Minor League Baseball Team Makes Its Pitch to Play at Oxnard College

The minor league Pacific Suns baseball team made its pitch Tuesday night to members of the City Council, seeking approval to play at the Oxnard College baseball field in 1998.

Promising family-friendly nights at the park, Suns officials said they are eager to begin playing at the field.

“We’ve been working 15 hours a day, seven days a week for the past year” in preparation for playing in Oxnard, team owner Don DiCarlo said. “We’re looking for a very, very long relationship with the community.”

Council members heard from about 35 residents for and against the proposal.

Two proposed licensing agreements would enable the team to use the college ball field from next month through September. The arrangement would also need approval from the Ventura County Community College District Board of Trustees, which is scheduled to take up the issue Tuesday.

Both the college district and City Council approved such an arrangement for the team last fall, soon after the team announced its intention to move from Palm Springs to Oxnard. But the team’s relocation plans came too late for officials with the Western Baseball League, who put together the playing schedule in late fall.

So the Suns were not allowed to play this season, instead launching radio and cable television shows to promote the club. Officials say they have already sold about 400 season tickets for next year.

The council heard strong opposition Tuesday from environmentalists and some neighboring residents.

Both groups have argued that the city has not thoroughly considered the effects that noise, traffic and bright lights will have on nearby residents.

City planners are finalizing a study on the environmental effects of the Suns move to the city, and expect to release a report within two months. Planners have said that they anticipate no major effects and that their report will meet all state requirements for environmental reviews.

But Tuesday, activists argued that city officials are overlooking potential problems that the team could cause.

“I take issue that you guys would use my neighborhood as an experiment to see if minor league baseball would work for the city,” resident Dennis Ralph said. “It’s not that we don’t want baseball, but Oxnard College is supposed to be a college, not for baseball.”

Suns representatives responded by showing numerous letters of support from community leaders who say the city will benefit greatly from minor league baseball.

Under the licensing agreement with Oxnard officials, the team would pay 5% of gross ticket sales, money that will end up with the college. Team officials say they expect a capacity of about 3,000 fans when new bleachers are installed.

The agreement is renewable in September, but team officials said they consider the Oxnard College site temporary and want to build a stadium for the team somewhere in Ventura County.

Western Baseball League officials said Tuesday that the Suns have until Nov. 20 to secure a playing field for next year.