Thanks, Beach Dawgs. It was fun for a while.
By Don Cudd (aka Hoss)
July 3, 2008
Posted in Hoss is a Dang Pack Rat
I promised Beach Dawg owner Ron Baron that I wouldn’t “bash” him or the team, so I hope my telling the truth about what’s happened behind the scenes in the last few days isn’t considered bashing. I just think it’s important for friends and family of the team’s players to know why I’ve decided to stop broadcasting the games in mid-season.
Here goes:
A good number of the players who were key to the Beach Dawgs 1st Half Continental League Baseball Championship walked off the team this week after being told on Sunday there was a good possibility that they’d be asked to sleep in the stadium locker rooms and luxury suites during future homestands. Hotel expenses simply had to be cut to make up for the team’s tragic attendance figures, Baron had told the team.
The news didn’t go over well. Just twelve guys showed up to play Tuesday’s road game in Texas City.
Baron is confident that the rebels who walked away can be easily replaced in the next few days, and, as for the housing situation, it’s all taken care of. Nobody will be staying in the stadium after all, he says. Eight players will be staying in General Manager Hector Salinas’s apparent mansion, 4 have opted to pay their own way in a hotel (on their $50/week salary), and the rest will be with “host families.”
Crisis resolved. The show will go on, Baron says.
I guess I’m not cut out for the business of baseball. I can’t just pretend that Brad Coleman, Travis Parker, Pedro Catala, Gustavo Vasquez, Josh Morgan, Dan Chafferdet and all the others (it’s still unclear exactly who has left) were never Beach Dawgs. Not after they left their families and devoted a good chunk of their summer playing winning baseball, for my entertainment, for far less than minimum wage.
From a business perspective, I suppose, these guys are just expendable clowns who can be replaced quickly by other expendable clowns the moment any discontent erupts.
From a fan’s perspective, though, the guys are all heroes who each played a huge role in an exciting — if ill-supported — team.
I guess I just think too much like a fan
I’ve told Baron that, given the exodus — and the incredibly small fan support that brought it about — I think the healthiest thing for him to do would be to simply cut his losses. He should just publicly proclaim what dozens of people behind the scenes are saying privately anyway: the Beach Dawgs were simply formed too hastily to generate sufficient community support in this very competitive baseball town. Baron should ask for forgiveness from county officials (who own Fairgrounds Field) for his naivete at bringing the team to town under less than ideal conditions. Then, he should simply call it quits for the Beach Dawgs for 2008.
If Baron did all that, I know I’d support him full force and — with his energy and passion — I am certain he could come back roaring for 2009.
Nueces County is desperate to keep a pro-baseball tenant in Fairgrounds Field. So it seems reasonable that officials would be willing to grant Baron a mulligan for this year — if only he’s honest and straightforward about the problems of this season.
But Baron isn’t listening to any such crazy talk.
“Quitting is not an option,” he told me. “The Continental Baseball League’s integrity is at stake.”
He doesn’t seem to understand that, when half of players on the league’s first place team walk out because they’re told they will probably have to start sleeping at the stadium, the league’s integrity is already pretty much shot.
Part of integrity — at least by my definition — is admitting one’s limitations. It would be refreshing to see Baron devote himself to that about now.
I really do like Ron Baron. He’s as honest, and as hard working, a guy as I think I’ll ever meet. It’s just painfully obvious that he’s gotten in over his head by bringing the Beach Dawgs to town with far fewer resources than a team needs to draw a sufficient crowd. A good number of his players tried to tell him the same thing this week.
But it looks like he doesn’t agree.
So … I wish the Beach Dawgs and Ron Baron the best of luck for the rest of the season, but I won’t be supporting the team with my broadcasts any longer. I learned long ago that enablers don’t really help anyone.
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Hoss is a Dang Pack Rat
July 3rd, 2008 at 11:27 am
We’ll miss the broadcasts. The CC Beach Dawg players will miss you also.
Thanks for all the publicity you’ve given the team. You are admired for standing up for your integrity.
July 5th, 2008 at 11:29 am
I am Tyler Kmetko’s grandmother and I loved listening to your Beach Dawg broadcasts, even the 12 and 13 inning games. It was always great fun to watch Tyler play baseball all his life and I thank you very much for giving us the chance to hear the games for the first half of the season, since we are too far away to see them. We are hoping to travel to see the CCBeach Dawgs one weekend in August.
The guys on the team who are sticking it out could really use some support, not abandonment. They love the game and are playing to win. I hope you will reconsider and provide us with this wonderful service again.
Fran Kennedy
July 5th, 2008 at 2:44 pm
I am the father of Greg Forrest Sillivent. The Continental Baseball League, in its 2nd year of existence is suffering like most startup business’s. Yes, its a business. My son was 2-classes away from a degree in Economics at the end of May. He decided to pursue his dream of playing Professional Baseball for as long as experienced baseball professionals and scouts told him that he had the ability to keep climbing the pro baseball ladder. So he put off summer classes and signed up with the Beach Dawgs. There were no promises made to my son, by anyone, that addressed living conditions. His paycheck was not a consideration other than enough money to eat. He is completely and totally happy playing for the Dawgs and having the time of his life. What people need to understand is that depite “below minimum income pay” these young men are blessed to have the talent, and the CHOICE to pursue this game, no matter the pay or sleeping conditions. Obviously, many chose last week to pursue a different path. I wish them the best.
