JENNA PRICE/The Register-Mail

Coach Brian Unger talks to his players during a game last month.

Bleachers empty elsewhere in CICL

Ex-minor league stadiums an attraction for Quincy, Danville

Sunday, July 17, 2005

While teams in Quincy and Danville pack 2,000 fans a night in renovated historic minor league stadiums - where beer and burgers fly out of the concession stands like balls from the pitcher's hand - other teams, like Galesburg and Twin City in Bloomington-Normal, struggle to stay alive on a year-to-year basis.

Attendance-wise, Galesburg most closely resembles the Twin City Stars. Twin City, which unlike Galesburg has been a member of the league the last 24 years, averages about 60 fans per game.

Duffy Bass has been Twin City's general manager for the last 22 years. He said this year's low attendance figures are nothing new.

"We've never drawn real well," Bass said. "In Bloomington-Normal, there are so many damn little leagues, legion teams, softball leagues ... . And all the moms and dads and grandmas and grandpas are all tied up going to those games. We've just resolved that if we get 75 people, it's a sellout."

That's not the case in Quincy. Since bringing the Gems to the city in 1994, Quincy has packed Q-Stadium - formerly a minor league park for teams including the New York Yankees, San Francisco Giants, New York Mets and Chicago Cubs.

"We've stuck about 275,000 dollars into the stadium over the last 10 years - new bleachers, new lights, new walkways, new bathrooms, new concession area, new fences, new dugouts and new watering system," said Quincy Gems general manager Jeff "J.J." Jansen. "Plus, we keep it affordable - two dollars for adults and one dollar for children - we have corporate sponsors and we do a lot of advertising.

"And oh yeah, we serve alcohol," Jansen added.

Alcohol is a central issue within the CICL. Whether or not a particular franchise sells it seems to separate the haves and have-nots. Each of the league's top four teams attendance-wise sell alcohol.

"It definitely makes a difference," Jansen said. "We sell a lot of beer. We have a $5 million dollar insurance policy just in case, but in 10 years we've only had one incident where someone had to be ejected."

Beer isn't sold at either of Twin City's home parks - Redbird Field on the campus of Illinois State University or Jack Horenberger Field on the campus of Illinois Wesleyan. While Catholic colleges Quincy University and Benedictine in Lisle agreed to let the Quincy Gems and DuPage Dragons sell alcohol, public colleges and colleges with other religious affiliations prohibit it.

"Some of us teams work at a disadvantage because we use the facilities of colleges who won't let us serve alcohol," Bass said. "If you can have beer, you're going to draw, and then you can start adding some things.

"Plus, it helps to be backed by the city, too," Bass said. "J.J. there in Quincy is good old buddies with the mayor there, so it wasn't any problem for them."

Jansen admits what Bass said is true.

"The mayor and the city of Quincy in general have helped us out a lot." Jansen said.

But Jansen said beer isn't the only reason for the Gems' financial success.

"We make a lot off our corporate sponsorships," Jansen said. "For $1,800, a corporation get tickets and use of the corporate picnic areas, plus they get advertising on the radio and a quarter-page ad in the newspaper. That pretty much pays for our advertising, too."

Jansen said the Gems also got a contribution of $100,000 from a private individual, which was used to put in a new lighting system at Q-Stadium. In the first year the Gems were operational, Jansen said they made $90,000, which was put back into the team.

For teams like Galesburg and Twin City, making $90,000 and putting it back in the team is something they don't even dare dream of.

"Our goal is to make ends meet - we don't make money, but we don't lose money," Bass said.

Twin City's main financial support is from its team program publication, which Bass starts putting together in January.

"We have a nice program that we put out and we sell support ads in it," Bass said. "The support ads are basically donations, and by the time you bust your butt selling the ads and delivering the programs, it's a hell of a lot of work."

Bass said with such low attendance, Twin City doesn't bother charging fans admission.

"We pass the hat," Bass said. "And we do pretty well with concessions, but it's nothing earth-shattering."

Bass puts in countless hours, doesn't get paid and, unlike Jansen, doesn't get the satisfaction of sitting in the owner's box, drinking a beer and looking out over a full stadium nearly every night.

But Bass, Illinois State's head coach from 1963 to 1988, keeps plugging away.

"It's kind of like the guy who wanted job in circus, so they made him shovel the elephant pit," Bass said. "After a day, the boss comes and asks the guy if he likes the job. He says no, he hates it. But then the boss asks if he wants to quit, and the guy says, 'What, get out of show business?

"For me, it's, 'What, get out of baseball?" Bass said. "It keeps me in contact with baseball. Plus, I realize that if I give up this team, it would probably cease to exist."

With Galesburg looking at a similar fate to Twin City, Jansen's advice is to "stick with it."

"I know Galesburg has been hit hard economically recently, but they just need to keep reaching out in the community and reaching out to corporate sponsors," Jansen said. "If they supply a good product, keep prices down and get a lot of publicity, it can work."