Watkins could be the first!


b8sball17

b8sball17

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Angels interest Ala. businessman
Former lawyer wants to buy major-league team
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Associated Press
Originally published March 25, 2002






ANAHEIM, Calif. -- An Alabama businessman trying to buy a major-league baseball team met with the Anaheim Angels' owners Friday and toured Edison Field.

Donald Watkins said last fall that he might like to acquire the Angels, but since then has made an offer for the Minnesota Twins and also has expressed an interest in the Montreal Expos.

Watkins met with several executives from the Walt Disney Co., including Paul Pressler, who oversees the Angels and the Mighty Ducks hockey team, the Los Angeles Times reported yesterday.

"He was in the area" and was given a tour of the stadium, Angels spokesman Tim Mead confirmed yesterday.

The Angels are bound to Edison Field by a lease through 2016.

Watkins is prepared to offer about $250 million for the Angels, according to the Times.

Watkins is a former lawyer and chairman of a commercial bank in Birmingham called Alamerica.

Watkins would become the first black owner of a major-league baseball franchise.
 
Is this not the gentleman interested in leading Alabama State University to become the first NCAA Division I A, HBCU football participating program?
 



PF,

I think he gave up on the ASU plan due to lack of support from his fellow Bd of Trustee members. (then he resigned) Correct me if I'm wrong Hornets....:D

But I surely hope somebody sells this man a team soon..He's been to the D-Rays, Twins and now Angels. The article even mentions the Expos. I don't know why they just don't sell him them, esp. since they cut that underhanded deal with the Red Sox & Marlins. I'm surprised they don't do it just to set him up to fail & prove that Montreal needs to be contracted. It's probably that they know he will end up turning a profit and disprove all their baseball is broke lies....:(
 
Originally posted by Bengal E
PF,

I think he gave up on the ASU plan due to lack of support from his fellow Bd of Trustee members. (then he resigned) Correct me if I'm wrong Hornets....:D

But I surely hope somebody sells this man a team soon..He's been to the D-Rays, Twins and now Angels. The article even mentions the Expos. I don't know why they just don't sell him them, esp. since they cut that underhanded deal with the Red Sox & Marlins. I'm surprised they don't do it just to set him up to fail & prove that Montreal needs to be contracted. It's probably that they know he will end up turning a profit and disprove all their baseball is broke lies....:(
Click to expand...
there was a good article in the Birmingham News about this yesterday.... I will find the link to it.
 
Stereotypes, not race, biggest Watkins battle


03/26/02



Donald Watkins' quest for a Major League Baseball team has been shadowed by doubts since he first expressed interest in being the owners' version of Jackie Robinson.

The latest skepticism comes courtesy of Forbes magazine. In an upcoming article, Forbes says it can't confirm the Birmingham businessman's fortune.


Watkins' reply? Of course they can't, unless he turns over his books.

Ain't gonna happen.

"I have no doubts he can pull (buying a baseball franchise) off," said Milton Davis, a Tuskegee attorney who has known Watkins for nearly 30 years. "If he were white, there wouldn't be any questions. The only reason (skeptics) are suspicious is because they don't know what he's worth and they don't have a right to know."

The problem with a lack of credibility is black and white. Yet it's not so much about race (Watkins is black), but roots.

"The biggest negative I've had throughout the process has been that I'm from Alabama," Watkins said. "Every meeting starts with a discussion of Alabama, or at least the perceptions.

"The negative stereotypes of our state have been a bigger factor than race. In fact, race has never been an issue with baseball people."

People want to talk about the Alabama of recent headlines: the Ten Commandments controversy, proration in our schools and a constitution that was outdated when it was implemented a century ago. It's a view of a stagnant land taken straight from the black-and-white print of newspapers near and far.

Watkins doesn't like the stereotypes, but realizes it's not his job to change them.

"I can establish my personal credibility, but I can't establish my state's credibility."

As for his credibility, baseball's power brokers aren't among the skeptics. He has been approved for potential ownership by Major League Baseball and endorsed by Commissioner Bud Selig.

Now, with a taste for the game, Watkins is setting his sights higher.

He expressed interest in the struggling Tampa Bay Devil Rays at the onset. The crack Devil Rays' front office finally returned his call months later, after he'd moved on.

He has a standing offer for the Minnesota Twins $125 million for the club, plus an offer to privately finance a stadium that remains on the table.

And now he's a potential suitor for the Anaheim Angels after a tour of the stadium and facilities over the weekend. The trek to Los Angeles culminated with a meeting with executives from Disney, the mega-mouse giant that owns the team.

In two months, Watkins has raised the ante. The Angels are valued at $250 million, twice that of the Twins.

Meanwhile, the skeptics continue to roar. Watkins isn't anywhere to be seen on Forbes' list of billionaires. And as far as his net worth valued at $1.5 billion by one national newspaper Watkins hasn't offered a denial.

"I've been on the baseball landscape for five months," Watkins said. "There might be public speculation about my credentials, but you don't hear that from baseball."
 
Not Confident in Watkins.

Why is it that Watkins is pursuing all these big teams? Couldn't he cut his teeth on ownership of a semi-pro team in Birmingham and go from there? I'm hearing all these grandios, pie-in-the-sky things coming from Watkins, but nothing ever comes of them, or as Foghorn Leghorn would say, "he's doin' a lot of choppin' but no chips are flyin'.".

No confidence in Watkins whatsoever to pull this off.
 
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