Beginning next summer, LeLacheur Park in Lowell will have a new team, from the Futures Collegiate Baseball League
To celebrate baseball's return, community leaders and FCBL officials waxed, sometimes poetically, on a home plate dais Wednesday flanked by heavily costumed mascots who somehow stayed on their feet in the steamy conditions.
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'Lowell and LeLacheur Park is a place to bring your family, it's a place for great summer baseball, and we're excited to be bringing summer baseball back to Lowell,' said UMass Lowell chancellor Julie Chen. 'One of the reasons that we're excited in particular about the Futures League, is that this is a league where college athletes, graduating seniors, student-athletes that are like the ones that play on our River Hawks Division 1 baseball team.'
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Drew Weber, longtime owner of the Spinners and one of the co-founders of the FCBL, was in attendance. Joe Paolucci, commissioner of the league, pointed out that 28 alumni have made their major league debuts and 300 have been drafted.
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'Our players bring energy, heart, and incredible talent to the field,' said Paolucci. 'So, the future of baseball truly lives in the futures league.'
In his remarks, John Creedon, league chairman and president of the Nashua Silver Knights, conjured 'Field of Dreams' vibes with a John Updike-ian flair.
'The sight of manicured, vivid green grass, red clay on the mound, the dirt of the infield, and the shock-white foul lines and batter's box, all illuminated by ballpark lights against the backdrop of a warm, dark summer night, the feel of being surrounded by friends, family, neighbors, and co-workers rising in the ecstasy of a spectacular play or falling in agony of an unfriendly final score together — starting next May, LeLacheur Park will once again be the place to be in Lowell,' said Creedon. 'All summer long, the ballpark will hum and flourish — the energy will be electric.'
A new owner has yet to be found, said Paolucci, with the league fielding some feelers but no official applicants for a sale process that will hopefully be concluded by October.
The team is still unnamed.
Paolucci said that the league is 'wondering' if the new team would or could be named the 'Spinners.'
'A lot of teams when they come into the league, they do a 'name the team' contest with the local fans, so it could be that,' said Paolucci. 'But if the 'Spinners' is available, I'm sure that would be strongly considered.'
According to a Minor League Baseball official, the last owner of the Spinners, Dave Heller, still holds rights to the name.
Heller did not immediately return a request for comment.
Other teams in the league include contracted minor league teams from New England who kept their names: the Vermont Lake Monsters and Norwich Sea Unicorns. The other teams are the Nashua Silver Knights, New Britain Bees, Westfield Starfires, and the Worcester Bravehearts.
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