Spikes announce affiliation deal with Pirates
A joint announcement was made by Spikes' President & Managing Partner Chuck Greenberg and Pirates' Director of Player Development Brian Graham at a Monday afternoon press conference at Medlar Field at Lubrano Park, the home of the Spikes.
The announcement brings together both of Central Pennsylvania's Minor League Baseball franchises, the Spikes and Altoona Curve, as Pittsburgh Pirates' affiliates. The Curve have served as the Pirates' Double-A club since the franchise's inaugural 1999 season in the Eastern League, and in March announced a four-year extension of their affiliation agreement with Pittsburgh through the 2010 season. Both clubs are operated by the same ownership group, Curve Baseball LP, and share many of the same resources, including an integrated front office staff by which each member of the front office operates both franchises. State College and Altoona are separated by only 45 miles along the Interstate 99/U.S. Route 220 corridor.
"This is an exciting moment in the young history of the Spikes and we are very thrilled not only in the geographic partnership with the Pirates, but for our great fans of both the Spikes and Curve to be able to share in the enjoyment of following Pirates' players from the beginning of their careers in State College, up to the Double-A level in Altoona, and ultimately to the big leagues in Pittsburgh," said Greenberg. "What I love most about Minor League Baseball is helping fans create life-long memories at the ballpark, and the opportunity for our fans to root for their favorite players at more than one step along their journey to the major leagues is very unique and exciting."
The Pirates' affiliation has proven to be an on-field success in Altoona, as the Curve earned their fourth consecutive Eastern League playoff berth in 2006 and are the only only franchise in the 12-team league to have won 70 or more game in each of the past five seasons. At the short-season Class-A level, the Pirates sent their previous affiliate, the Williamsport Crosscutters, to the playoffs four times in the last six seasons, winning New York-Penn League championships in both 2001 and 2003.
"We are very excited to develop this partnership with the State College Spikes, said Pirates' Senior Vice President & General Manager Dave Littlefield. "Being familiar with the ownership group and having a very strong Pirates fan base in Central Pennsylvania, the organization is very much looking forward to the next four years."
The Pirates had spent the previous eight seasons affiliated with the Spikes' New York-Penn League rival Williamsport Crosscutters, who will begin 2007 with a new major league parent club. The St. Louis Cardinals, who served as the Spikes major league affiliate during the club's inaugural 2006 season, will be searching for a new short-season Class-A farm team. Curve Baseball LP inherited the existing Player Development Contract between St. Louis and the NYPL's New Jersey Cardinals when the group completed the purchase of that franchise last winter and moved it to State College. The agreement expired at the end of the recently completed 2006 season.
"The St. Louis Cardinals are widely regarded as one of the most well-run and respected organizations in all of professional sports and that was very evident in our short time working with General Manager Walt Jocketty, Bruce Manno and the entire player development staff, our outstanding field staff led by manager Mark DeJohn, and the Cardinals' players who will forever be remembered as the first to wear the Spikes uniform," said Greenberg. "We were very pleased with the Cardinals affiliation, but the opportunity to expand our already strong working relationship with the Pirates, which has been very beneficial to the success of the Altoona Curve, is very important to the cultivation and expansion of the Spikes' fan base in State College and Centre County."
The Spikes recently completed their first season playing at beautiful, new Medlar Field at Lubrano Park, which is located in the shadows of famed Beaver Stadium on the campus of Penn State University. The state-of-the-art 5,400 seat facility is shared with Penn State's baseball program, which competes in the Big Ten Conference. The Nittany Lions will play their first season at Medlar Field beginning in the spring of 2007, while the Spikes will debut as a Pirates' affiliate when the New York-Penn League schedule opens next June.
The debut of the Spikes, which was also the debut of professional sports of any kind in State College and Centre County, yielded an average of over 3,800 fans per home date at Medlar Field, which ranked fifth among the 14 teams in the historic New York-Penn League. On the field, State College posted a winning 39-36 record and finished just 3 1/2 games behind Pinckney Division winner Auburn in the chase for an NYPL playoff berth.
Spikes 2007 season tickets are now on sale and can be reserved by calling (814) 272-1711 or toll-free at (877) 99-SPIKES. Additional information on Spikes season tickets and other individual and group ticket packages is available by logging on to the club's official website, www.statecollegespikes.com.