When the Ogden Raptors have a good night at the gate, Chicago Cubs third baseman Steve Buechelle is happy to hear it. So are Salt Lake criminal attorney Ron Yengich and Utah mortuary mogul John E. Lindquist.
They're among the seven people who own a piece of the rookie-league franchise that in its maiden season last year did better than anybody might have guessed.Started from scratch four months before opening day and then assigned a home field that is reasonably described as rinky-dink, the Raptors managed on the spur of the moment to attract an average 1,649 fans to each of their 35 home games.
Club President Dave Baggott expects an even better year in 1995, convinced that Raptormania has only begun and that the franchise is immune from the labor dispute that continues to cripple major-league baseball.
Because the team isn't affiliated with a major-league club, it has no parent organization to come on a raid for strike-breakers. And though it's worlds away from the big time, Ogden is a historic bastion of minor-league ball and appears to have a built-in fan base.
"What was really nice coming here was that we found a city that wanted baseball back," says Baggott.
Now-mythical figures have paraded through town at one time or another on their way to the top: Tommy Lasorda managed the 1960s Ogden Dodgers for a spell. Frank Robinson did a stint with the Ogden Reds later on. And the Ogden A's of the early 1980s had a superstar-to-be by the name of Ricky Henderson.
Says Baggott: "Ogden's past and its prominent legacy is one of the reasons we came here."
But baseball always abandoned Ogden sooner or later and might not stay now if a stadium isn't built. About $2 million has been pledged for construction of a 3,000-seat facility, but that's less than a third of what it would cost.
A better field would draw bigger crowds, believes Baggott, and allow the front office to make off-season money hosting non-sporting events that could run the gamut from concerts to professional boxing.
Homes games last year were played on Serge B. Simmons Field, a venue better suited to high school ball.
"I like to call it temporary," Raptors General Manager Holly Preston diplomatically says when asked to describe the facility.
Situated in a mosquito-infested river bottom and equipped with old risers salvaged from the Salt Palace, the field has numerous shortcomings, though Baggott, Preston and co-General Manager John Stein have worked wonders with the locale.
"Our results were impressive last year, considering our situation," concedes Preston.
Widely if inaccurately believed to be a relocated version of the Salt Lake Trappers, the Raptors are linked to the now-defunct Trappers only by their young trio of administrators. Baggott, 34, Preston, 29, and Stein, 30, held executive positions with the Double-A Trappers before that team folded in early 1994 to make way for the Salt Lake Buzz, a Triple-A franchise from Portland, Ore.
All three share ownership of the Raptors with Buechelle, Yengich, Lindquist and Jennifer Marshall, a resident of Fort Worth, Texas.
No one will say exactly what the total stake is, but Baggott says it takes at least $600,000 and as much as $1 million to start a franchise like the Raptors. The team is in the Pioneer League, a Western states organization that plays during the last half of summer and fields teams made up mostly of untried rookies fresh out of college.
Every member of the eight-team league except the Raptors has a major-league sponsor, and Baggott says the Ogden franchise is trying to find one. Such affiliation enhances a minor-league club's status and also means roughly $100,000 in annual subsidies, a cash infusion that would be welcome in Ogden.
"I'm not ashamed to tell people we're in the baseball business to make money," says Baggott, grumbling that every nickel and dime adds up.
Ticket prices from $2.75 for kids to $4.25 and $5.25 for adults don't even cover costs. Profits are gleaned largely from advertisers, whom Baggott says have been generously supportive.
But because of substantial overhead, profit can be elusive. Advertising is a steady drain, the team's 22 players - though compensated only $750 a month - create a hefty payroll for the brief duration of a 72-game season, and equipment takes its toll. When a bat breaks, it costs $14 to replace.
Even the balls in baseball are anything but free. The Raptors bought 160 dozen last year, an expense that at $3 a pop totaled $5,760 and was written off as an irretrievable loss.
"When a ball leaves the park," explains Baggott, "it's not coming back."
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ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
$560,000 plus
What it takes to start a rookie-league baseball team*
FRANCHISE FEE $400,000
PLAYER SALARIES $30,000
FRONT-OFFICE SALARIES $60,000-$120,000
TRAVEL $40,000-$50,000
EQUIPMENT/UNIFORMS $15,000
FIELD/STADIUM LEASE $5,00 AND UP
PROMOTIONS $10,000 AND UP
*All except one-time franchise fee are annual costs.