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Our media relations department, headed by David Hatchett and Emil Moffatt have done a marvelous job promoting Aaron Crow. He's had just as much, and probably more, hype on our website than Max or Luke. Witness your own remark a few posts above this one whereby you stated that "Crow is all that he was hyped up to be". Who would you accuse of "hyping" Crow? So on one hand, you imply that we gave him a lot of "hype" and on the other hand, you accuse us of not giving him enough "hype".... suggesting a draft party, etc. etc.

The fine line that our pr people are walking is to try to make folks aware of Aaron and the opportunity to see a very talented young player for a few games yet not to make it seem as if he is the only player that matters on our team. It is a difficult task, when all the scouts come out in a pack to watch his every pitch and leave en-masse when he is done. We are truly grateful to those who stay a few more innings to watch some of the other guys, even if it is not as intense.

The decision not to mention it on our website when he was named "pitcher of the week" was made by our management staff because the league announced those awards less than a week into the season and we were already collecting criticism for "overhyping" Aaron.

We have a full roster of talented young men who we hope will carry us through another successful season. While we are truly proud to have Aaron on our club at this time, and look forward to a successful outcome for him in the draft, and we are also proud to have had Max and Luke, we feel that it is important to strike a balance.

Upon reading your criticism, I discussed it with our pr folks and it was their opinion that we have given Aaron just as much, if not more, coverage on our website as we did with Max and Luke. To quote a key member of our staff who has a lot of influence on our website... "We did not put anything up because honoring a "Pitcher of the Week" for the first three days of the season is a bit of a stretch and we had so much going on in our opening homestand. The assertion that we don't highlight Aaron is absurd. Every time he's pitched, even in the pre-season, he's been the lead on the website with a photo..... we've also featured links to several articles about him, with more to come, I'm sure."

Again... I want to stress that while Crow is a big story, we have to guard against making too much of one player when we know that the other players on the ballclub are going to be the keys to any success we hope to enjoy over the full season.

We won't be having a "draft party".... but we will be proud of Aaron and his accomplishments both with the Cats and going forward and we will be proud of any role that the Cats' organization played in that.... just as we are with Max and Luke.... and you can bet your bippy that we will publicize it as we very well should!

JPD

I love a debate! Just ask my wife! Or our league commissioner and president! Or my boss!

Thanks for your comment. I realize that my contemporaries think I am half nuts for even reading this board, but I have to admit, I like to hear what folks are thinking. The hard part is that a few people jump to more conclusions than a good murder mystery. They are just ready to assume that we have to be doing something wrong, no matter how well we do.

After nearly 40 years of running ballclubs and having been raised by an entrepeneur (my dad ran a bar and restaurant in the Chicago area, and I started working in there as soon as I was tall enough to reach over the sink and wash dishes!) I have learned one thing..... most business policies and decisions, particularly in the world of small business, are reached through experience and have good reasons...and most folks who aren't on the decision making side don't realize all of the factors which enter into those decisions.

Trying to explain decisions to people who seek to find fault at every turn and truthfully would prefer to bask in the glow of their criticism is a difficult and frustrating task.... that's why just about all of our club officials choose to ignore forums like this... it is just too frustrating to them to read some of the comments, much less to try to explain everything to people who, really, aren't real fired up about hearing an explanation.

JPD

There are three former construction office trailers which are used to store things such as field drying agent and other bagged material which must be kept dry because you never know when it might be needed. They also use them to store other materials, such as fertilizer, to maintain the playing field, other supplies such as large cases of paper goods for the restrooms and a host of other misc. stadium maintenance supplies, etc. Bigger ballparks have a warehouse, or areas under the stands, etc. for the multitude of products and supplies that must be kept dry, but, as I've said before, with LaGrave being privately financed, we need to "make-do" with some less than perfect, yet functional, storage systems.

The little tan garage building with the green roof has a small office for the stadium operations manager and a garage where things like the carts, and a host of tools and equipment are kept. Over time, old signs, and a bunch of other things tend to accumulate in these buildings and that is when we have a "yard sale" to get rid of a lot of it (which you described last fall as a desperate cash grab, as I recall). The closer small building in front of the storage trailers is the property of a gentleman who uses the big parking lot to conduct motorcycle safety training. It is used for the classroom portion of the training. He usually has 6-8 students per group on weekend mornings.

JPD