2011 Flashback: Professional Baseball Misses Shot at Clawson

A minor league baseball team's proposal to revamp and play its home games in Clawson seemed like an ideal opportunity to many residents. For others, it was a nightmare in the making. 

David Martin of Summit Professional Baseball stopped in Clawson this past summer with an offer to invest around $1 million in the project. Martin owns a team in the Frontier League — an independent professional league with teams across the country.

Martin proposed to upgrade the lights, the field, fencing, locker rooms, food and concessions area, bleachers and more. Martin said there would have been 48 homes games in the season from May-September. 

But Martin's plan was met by a , and ultimately, he because the opposition was strong, he said. 

"I'm not going to keep throwing money and pursuing something that is an uphill battle," Martin told the Clawson Patch in August. "I thought the efforts to block it were somewhat strong."

While Martin's goal was to find a ballpark in Oakland County, time was running out when he left Clawson. He decided the best thing to do was find a stadium that was already suitable. In 2012, the team, London Rippers, will call London, Ontario, home at Labatt Memorial Park.

"We had to find a city that already had a stadium and was looking for a team," Martin said. "If it's successful there, we'll keep it there. But it doesn’t mean we don’t want to bring baseball back to Oakland County."

Martin said that after he withdrew his proposal from Clawson, a few other cities in southeast Michigan approached him with interest, including Southfield and Mount Clemens.

He said that in the future, he will again consider bringing the team to Michigan. 

"It would be nice to have a team in our own backyard," Martin said.

The controversy

A Aug. 23 drew more than 100 people to City Hall to voice their opinions on the issue.

Those who supported the proposal cited a growing economy, increased property values and putting Clawson on the map. The residents who opposed had concerns about safety, alcohol being served at the games, disruption to a quiet community and putting a commercial entity in the middle of a neighborhood. 

There were also many gray areas in the proposal, such as traffic flow. The revamped park was expected to seat at least 1,500 people. 

"The devils are in the details," resident Deb Wooley said at the meeting.