Thursday, December 27, 2007

After years of dreams and deferrals, Southern Maryland's first professional sports team is 127 days from taking the field.

A flurry of activity over the past few months has put the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs baseball team on the brink of debuting its first season in the spring. The Waldorf stadium's steel infrastructure is nearly complete, and team co-owner Brooks Robinson has recently hired a general manager, field manager and bench coach.

"We're nearly there, and it's extremely exciting," Robinson, a Hall of Fame third baseman with the Baltimore Orioles, told a buzzing crowd of season ticket holders and corporate sponsors this month.

Robinson's pick to manage the team, Butch Hobson, excited fans because of his experience as a major league player and Boston Red Sox manager. The team had interviewed Hall of Fame catcher Gary Carter, three-time all-star Cecil Fielder and several other former major league players before settling on Hobson.

"I'm a blue-collar guy who likes to play hard-nosed, blue-collar baseball," Hobson said before guaranteeing that his team would win the Atlantic League championship next season.

Early next year, Hobson will have the opportunity to draft one player from each of the other seven Atlantic League teams. The rest of his roster will be filled after players are cut from major league spring training rosters.

-- MEGAN GREENWELL