Bob Bavasi has a suggestion for the new owners of the Everett AquaSox: Get involved with the community.
That approach worked for Bavasi and his wife, Margaret, 20 years ago when they bought a minor league baseball team and moved it from Walla Walla to Everett. It has worked since 1998 when Bavasi sold the team to Mark Sperandio.
If the new owners of the AquaSox, Peter and Rita Murphy Carfagna of Cleveland and their son, Pete, embrace Everett, the community will respond to them and the team will continue to thrive, Bavasi said.
“I think if you get involved and are a good community partner, good things come in a roundabout way. That’s what we tried to do here,” said Bavasi, now a partner in Bavasi Sports Partners LLP, a pro baseball consulting firm. “And if you fail to get involved, the community reacts as well.
“They need to tap into the strength of this community and the people here. That’s what makes Everett such a great place to live.”
Bavasi said he believes Mark Sperandio and his wife, Joan, did that. The ballclub has donated more than $600,000 to local organizations since Sperandio became owner, including more than $185,000 this year that included money for improvements to the seating at Everett Memorial Stadium, which is owned by the Everett School District.
“Our goal was to hand it to someone who would do a better job than we did, and in that we were successful,” Bavasi said. “Mark and Joan did a great job. And they really believe they have handed the ball to someone who will do a better job than they did.”
The AquaSox have been the short-season Class A affiliate of the Seattle Mariners since 1995, and the Mariners would like to continue that relationship beyond the 2006 season, when the current contract expires.
“During the next two years, we’ll see,” said Benny Looper, the Mariners’ vice president of player development and scouting. “It’s a business for them, but we’re part of it because we supply the players and there needs to be a mutual working relationship. Mark and Joan have been great people to work with and they have accommodated our players and our staff.”
Looper will meet the Carfagnas for the first time Friday, when some issues important to the Mariners are bound to come up.
The Mariners would like improvements to be made to the playing field and the locker rooms at Everett Memorial Stadium. The playing field is used heavily by high school, semipro and youth teams through the spring and summer, and the location of the locker rooms requires players to walk across spectator areas to reach the field.
“This is nothing I haven’t spoken to Mark (Sperandio) about,” Looper said. “The condition of the field, we’d like to see it improved. That and the clubhouse. It’s workable the way it is, but it would be an area of improvement we have an interest in.”
Otherwise, the Mariners enjoy their relationship with the AquaSox and the convenience of having an affiliate within a short drive of Seattle.
“It’s close for us from the front office … and there is a major airport nearby for us to get players in and out,” Looper said. “There are a lot of advantages for us to be in Everett. It has worked great.”
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