The struggles that these players indure now can only benefit them in the future. Its a tough real world out there and these guys will probably be better prepared and more appreciative of the life they build for themselves after they are forced to hang up their cleats. In mean time, they make memories that last a lifetime.
I don’t know Ron Baron. I hope that he is driven to success. The men i know that have succeeded in business have ALL suffered before the success came.
Ron Baron, Hector Salinas, and Trey Salinas gave my son a chance to pursue his dream when others failed to recognize his ability. Hopefully the opportunity to play now will provide him another greater opportunity in the near future.
I know one thing for absolute certain, my son will have these memories for the rest of his life and will learn from them. For that I am grateful and I know from talking to him every night, that he is grateful as well.
Please continue to support the Beachdawgs. These young men deserve the support.
We don’t quit at my house. I hope you reconsider to do the broadcast. It is not feasible for us to make an 8hr drive to watch a ballgame and I doubt many parents can.
In the short time we have been associated with the BeachDawgs we have come to rely on your broadcasts’. Sure, I’ve critiqued the broadcast and offered my opinions, but that should tell you that we care and are committed to this adventure. We do appreciate the broadcast.
Many families and friends of these young men are listening and have no other “live” source to keep up with them.
Please don’t quit.
Sincerely,
Greg Sillivent Sr.
July 5th, 2008 at 9:04 pm
We hope that he reconsiders on the broadcasts but respect his integrity to do what he believes is right.
You can listen to the games through the other team’s site. I listened to the game last night through the Toro’s site. I believe McKinney also has a broadcast link on their site. Texarcana didn’t last week, but check their site for current info. All the team sites can be connected to through the CBL site.
I’ve enjoyed listening to Hoss do our broadcasts at home but will rely on the other team sites if necessary to hear the games.
Cindy Dutka
July 6th, 2008 at 12:04 pm
I really appreciate the passion in these responses, but, unfortunately, my decision to halt the broadcasts is final.
Let me expound a little more before letting this drop for good (at least on my end. I continue to invite your comments).
While I think it is admirable for guys like Greg Silivent and Tyler Kmetko to continue with the team against all odds, I also know that several of the players who quit did so because they signed with the team under conditions that were changed at the start of the season (after it was too late for several of them to revert to opportunities they’d turned down in order to sign with the Beach Dawgs). When I discovered this issue a couple weeks into the season, I told myself that I would stick with the team as long as these players did. Well, now that most of those quys have left, it’s time for me to go too. The Beach Dawgs are suddenly not the Beach Dawgs anymore.
Other factors contributing to my decision to end the broadcasts:
1. A man who has sold business sponsorships for the team says he has collected several thousand dollars (in cash and merchandise) from local businesses, whose names are mentioned occassionally over the stadium’s PA. But, at least as of Thursday, the team had not yet acknowledged those businesses in the “Game Day Sponsors” sign that has been blank for several weeks in the main concourse of the stadium. Many of these businesses have provided meals for the players after games with the expectation they would get advertising in return. But, from what I’ve seen, the advertising simply has not yet materialized to any worthwhile extent (again, at least as of Thursday, when I cut my ties with the team). This little problem played a role in my own failed attempt to convince a Robstown hotel to provide rooms for the players for the rest of the season in exchange for advertising from the team.
2. Ron Baron verbally promised me that links to HossTheBoss.com would be linked on the Beach Dawgs website. Those links never came. I take that as a sign that the team, itself, has no real desire for a radio play-by-play guy.
3. The league’s under-staffed public relations department has had great difficulty providing accurate statistics and game reports to interested parties. This only spells trouble for the players who are counting on using this season’s numbers as potential resume builders. It also became a credibility problem for me as some Corpus Christi area media began assuming that I — as the Beach Dawgs play-by-play guy — was at least partly to blame for the problems the league was having in the PR department.
The bottom line is that it is VERY apparent to me (and many other observers) that the Beach Dawgs entered this season with simply too little time and money to produce a credible — off the field — product. Ron Baron is extremely well intentioned, and he has worked valiangtly to achieve the unrealistic goals to which he continues to aspire. The tragic fact is that he simply needs more money and/or more time to do what he wants and needs to do.
As a businessman myself, I know this sort of trouble well. The Beach Dawg’s predicament reminds me of my own experience trying to keep a struggling little newspaper running against all odds a few years ago. I discovered in that case that the “never quit” attitude can sometimes be harmful to others. It is simply not fair to ask others — even if they are willing — to participate against their best interests in a project that has spiraled out of control.
I’m sorry my decision to quit the broadcast is a disappointment to many people. Believe me, I am terribly sad about it too. It’s painful to see myself referred to as a quitter and as abandoning the team. I wonder if folks think the same of all the guys who left the team last week. That would be even more painful to me to hear.
