Due to local backlash, Major League Baseball (MLB) is dropping its early-stage hopes of holding a baseball game – and building at least a temporary baseball park – in Grand Teton National Park, according to a letter the commissioner of baseball sent to Jackson-area officials Thursday.
The letter from Robert Manfred Jr, the Commissioner of Baseball, addresses Teton County Commission Chair Mark Newcomb, Jackson Mayor Arne Jorgensen, and Jackson Hole Chamber of Commerce president Rick Howe.
The Washington Post broke the news Saturday that MLB and federal officials were scouting Grand Teton National Park as a potential site for a baseball game and park build, in the vein of MLB’s other off-site games such as the Field of Dreams games in Iowa.
“MLB has no formal plan to play a game in Grand Teton National Park,” says Manfred’s letter.
Hadn't Spoken To Locals
The team was scouting many potential sites when the Post’s story broke but hadn’t yet evaluated environmental impacts, or spoken to locals – both “steps that would certainly bene part of any process should it have moved forward.”
“That said, since the story was reported, it has become clear the local community does not want us to continue evaluating Grand Teton National Park as a potential site,” says Manfred’s letter.
Park goers, local legislators, commissioners, conservationists and others all panned the nascent plan in various news stories this week.
Sen. Mike Gierau, D-Jackson, told Cowboy State Daily the plan was abhorrent, adding, “When it comes to epically bad marketing ideas in the American experience, I put it next to New Coke.”
Gierau wanted accountability on both the MLB side and the federal government side, because federal officials reportedly entertained the scouting process rather than shutting it down immediately.
Manfred’s letter says, “We obviously would not bring a game to a community that has concerns about the venue, and will not continue to evaluate Grand Teton National Park as a potential site.”
Other Off-Site Venues
Manfred emphasized that the scouting operation was in the vein not only of the Field of Dreams games but other off-site venues, including the Little League World Series in Pennsylvania, Fort Bragg military base game in North Carolina, Bristol Motor Speedway in Tennessee, and the nation’s oldest Negro League stadium in Alabama.
Through his tenure as commissioner, said Manfred, the league has made an effort to play regular-season games in parts of the nation that are not within driving distance of an MLB stadium.
“With all of these special events, we have been careful to leave the selected sites better than when we arrived,” he wrote.
At Fort Bragg, MLB repurposed its makeshift field into several baseball and softball fields for servicemen and women, the letter says.
In Iowa, the league worked with state and local officials to build a permanent stadium.
Manfred said he believes this track record demonstrates the care with which the league approaches those events and “alleviates any concern that MLB would pursue a project that could damage or diminish a National Park.”
Clair McFarland can be reached at clair@cowboystatedaily.com.
