Welcome to Bell Ringer!
For the last five years, I have owned and published an Ohio State sports blog, BuckeyeBanter.com.
In March of 2008, due to my love of baseball and being a resident of Ohio’s capital city, I decided to start a Columbus Clippers blog. But sometimes real life has a way of interfering which zapped any free time I had to get the site off the ground.
Another problem I had was due to the fact that when you write about a farm team, you have have to become a fan of the parent club. During the 2008 season, the Clippers were the Triple-A affiliate of the Washington Nationals. I had no interest in following the Nats’.
Then lo and behold on September 18, the Clippers and the Cleveland Indians signed a four-year working agreement. I have been a long-time fan of the Tribe.
When the St. Louis Cardinals pulled their Triple-A affiliate, Columbus Red Birds, to Omaha, Nebraska, in 1955, a group of 11 fans each chipped in $10,000 to buy Red Bird Stadium, which was renamed Jet Stadium, and the Ottawa franchise was moved to capital city and became the Columbus Jets.
From 1955-70, the Jets played mostly as the Triple-A affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates. When aging Jet Stadium was no longer good enough for the front office staff in Pittsburgh, the Pirates relocated their Triple-A affiliate to Charleston, W. Va.
For six seasons from 1971-76, there was no professional baseball in Columbus. Led by Franklin County Commissioner Harold Cooper, he pushed to refurbish Jet Stadium and bring professional baseball back to the city.
In 1977 the Columbus Clippers were born, and after a multi-million dollar renovation made old Jet Stadium into the modern Franklin County Stadium, which was the jewel of the International League and the first minor league facility to have Astroturf when it re-opened.
For the first two seasons, the Clippers were the Triple-A affiliate of the Pirates before aligning with the New York Yankees for 26 years.
Now with the opening of a brand new ball park in the Arena District called Huntington Park, and a new parent club for Columbus’ Triple-A franchise, there may just be other changes on the horizon as well.
It’s possible that Columbus’ team could have a new name with new uniforms, logos and colors.
With that, it remains to be seen if the name of my blog will still be appropriate in 2009. Will there still be a song played through the stadium loudspeakers called, “Ring Your Bell,” where fans clank their miniature cow bells?
If it’s not the Clippers, then it should be the Columbus Mad Cows. I know it’s not really original, since it was a fan favorite choice of Columbus’ NHL team that eventually became the Blue Jackets. With that, Huntington Park could be nicknamed “The Pasture.”
Stay tuned.
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