Biscuits GM: Baseball will be back at Riverwalk Stadium soon
The last time Biscuits GM Michael Murphy made an announcement to the public, it was to signal the start of the 2020 season. That took place just days prior to the shut down of the sports world due to COVID-19. Murphy said recently that minor league baseball is to return to Riverwalk Stadium this spring. (STAFF PHOTO)
By TIM GAYLE
The Montgomery Biscuits are back and general manager Michael Murphy predicted fans won’t see a lot of difference in the “new” Biscuits.
In the past, 160 teams were part of Minor league baseball (MiLB), an organization that controlled operations for those teams throughout the United States. In its place, a new plan announced on Friday and organized by Major League Baseball will take over 11 minor leagues, reducing the number of teams to 120 and severing affiliations with three short-season rookie leagues. Another 12 teams that were in Single-A or Double-A leagues will lose official affiliation, including the Jackson Generals in what used to be the Southern League. Another loss was the Single-A Charlotte Stone Crabs, a Florida State League team that supplied players to the Biscuits.
The Biscuits are among the 120 teams that will join the new baseball structure by signing a 10-year Professional Development License with Major League Baseball that brings all of baseball under one structure.
“It definitely is exciting to be able to move forward in this process and be one step closer to having baseball back in Riverwalk Stadium,” Murphy said during a recent interview on River Region Sports radio.
“We’re thrilled to be a part of the new era of minor league baseball and are especially excited to continue our long-standing relationship with the Tampa Bay Rays.
“Regarding this announcement by Major League Baseball, the goal is only to enhance the fans’ experience. The differences that may come about, honestly, are more impactful on the players -- improving their working conditions, improving their travel, the players’ private spaces, field upgrades and things of that nature. For the fans, it won’t be something that you’re going to see as soon as you walk in the gate. It will not do anything to hinder your experience when you come to see the Montgomery Biscuits.”
Biscuits CEO Lou DiBella released a similar statement through the organization on Friday.
“I am pleased to have signed our PDL and I’m looking forward to working more closely with MLB in a new and exciting era for your Montgomery Biscuits,” DiBella said. “We are thrilled to extend our long standing relationship with the Tampa Bay Rays and continue to bring the next wave of Major League players through Montgomery.
“It’s been a long wait and we are excited to be nearing the day that we can welcome Biscuits fans back to Riverwalk Stadium.”
Triple-A teams will play 144 games and start their season in April. Double-A (138 games) and Single-A (132 games) will begin their seasons in May. The MLB amateur draft will be reduced from 40 to 20-30 rounds and will take place during the all-star weekend in July. Minor league pay is increasing for affiliated minor league players, but will no longer pay salaries for unaffiliated minor league players. MLB will require upgraded facilities, clubhouses, lighting and travel arrangements for its minor-league affiliates, phased in over the next few seasons.
“We’re anticipating getting our final schedule from Major League Baseball within the next week,” Murphy said. “That was something that had been on hold, awaiting this PDL announcement. One thing that we all have a pretty good idea about is that our season won’t be starting exactly when it normally would.”
Pitchers and catchers are scheduled to report to the Rays on Wednesday with the first full squad workout scheduled for the following Tuesday.
“About three weeks later is when minor league guys, or guys they’re anticipating starting here in Montgomery and the two Single-A levels, would show up,” Murphy said. “With that, we’re anticipating pushing our season back. There’s still a lot up in the air about that and a lot up in the air about what the exact COVID protocols will be but we’re extremely confident that we will have Biscuits games back here and fans in the stands to enjoy them.”
As part of the shakeup of the minor league system, two former Rookie leagues will become “partner leagues” with MLB as the Appalachian League will convert to a summer wood bat league for college underclassmen and the Pioneer League will convert to a professional league for undrafted players and those released from affiliated teams. Three former Independent leagues will also become partner leagues: The American Association, Atlantic League and Frontier League will also invite undrafted players.
Many of those undrafted players will come from the college ranks with the reduction of the amateur draft. There also will be a new MLB Draft League that will consist of six teams (including four from the former NY-Penn League plus Trenton and Frederick) playing a 68-game schedule after the college season up until the MLB all-star break, prior to the amateur draft. The wood bat league hopes to be a showcase for players hoping to be drafted, including some high school seniors. The Cape Cod league and the US National team should still attract the best pro draft prospects.
Murphy -- and the rest of the Biscuits’ staff -- are ready for the 2021 season after an 18-month break since a highly successful 2019 ended with a disappointing loss in the Southern League playoffs.
“It’s incredibly challenging to just go through from a mental standpoint, to not be able to perform our main business function for what is now going on 18 months now,” Murphy said. “In some aspects, it might make us stronger in the long run because we were forced to figure out ways we can impact the community without baseball. So once baseball is back, hopefully we’ll have a bigger toolbox to work with.”
The Biscuits have developed a reputation for fan interaction and promotions, but Murphy promised those will continue despite COVID-19 restrictions.
“I think there will be some adjustment to that and I think it’ll be a moving target or a learning process as we go,” he said. “As we’ve seen throughout this whole process, just going to a restaurant now is different than it was in July or October or even in December. I anticipate that same type of thing happening, that as we are allowed to have a little more openness within the ballpark, some of the things you’re used to -- like Biscuits being thrown into the crowd, for example -- will start coming back but at the beginning it might not be used to what you’ve been seeing. That’s strictly from a COVID standpoint.
“From this (PDL) agreement standpoint, it’s not going to hinder any of that. We’ll continue to do what we’ve done and be the best affordable family entertainment venue that we can possibly be and push ourselves to be creative and create some things that I think fans of all ages will love.”
A year ago at this time, Murphy was unveiling the “Year of the Chicken,” a promotional idea that was interrupted by the coronavirus pandemic but will continue as planned a year later.
“We’re going to continue forward with some of the chicken-related things,” he said. “If you saw the promotional release last year, we had a lot of giveaways that were planned that are sitting here in storage, ready to be dusted off and given away, one of those things being a chicken bobblehead. We’ll keep doing our T-shirt giveaways on Thursday night, so we’ll definitely have fan giveaways and a lot of promotions.”