New pro baseball team for Whitefish
An upstart professional baseball league has reached a tentative agreement to bring a franchise to Whitefish next spring. The team will be called the Glacier Grizzlies and will play at Memorial Park.
Mike Greene, founder and commissioner of the newly formed Mount Rainier Professional Baseball League, traveled to Whitefish last week and met with officials from the Glacier Twins American Legion Baseball organization.
At this meeting both parties came to an agreement to establish a franchise in Whitefish with the new pro team sharing the field at Memorial Park.
The new league includes teams from Moses Lake, Wash., Ellensburg, Wash., Skagit Valley, Wash., Grays Harbor, Wash., and Oregon City, Ore.
“We wanted to be in cities that were happy to have professional baseball and the support has been incredible,” Greene said in a press statement. “We will do our best to bring a quality entertainment value to the people of Whitefish, Columbia Falls and Kalispell.”
The team will be owned by the league for its first season. Twins board member Lindsay Fansler said that’s a big advantage for getting a franchise in Whitefish.
“They are responsible for all the startup costs,” Fanslar said.
“That’s always a big hurdle.” “They’ll test the market and will see how well it supports the team.”
Currently, there are 17 players on the 24-man Grizzlies roster. Players sign professional contracts and are paid. Ages typically range from 18-25.
Most have played college baseball or signed with a major league franchise and were released, or had some other circumstance that prevented them from continuing their baseball career. “These are players trying to make it professionally,” Fanslar said.
Fanslar described the league as being on par with the minor league Missoula Osprey. While the Osprey are affiliated with Arizona Diamondbacks, the Grizzlies will have no professional affiliation next season.
Host families are needed for some of the Grizzlies players.
The franchise is now hiring for a general manager, sales manager, announcer, webcaster, ticket sales, sponsorship sales, promotions and field manager.
The Grizzlies will play a 68 game schedule starting in mid-May and running until Aug. 3. Half of the games will be played in Whitefish with four-game homestands.
New bleachers recently were installed at Memorial Field as part of an ongoing upgrade to the facility. A new outfield fence and press box are two major items left in the stadium upgrade. Fundraising continues for those projects. Fanslar said the pro team will share costs and responsibilities for field maintenance.