The rarest play in baseball is the unassisted triple play, when one player makes all three out on the same batted ball without throwing to a teammate. It has happened only 15 times in Major League Baseball history, or about once every 8,500 games or so. No one has pulled it off since 2009.
Still, your odds of seeing one in person at a game are about the same as the chances of seeing a stadium being built on Barrie’s waterfront. It’s possible, but highly unlikely.
The Barrie Baycats have been a wonderful addition to the area’s sporting scene since joining the semi-professional Intercounty Baseball League in 2001, experiencing incredible success on the field and enriching the community in many ways.
It is also true their current ballpark, at the Barrie Community Sports Complex in Midhurst, is a nice facility but inconveniently located from most fans’ point of view.
A central ballpark would benefit both the club and Barrie, raising the team’s profile and boosting the downtown.
The Baycats recently launched on online petition seeking public support to build a new facility on the south shore of Kempenfelt Bay, next to the Military Heritage Park on Lakeshore Drive.
“The addition of a new multi-use facility to our waterfront would bring more people together for the moments that matter,” reads the petition, which has gathered more than 750 signatures over the past few weeks. “It will be a place for everyone: its all-inclusive design makes it suitable for children’s soccer games, high school football games, local non-profits staging arts and culture events, and more.”
Representatives of the organization are expected to outline these plans at a city council committee meeting this fall.
They should probably save their breath.
This is the second time such a proposal has come forward. During the last term of council, local businessman Jamie Massie proposed a stadium on the same site holding upwards of 3,000 seats and featuring commercial and retail space. It was suggested the facility could also be home to the Barrie Sports Hall of Fame, which has outgrown its space at the Allandale Recreation Centre.
I think it's fair to say Massie was a bit shocked by the reception to the idea. Words such as “negative” and “adverse” wouldn’t be adequate to describe the outcry. “Hostile” and “outraged” would be more accurate.
It is my belief that Massie honestly thought he was doing something beneficial to the city, offering to raise the money privately for a publicly owned venue that would be a treasure.
Many years ago, I heard him tell a conference he regretted not pushing for a downtown arena when he brought the Ontario Hockey League's Barrie Colts to the city because of the many ancillary benefits it would have had in a central location. I think he saw this as a way, perhaps, to make up for that.
Instead, he was pilloried on social media. Hearing the public backlash, city council, of which I was part, refused to entertain the idea.
Development on the waterfront is the third rail of Barrie politics, a potential career killer. Barrie residents are incredibly protective of their waterfront and see development anywhere near it to be a threat to the city’s well-being.
That doesn’t mean there can’t be any waterfront development, especially of a public facility nature, but it must be approached with extreme caution. A large stadium is probably a step too far.
That is unlikely to change any time soon.
Barry Ward is a veteran editor and journalist who also served on Barrie city council for 22 years. Fair Comment appears regularly on BarrieToday.
