County set to fund ballpark study

YAKIMA, Wash. -- Back in mid-April I wrote about the Yakima Bears' request for public money to study possible stadium improvements or a new stadium.

The story made waves because Bears General Manager K.L. Wombacher was quoted as saying: “To be absolutely clear, we have no intention to leave Yakima. But we obviously can’t continue to lose money, and there are markets out there that would absolutely love to have minor league baseball.”

And team owner and President Mike McMurray said: “What we want to avoid is a situation where the team is worth more out of town than it is (in Yakima).”

To a local sports-watching populace still stinging from the Seattle SuperSonics move — remember, those owners said they wanted to keep the team in Seattle — the statements came off like veiled threats.

Wombacher went a long way toward calming local baseball fans’ nerves during a follow-up interview with Roger Underwood from our sports department. He did the same Monday during a Greater Yakima Chamber of Commerce luncheon.

“We’re not going anywhere,” he told the crowd of about 100. “We’re not threatening to leave.”

And the $40,000 the team requested to pay for the study?

Yakima County’s Supporting Investments in Economic Diversification board tentatively approved it back in April. The county commissioners — who hold the purse strings of the SIED board — are expected to formally approve the funding Tuesday morning.

- Pat Muir