Fans around you, but not too many and not too close like in the majors, which is more exciting but somehow less relaxing.
Minor-league ball is where fans have a better chance at actually catching a foul ball souvenir, or participating in between-inning antics. I won something once — can’t remember what; maybe a free car wash or movie tickets — for correctly answering an easy Reggie Jackson question. The San Francisco Giants always have been my team, but you couldn’t grow up in the Valley in the 1970s without admiration for the Oakland A’s.
The Nuts’ post-game fireworks shows are a family favorite. A few years ago, my then-teenage son sold game tickets as a seasonal, summer employee. I love my Modesto Nuts T-shirt, even if I was among those who initially and wrongly predicted the goofy team name eventually would be ridiculed into oblivion.
Ah, the memories.
But memories don’t pay the bills. And you can bet that the Nuts, or Seattle, will want a lot more than $4.2 million in public money to keep professional baseball in Modesto.
Modesto Nuts attendance lags
One concern is waning interest. Although attendance shot up after the 1997 renovation, the gate declined almost every year for eight years straight after the high-water mark of 180,785 in 2011, all the way down to 139,762 in 2019 (COVID-19 canceled the 2020 season). That’s a problem.
More fans could be expected to check out a new stadium in downtown Modesto — at the southeast corner of 10th and F streets, the city’s downtown master plan indicated last year. But will enough show up to justify the cost?
Nuts General Manager Zach Brockman declined an interview request. But he sent an email statement assuring that the “Modesto Nuts are committed to being here for many years to come.
“There is a lot of research that needs to be done before any decisions can be made,” Brockman said. “But we look forward to fulfilling all of our commitments to the city of Modesto and engaging with the community when the time is right so baseball can remain healthy and thriving in Modesto.”
I sure hope so.
But the numbers have to make sense.
