Cubs to Vero Beach... yeah, right.

With the Los Angeles Dodgers slated to leave Dodgertown after the 2008 Spring Training season for a new headquarters in Goodyear, Arizona, the folks in Vero Beach will be scrambling for a new tenant.

But the Chicago Cubs?

So says TCPalm columnist Russ Lemmon in this article, which he must have jotted down after waking up from some wet dream of his.

Ain't happenin'... and here's why. The Cubs are the flagship franchise of Arizona's Cactus League. They regularly are the spring attendance leaders, the top revenue producers, and with easy non stop air service between Chicago and Phoenix, have been a huge tourist draw for Windy City snowbirds. Getting to Vero Beach by air is far more cumbersome.

The Cubs will be staying put at Ho Ho Kam Park in Mesa, in my humble opinion. As for Holman Stadium in Dodgertown, they might be able to attract the Milwaukee Brewers, now based at the Maryvale Baseball park in Phoenix, or even the Cincinnati Reds, whose attempts to upgrade their venue in Sarasota have been one disaster after the next.

As for us, we've got a 2008 USRT visit to Dodgertown right on our road trip schedule. It will be a combo NCAA basketball subregional at Tampa's St. Pete Times Forum, and stops to a few baseball parks, Vero Beach being among them.

Northwest Arkansas Naturals sell 500 season tickets on first day

So why do we care?

Well, the Northwest Arkansas Naturals are currently known as the Wichita Wranglers, and are one of the three minor league baseball teams owned by Buffalo based Rich Baseball, also owners of the Buffalo Bisons.

Rich Baseball announced last year that they were breaking their lease at Lawrence Dumont Stadium and leaving Wichita, and news from that region indicates that things are just dandy - fans are buying tickets and they are racing to have their new ballpark in Springdale ready in time for the 2008 season.

Coca Cola Park - 2008 opening in Lehigh Valley

The AAA Ottawa Lynx are moving to Allentown, Pennsylvania after this season, where they will be known as the Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs. Their new ballpark, under construction in East Allentown, now has a new name, according to this article in the Morning Call.

Interestingly, this is the first venue in the country that will bear the Coca Cola name. At 7000 seats, it will be the smallest ballpark in the International League. By comparison Buffalo's Dunn Tire Park can accomodate over 17,000 patrons.