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June 9, 2000/6 Sivan I 5760, Vol. 52, No.40
Vipers aim for fans seeking family fun
TAMI BICKLEY
Associate Editor
As ticket prices for professional sporting events steadily inflate, the president of a baseball team that debuted in the Valley last month is touting his team as "grassroots, real baseball, outside the grass, where it's meant to be played, in the heat ... and for just $4 a ticket."
Sounds good, considering that $4 will scarcely buy something to eat at a major-league ballpark.
Costs aside, Jim Goldsmith, managing partner and president of the Scottsdale Valley Vipers - an expansion franchise team in the Western League of Professional Baseball Clubs - says that Vipers games, played at Scottsdale Stadium, offer a fun, family atmosphere that mainstream pro-sporting events tend to lack.
"The players will hang around and sign autographs after a game," Goldsmith says. "The players are reachable. The autographs don't cost any money. And add to that the silly, zany entertainment we (provide) in between innings."
In the context of last week's charade when Chad Kreuter of the L.A. Dodgers jumped into the stands - with 16 of his teammates following - and confronted a fan who lifted Kreuter's cap, it's clear that a family outing to a major-league ballpark isn't what it used to be.
Now Goldsmith has expanded an eight-team league to include Arizona, providing Valley baseball fans with an alternative to paying $120 for a family afternoon at Bank One Ballpark. At a Vipers game, a family of four can watch talented athletes - some who are former major leaguers, others up-and-comers - play ball for as little as $20.
For diehard Diamondback fans, this may be no alternative. But for those who are in the last-minute mood for a ballgame, and for parents who want to expose their children to baseball on an approachable level, a Vipers game may be just the way to spend a few hours.
The Vipers evolved from a franchise agreement between Goldsmith and the Western League nearly two years ago.
"The agreement was to allow us to find a new home (for a team) within certain geographic limitations," explains Goldsmith, who resides in New York and also has a home in Scottsdale.
"We basically began looking in Colorado and worked our way across the country ... looking for what we hoped to be the perfect place to start an expansion franchise."
Scottsdale is that place.
Save for a few restrictions, each team in the league may choose any players not already under contract with another baseball team. The average Viper is young, and "hoping to move up the baseball ladder to AA or AAA, and someday to the major leagues," says Goldsmith.
The goal of the Western League, he says, is to "provide a forum for these kids to play competitive baseball and hopefully to be noticed by agents and scouts of major-league teams."
But the Vipers roster also includes some recognizable names.
Steve Ontiveros, former major-leaguer, signed with the team before the season began.
Vipers' manager Bob Welch is a 17-year major-league veteran and a 1990 Cy Young Award winner. Bench coach is Guy Sularz, formerly of the Giants.
Goldsmith himself played minor-league baseball "years ago when the dinosaurs were on Earth." He's had a long-time career in real estate; has been an investor for some time in minor-league teams; owns American Sports Equities, a sports management company; and now - for the first time - owns a team.
The team has its own memorabilia shop - Viper World - at 3906 N. Scottsdale Road, Scottsdale.
The Western League salary cap is $85,000 per player, and all fledgling leagues face a battle for survival.
The Valley sports scene is already saturated, as it is one of 10 U.S. cities hosting all four major professional sports - baseball, basketball, football and hockey - in addition to college athletics, minor-league hockey, the Women's National Basketball Association and arena football.
There is an abundance of options for sports fans in Arizona, and it remains to be seen whether the Western League will find a niche in Phoenix.
But for Goldsmith, it's mostly about "keeping the dream alive" for hundreds of young athletes with major-league dreams.
Contact Tami Bickley at 602-870-9470 ext. 205; or e-mail tami_bickley@jewishaz.com.
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