tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29769707.post5741427168173628252..comments2024-02-10T18:19:36.406-08:00Comments on Newspaper Rock: San Manuel partners with local ballclubRobhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01478763837213733775noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29769707.post-24942989271112294602012-03-29T18:07:31.942-07:002012-03-29T18:07:31.942-07:00For more on the subject, see:
http://www.pe.com/s...For more on the subject, see:<br /><br />http://www.pe.com/sports/baseball/california-league-headlines/20120329-patton-66ers-san-manuel-perfect-combo.ece<br /><br /><b>PATTON: 66ers, San Manuel perfect combo</b><br /><br />Twenty-five years ago, someone had the kooky idea that if you put a minor league baseball team, with no major league affiliation, in outdated Fiscalini Field, people would actually come out and watch.<br /><br />Oddly enough, they did. The San Bernardino Spirit were so successful that that after five years, Rancho Cucamonga built a stadium and swiped the California League team away.<br /><br />Without missing a beat—or a season—the Salinas Spurs moved into Fiscalini as the new Spirit, with new owners Dave Elmore and Donna Tuttle banking on San Bernardino’s passion for baseball. That was 1992.<br /><br />Meanwhile, in the mid-1980s, another revival was under way. The San Manuel Band of Mission Indians had opened a popular bingo center near Highland, to be followed by a casino in 1994, sparking a regional economic phenomenon. Today the tribe employs 3,000 people. It has become a political and philanthropic force, a symbol of local power.<br /><br />In a way, minor league baseball and the tribe regenerated themselves side-by-side, emerging at a time when other local iconic institutions—say, a military base and a railroad—were shrinking away.Robhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01478763837213733775noreply@blogger.com