Published: July 10, 2009 11:16 pm         

Agreement signals start of ISU baseball stadium project

New facility, summer league team in works

TERRE HAUTE — The Indiana State University Board of Trustees approved the lease of Bob Warn Field to the ISU Foundation, which clears the way for renovations to begin on the facility “as soon as possible,” president of the ISU Foundation Gene Crume said Friday.

The lease agreement, which consists of terms through 2013, also states the foundation’s “desires to enter into a contractual agreement with a Summer Baseball Team.”

Current members of the Prospect League — team owners share ownership of the collegiate summer league — told the Tribune-Star earlier this year that a July 1 deadline was in effect for a new management group applying to join the league for the 2010 season. Prior to 2009, the Prospect League was known as the Central Illinois Collegiate League. The league expanded from five to 11 teams for the 2009 season.

Crume said the management group he’s working with to bring a team to Terre Haute and Bob Warn Field is responsible for working with Prospect League officials.

“The process is a little bit slow so it will probably be later this fall before we have all the details worked out with them,” Crume said. “There’s quite a bit going on in the Prospect League so we needed to work with the university to make sure we went ahead with the baseball project to serve our intercollegiate athletics program.”

Despite the delays, Crume said a team playing on a new facility in 2010 is still his expectation.

“It would be our hope that we would get everything wrapped up sometime late this fall and our intent is still to partner with the Prospect League and find a way to bring collegiate [summer] baseball to Terre Haute,” Crume said. “We’re working with a management group that has run these types of franchises in the past. They’re the ones applying for the franchise fee and the rights for the Prospect League. They would lease the facility from a subsidiary of the ISU Foundation.”

At least one owner in the Prospect League is excited about the possibility of a Terre Haute franchise joining the mix.

Jeanie Cook, managing partner of the Danville Dans, said the proximity of Danville, Ill., and Terre Haute would make for a great division rivalry in the league.

“There’s certain communities that just have a history and they’re just baseball communities,” Cook said. “Terre Haute has always been, since the days of the Three-I [Illinois-Indiana-Iowa] League, a baseball community.”

Danville and Terre Haute were rivals during multiple stints of the Three-I League’s existence as a minor league from 1901 to 1961.

The Prospect League would not bring professional baseball back to Terre Haute, but Cook said it’s a high-caliber baseball that a community can enjoy. The league’s Web site touts MLB All-Stars Jonathan Papplebon, who played for Danville, and Ryan Howard among its Major League alumni.

“It’s better in many cases than Single-A ball,” Cook said. “We have seasoned collegiate baseball players from the entire country. The quality of baseball is exceptional.”

In the past year, the league has discussed doubling in size to a league of more than 20 teams that would include four divisions.

“We have dedicated ourselves as a league to having one of the best collegiate leagues in the country,” said Cook, who reiterated that Terre Haute is a natural fit.

“It’s my opinion that Terre Haute would be a great market for us.”