With Max Schumacher at Victory Field.
Is it possible for a team in the minor league structure of professional baseball to operate, compete, even thrive, in a city known for it’s successful major league NFL and NBA competitors? Or maybe asked another way: can a “minor league” baseball operation achieve the same respected status as their big league sports brothers, each of which plays in huge, beautiful facilities within spitting distance of their baseball stadium?
Just returning from three days of watching baseball in Indianapolis, I can tell you that the answer is a resounding “YES.” Founded over a hundred years ago, the Indianapolis Indians, the Triple A affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates, have been run for almost sixty years by Chairman and President Max Schumacher. Consistently voted one of the top franchises in professional baseball, at any level, and one of the league leaders in attendance, the Indians are celebrating their 20th anniversary at Victory Field, one of the cleanest, friendliest stadiums at any level of baseball, all with a family friendly price structure. But it wasn’t always that way. Success came slowly and over time.
When Max took over a tired organization playing in an old, rundown stadium in a rundown part of town and began to assemble a business plan for the long run, money needed to be raised. So shares were offered to the public for only ten dollars a share. Over sixty six hundred people wrote checks to help keep baseball in town. A risky investment? Perhaps at the time, but recently two of those shares sold for $37,000 EACH. Quite a testimonial to the team’s success. Not only have the city and those shareholders benefited, but fans have benefited with good, competitive baseball, affordable and memorable family fun, in a spectacular facility with a panoramic view of the Indiana State Capitol building and downtown Indianapolis.
I go back every year or so and suggest you give a trip to Indy some thought as well. You know about the big race every Memorial Day at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, but did you know that there is a baseball pennant race going on April through Labor Day at Victory Field? Check it out.