With new financial backing, future looks bright for BlueSox
Larry Sassone always wanted to own a sports team. This month, he became part owner of the Butler BlueSox baseball team, a summer-league team composed of college players.
Whether Sassone, a retired AK Steel worker, ever makes money on the team is uncertain, not that he cares.
“I did not buy into it to try to make money. It is so great, watching the team play and seeing the community come out. These players are really chasing the dream,” said Sassone, 61, of Butler Township.
William Robinson Jr., a Butler lawyer and managing partner of Perfect Game LLC, as the ownership group is known, would not talk about the team's finances, but the BlueSox have a new 10-year lease to play at Kelly Automotive Park.
Butler Mayor Tom Donaldson recently expressed confidence that Perfect Game's $40,000 acquisition of the remaining 40 percent stake in the team from the city's financially beleaguered redevelopment authority, which still owns the stadium, should keep the team in town.
Robinson called it “the right move.”
“It's good for the community,” he said. “There was a conflict with the stadium authority as both landlord and tenant.”
Average attendance last year for the team's 30 home games was 678 people, about the same as the previous two years; the stadium seats 1,500. The team has sold more than 200 season tickets for the past three years, Robinson said.
Like the Pirates, the BlueSox draw fans with fireworks nights — eight each season.
“We go to every game. It is very good baseball and a great evening. We know a lot of the baseball players,” said Pam Slomers, 49 of Summit, who has had four season tickets for the past five years.
For fans like Slomers, a BlueSox game is a chance to see quality baseball up close at a price that's a fraction of a Major League Baseball game.
“You just can't even compare the expense. A family of four can go a game for less than $40,” Robinson said.
Individual game tickets cost $7 to $9. Season tickets are sold at a discount.
For the players, life in the Prospect League — one of 63 summer collegiate leagues in the United States — is nothing like the majors, either.
Players travel by bus to destinations as far-flung as Quincy, Ill., more than 700 miles away. The closest Prospect League team to Butler is in Jamestown, N.Y. Players get only one day off a week. A manager and two assistant coaches are paid, but the players aren't. They stay with host families when the team's not on the road.
“Team members want to get to that next level. If you want to be competitive, you have to play summer ball,” Sassone said.
Robinson and Sassone are two of six owners. The others are Mike Fiorina, Gordon Marburger, Roger Snodgrass and Matt Clement, a Butler native and former Major League Baseball player.
Rick Wills is a staff writer for Trib Total Media. He can be reached at 412-320-7944 or rwills@tribweb.com.
