Charles Scores One For the Home Team

After 23-Year Effort, County Gets Its Ballpark

Twenty-two years ago, construction crews began clearing trees in rural Charles County to make way for a minor league baseball stadium. Today, a very different county finally will hear the cry "Play ball!"

The story of the 23-year effort to bring professional baseball to Southern Maryland dovetails neatly with Charles's evolution, a period that has seen the area morph from sleepy tobacco farming community into sprawling suburb. Many of the newcomers are affluent. Most work outside the county, making it difficult to connect with neighbors.

So when the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs hit the field today for their inaugural game, team members will shoulder the hopes of a county whose leaders want to increase Charles's prominence and build the type of community that newcomers sought when they moved in. Like many formerly rural counties once connected by local businesses, Charles has become a diverse, sprawling suburb where many residents feel detached from their neighbors, a problem county leaders hope they can solve with a 4,500-seat stadium.

Expectations are high: The Bowie Baysox in Prince George's County and the Potomac Cannons (now the Potomac Nationals) in Woodbridge helped spur development in once-desolate areas. A 2004 state report concluded that the Charles stadium could generate $27 million in ticket prices, tax revenue and tourism costs and pave the way for commercial development at the site, which sits in one of the few remaining rural swaths of St. Charles, the massive planned community near Waldorf.

"The state is starting to awaken to Southern Maryland's potential, and I think baseball is an opportunity that will pay great dividends," said Del. Murray D. Levy (D-Charles). "It's about so much more than baseball."

Longtime Charles Commissioner Gary V. Hodge first proposed bringing professional baseball to the county in 1985, after he read about the minor league team in Woodbridge. Hodge said the team in Prince William County, which had twice the population of Charles but a similar rural character, made him realize the economic and quality-of-life benefits of minor league baseball. Several restaurants and shops had opened near the stadium. Economic development officials were able to use the team to woo new businesses.

At the time, there was little non-agricultural economic development in Charles, and residents frequently complained that they had to travel long distances to shop or dine. So it didn't take much cajoling for Hodge to convince local officials of the need. Within a year, the governor and county commissioners had signed on, along with the Cleveland Indians, who were seeking a new home for their Class A team. A local developer donated land, the league approved the move, a team manager was hired and construction began.

"We just really thought everything was in place," said Peter Kirk, who was then a voting member of the league in which the Charles team would have played. He is now chairman of Blue Crabs' owner, Opening Day Partners.

Then came the 1986 county commissioners' election.

By all accounts, the baseball stadium was rarely discussed on the campaign trail. But the three commissioners running for reelection, who had approved $4.5 million to build a stadium, were criticized for their stance on a proposed airpark and for failing to address the county's rapid population growth. All three were voted out of office.

Within their first few months in office, the new commissioners -- including Levy and Thomas M. Middleton, now a state senator, voted to halt the baseball stadium, paying almost $500,000 in public funds to back out of signed contracts and undo completed work. Construction stopped and the team remained in Kinston, N.C. The donated land has sat empty and is slated for commercial development.

"Oh wow, people were so disappointed," said Ron Provenzano, a longtime Little League coach in Hughesville who is now a Blue Crabs season ticket holder. "At that time, there was really nothing for the kids to do here, so losing that was tough."