July 7th, 2008 at 8:36 am
Like you, Hoss, I, too am dumbfounded by what has happened with this outstanding team. Ron simply told me that it was his fault becuase he did way too much to try to make proper accomodations for this team.
It was so empty in the press box on Sunday. In fact it was pratically dead.
When Robbie told me that you left, I was and was not suprised.
You have done absolutely everything in your power to give these guys the proper media attention they deserve.
I really do wish there was some way to convince you to come back.
Apparently there are people who miss ya.
Plus, I missed doing co-hosting duties with you as well.
It was fun while it lasted.
July 10th, 2008 at 11:54 pm
I understand hard times do come around, but the team should have been told upfront of what they faced. Instead there were contracts signed by Salinas and the players that never were honored. These players did their best held first place and made it to championship play offs. Obviously they all are very talented. Yet they were told to give up the hotel, barely had good meals because of their pay and if they didn’t agree they would be replaced. That is not a good attitude or business decision for anyone. I love the sport but these players come from all over and deserved to be treated right from the beginning. Instead, once the team made it to the championships, they had to take it or leave it. Sure for the first year the team made it far but realistically at the players hardship. I admire all the families that fed and housed all these players. They have a heart of gold. Some of these families took turns on who to feed or who to give small jobs to so they can earn money for food. Salinas should take his losses and help correct this situation. It’s a terrible thing that in the U.S.A. contracts are not honored. No matter if it is the teams first year or not. I am proud of all the players, the ones who left and the ones who stayed. I wish them all the best. But more importantly I am proud of Hoss and the host families for standing by what they believe is right. I listened to the broadcast from Miami, but when I visited Corpus in June I couldn’t believe they ate one meal a day (hotdogs,burgers, sunflower seeds, or just anything they could afford) and 4 big men slept in each room. Mind you 2 full beds and 4 big men. Still than I tried to be supportive there were beds and rooms. I understand everything in life has some extent of sacrifice but to what extreme. Sleeping in a stadium is a step away from homeless. They went there to live a dream. To become a baseball player and be known. They flew in from all over. They were all proud to be Beach Dawgs. Yet they were told they would be replaced without any regret from the owner. Where is the appreciation for a job well done? They didn’t even get money to fly back home. I saw the effort of the players to make things happen but sometimes you have to leave, it doesn’t make you a quitter it just makes you a stronger person with different beliefs of how to live out a dream.
July 13th, 2008 at 9:41 pm
Amen to Diana’s sentiments!
July 15th, 2008 at 8:30 pm
Last year, the New York State League started with 4 teams playing in Utica, NY. The league folded about half way through the season due to poor attendance. That meant that ownership was under capitalized and refused to suffer losses to establish the league. It seems to me that the Beach dawgs won’t be back next year because there isn’t enough money to run them properly this year, to build a following. Too bad. Corpus Christi is a great location for baseball.
July 23rd, 2008 at 3:59 pm
Integrity??? Is that why Baron changed the CBL playoff qualifications with only three weeks to play? Or was it to make the Beach Dawgs’ playoff opponent have to play an extra round of games??
August 18th, 2008 at 8:29 pm
Dear Everyone,
My son, Michael Olsen, plays for the Texarkana Gunslingers, and I guarantee you that this season will be a period of his life that neither he nor we will ever forget. As my great-grandfather used to say, it has been a royal treat from the gitgo.
America is a land of opportunity, and Ron Baron took a chance with little financial room to spare. Having run a small business on a shoestring, I am sure that his personal finances have been close to broken by the little venture called the Beach Dawgs. Otherwise, I feel certain he would not have wanted to face the personal embarrassment of having his players sleep in the press box. The fact that the Beach Dawgs are on the field tonight (August 18, 2008) is a testament to his fortitude. He is taking a bath financially, but he is following through — and that’s something you don’t see a lot of these days.
Yes, I agree that these kids — really neat kids — came from all over. But it was to be a league-on-a-shoestring from the outset, and we all knew it. So our son Michael got in his car and drove down from Colorado into the unknown. “Dad,” he said one night when his team bus had broken down on the highway from Corpus Christi back to Texarkana, “this has been the greatest experience of my life!”
I would just say to Ron Baron and every other owner in the Continental Baseball League: Thanks for daring to be great. Thanks for the memories. Thanks for your unselfishness. You did your best, and you are part of the special fabric that has made America great!
Sincerely, Jack Olsen, Niwot, Colorado
August 20th, 2008 at 8:21 am
I actually think it was a little selfish to ask well-intentioned kids to play against their best interest for a league that couldn’t live up to its promises. The selfless thing to do would have been to admit mistakes when things got out of control and to have recommended the players for other, more stable, leagues. (As it stands a lot of the players who quit the Beach Dawgs in mid-season did end up in much better situations, but no thanks to Ron Baron or the Beach Dawgs.) Yes, Ron did his best. But he hurt a lot of people too (albiet unintentionally).
Oh well, such is life.