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Eugene Church · 01-30-2009, 12:07 AM

The Islandian Times

Tuesday, November 27, 2001

Billingham's Group Says "No Dice" To Franchise Offers
According to sources close to the IPA Expansion Committee, four franchises were offered to Gates Billingham of Grand City, Andrus Valk of Valka, Robert Hanford of Hillsboro and Onnie Anastas of Turon. The Islandian Pro Alliance would expand for the 2003 season. The group of expansionists put forth a unified front and said they would not be satisfied with that arrangement. Four teams were simply not enough to take care of the huge demand for pro baseball franchises in the Islands and waiting until 2003 to begin expansion would not please the baseball fans.

BNN was told that IPA Expansion Committee chairman, Jock Ewing, was disappointed that the deal was turned down. He reportedly said that his committee would continue studying the feasibility of adding more teams to the league, but the general feeling of the current owners still was not favorable. Ewing told Billingham that it might take six months to properly assess Billingham's proposal to increase the IPA to 64 teams and it was highly doubtful any teams would be added prior to the 2003 season.

Commissioner John Banford is working hard behind the scene to work out some compromise to avert a possible renegade league or a lengthy and expensive court battle. The one thing Banford doesn't want is a rival league that would highly inflate the salary structure in pro baseball. For the good of professional baseball, financial integrity must be maintained and Banford thinks you can only do that when there is one league. Several leagues would lead to chaos and financial ruin. Banford wants to avoid that scenario at all costs.

01-30-2009, 12:07 AM	#664
Eugene Church Hall Of Famer Join Date: Aug 2002 Posts: 35,889	The Islandian Times Tuesday, November 27, 2001 Billingham's Group Says "No Dice" To Franchise Offers According to sources close to the IPA Expansion Committee, four franchises were offered to Gates Billingham of Grand City, Andrus Valk of Valka, Robert Hanford of Hillsboro and Onnie Anastas of Turon. The Islandian Pro Alliance would expand for the 2003 season. The group of expansionists put forth a unified front and said they would not be satisfied with that arrangement. Four teams were simply not enough to take care of the huge demand for pro baseball franchises in the Islands and waiting until 2003 to begin expansion would not please the baseball fans. BNN was told that IPA Expansion Committee chairman, Jock Ewing, was disappointed that the deal was turned down. He reportedly said that his committee would continue studying the feasibility of adding more teams to the league, but the general feeling of the current owners still was not favorable. Ewing told Billingham that it might take six months to properly assess Billingham's proposal to increase the IPA to 64 teams and it was highly doubtful any teams would be added prior to the 2003 season. Commissioner John Banford is working hard behind the scene to work out some compromise to avert a possible renegade league or a lengthy and expensive court battle. The one thing Banford doesn't want is a rival league that would highly inflate the salary structure in pro baseball. For the good of professional baseball, financial integrity must be maintained and Banford thinks you can only do that when there is one league. Several leagues would lead to chaos and financial ruin. Banford wants to avoid that scenario at all costs.