Front Office Changes in Newark and Bridgeport Steal Some Attention Away From Early Camp Days

It is on the diamond where all of the outward attention is being focused these days around the Atlantic League, especially with all eight teams in action and shaping their rosters toward Opening Night just nine days from now.  Yes, the April 22 openers are that close.

So why does this corner feel compelled to draw attention to the World of Atlantic League Business?  That is easy to answer because of some front office developments which may mean significantly more at the end of the day, especially for Newark and Bridgeport, which have been at the tail end of the attendance chart and probably cause the most furrowed brows for league brass.

Charlie Dowd, who sat in the general manager’s chair at Bridgeport when the Atlantic League launched and the Bluefish thrived at the box office, has quietly moved into the same role in Newark.  League Founder Frank Boultonbrought Dowd on board a few weeks back to spend time working on behalf of both Bridgeport and Newark, but most of his attention has now shifted to the Bears.

Dowd is not needed as much in Bridgeport anyway because Boulton, who also is the principal owner, says new Bluefish GM Bob Goughan has led “a terrific sales season” in which the all important sponsorship revenue is up “by more than 20 per cent”.  Goughan came in late last fall and brought a resume of more than 20 years in similar positions in Triple-A.  Dowd told us he will focus most of his immediate attention toward building up group sales in Newark although he will lend a hand in Bridgeport in any cases where “I can help bring people back”, meaning business that had drifted away from earlier years.

Etchebarren Promises New Approach in York

This season’s York (PA) Revolutionlikely will be vastly changed from the 53-87 club that was mired in the Freedom Divisionbasement in both halves of last season.

Manager Andy Etchebarrenhad 30 players when camp opened, including 19 pitchers, to fight for the 25 jobs, because, as he explained to The York Dispatch’s Jeffrey Johnson“I don’t want everyone to have a job.  They’re going to know that I will absolutely not put up with what happened there last year.”  Johnson further explained that “in lieu of the former major leaguers with big league baggage…Etchebarren has made the decision to stock his roster with several proven Indy league lifers.”

(These are excerpts from the twice weekly Atlantic League Notebook. Subscriptions are available on a monthly or seasonal basis via www.AtlanticLeagueBaseball.com or www.WirzandAssociates.com .  Bob Wirz also writes a weekly column, the Independent Baseball Insider , as well as a blog, www.IndyBaseballChatter.com. The author has 16 years of major league baseball public relations experience with Kansas City and as chief spokesman for two Commissioners and lives in Stratford, CT.)