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Eugene Church · 01-21-2009, 12:14 PM

The Islandian Times

Monday, November 19, 2001

Trouble Looming in Pro Baseball?
There could be war in the Islands - at least on the pro baseball front. The Islandian Pro Alliance, the only professional baseball league in Islandia, had a meeting today of all 24 owners to discuss the expansion proposal of 40 new potential owners, who want to join the league. The meeting was called by IPA Commissioner John Banford at the behest of billionaire Gates Billingham, who is the chairman and spokesman of the expansion group.

After a lengthy meeting Banford was non committal on the expansion issue and said further study and discussion among the current league owners would be necessary. Banford told The Islandian Times, "We have some strong-willed owners that have convinced the majority that chaos could ensue with a quick expansion and it must be done in a timely and orderly fashion. We will continue to study the issue."

An expansion committee was appointed by the owners and will be co-chaired by Jock Ewing of Waleska and Jorge Trujillo of Belair Beach. Both are known to be vocal opponents of expansion.

Several owners speaking in private said wholesale expansion could lead to a dissolution of the IPA with the anti-expansionists threatening to break off and form their own league with free agency, giving them the right to sign any player they wanted. Many of the wealthier owners don't like the restrictiveness of the current draft system, saying it impedes competition. Commissioner Banford personally intervened during the formation of the league rules last year to put a stop to owners signing the best players to personal contracts. Ewing, Trujillo and quite a few owners fought to sign their own players. Ewing sons, Bobby Ewing of South Fork and J. R. Ewing of Ozarka, along with George Constanza of Elnora and Brent Steiner of Bayview has already signed up all of the best players prior to the IPA's first league draft. Banford, who has absolute power as Commissioner and is appointed for life, stepped in and voided all of the contracts and said there would be no free agency in the league, saying it would eventually destroy the competitive values and lead to a few domineering teams rather than parity.

The Ewings, Constanza and Steiner took Banford to court, but his decision was backed up by the Islandian Court, who ruled in Banford's favor.

Commissioner Banford has always been a strong supporter of no free agency to keep the cost of players down and eliminating bidding wars between clubs for talent. Banford devised the fair and equitable system to set salaries based on years of service and performance. It eliminates all of the squabbling and bargaining over contracts. It also insure that the teams will have continuity year-to-year for the sake of fan support. Banford doesn't want the IPA to evolve into the US Major League Baseball system, where players play musical chairs each season and the cost of salaries has spiraled out of control. Banford wants to have a league where players are well-paid, the owners costs are controlled and the cost of attending a game is within reason and can be afforded by the average wage earner. Banford doesn't want the corporations to be the prime customers of his league.

The Islandian Times tried to reach Gates Billingham of the expansion group for comment, but he was not available. His public relations people said Billingham had been in contact with Banford and would announce his plans at a press conference soon.

01-21-2009, 12:14 PM	#661
Eugene Church Hall Of Famer Join Date: Aug 2002 Posts: 35,889	The Islandian Times Monday, November 19, 2001 Trouble Looming in Pro Baseball? There could be war in the Islands - at least on the pro baseball front. The Islandian Pro Alliance, the only professional baseball league in Islandia, had a meeting today of all 24 owners to discuss the expansion proposal of 40 new potential owners, who want to join the league. The meeting was called by IPA Commissioner John Banford at the behest of billionaire Gates Billingham, who is the chairman and spokesman of the expansion group. After a lengthy meeting Banford was non committal on the expansion issue and said further study and discussion among the current league owners would be necessary. Banford told The Islandian Times, "We have some strong-willed owners that have convinced the majority that chaos could ensue with a quick expansion and it must be done in a timely and orderly fashion. We will continue to study the issue." An expansion committee was appointed by the owners and will be co-chaired by Jock Ewing of Waleska and Jorge Trujillo of Belair Beach. Both are known to be vocal opponents of expansion. Several owners speaking in private said wholesale expansion could lead to a dissolution of the IPA with the anti-expansionists threatening to break off and form their own league with free agency, giving them the right to sign any player they wanted. Many of the wealthier owners don't like the restrictiveness of the current draft system, saying it impedes competition. Commissioner Banford personally intervened during the formation of the league rules last year to put a stop to owners signing the best players to personal contracts. Ewing, Trujillo and quite a few owners fought to sign their own players. Ewing sons, Bobby Ewing of South Fork and J. R. Ewing of Ozarka, along with George Constanza of Elnora and Brent Steiner of Bayview has already signed up all of the best players prior to the IPA's first league draft. Banford, who has absolute power as Commissioner and is appointed for life, stepped in and voided all of the contracts and said there would be no free agency in the league, saying it would eventually destroy the competitive values and lead to a few domineering teams rather than parity. The Ewings, Constanza and Steiner took Banford to court, but his decision was backed up by the Islandian Court, who ruled in Banford's favor. Commissioner Banford has always been a strong supporter of no free agency to keep the cost of players down and eliminating bidding wars between clubs for talent. Banford devised the fair and equitable system to set salaries based on years of service and performance. It eliminates all of the squabbling and bargaining over contracts. It also insure that the teams will have continuity year-to-year for the sake of fan support. Banford doesn't want the IPA to evolve into the US Major League Baseball system, where players play musical chairs each season and the cost of salaries has spiraled out of control. Banford wants to have a league where players are well-paid, the owners costs are controlled and the cost of attending a game is within reason and can be afforded by the average wage earner. Banford doesn't want the corporations to be the prime customers of his league. The Islandian Times tried to reach Gates Billingham of the expansion group for comment, but he was not available. His public relations people said Billingham had been in contact with Banford and would announce his plans at a press conference soon.