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Pensacola – Blue Wahoos Baseball Opening Day April 5th 2012

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Those in the business of knowing about sports probably already know that Pensacola has a new Minor League Baseball team, the Blue Wahoos . Others of us might know simply due to the construction of a shiny new baseball stadium on the grounds of the (Community Maritime Park). Certainly baseball can be a moneymaker for the city, another draw for tourists, but very few realize how much goes into the setup of such a team.

Quint Studer, the owner of the Blue Wahoos team and major investor in the Community Maritime Park, spent over seventeen million dollars on the establishment of this new institution of downtown Pensacola. The team has existed since 1959, originally based in Charleston, South Carolina and known as the Charleston White Sox. The White Sox moved from town to town several times, until 1970 when the Columbus White Sox were renamed to the Columbus Astros. The team remained in Columbus until 1990 (though they were renamed again to the Mudcats in 1989), when they were moved to Zebulon, North Carolina, becoming the Carolina Mudcats. This was the team that Quint Studer purchased after selling Pensacola’s former team, the Pelicans, to the city of Amarillo, Texas (where they are now known as the Amarillo Sox). The Zebulon team was then purchased by Studer, who, as part of the agreement, assisted in the move of the Kinston, North Carolina Indians to Zebulon as a replacement.

The new stadium that will be the home of the Blue Wahoos is located on the grounds of the new Vince Whibbs Sr. Community Maritime Park. The opening of the park, in fact, coincides with the date of the Blue Wahoos’ first game on April 5, 2012, against the Montgomery Biscuits. (Single Game Tickets go on sale March 19^th) , just over two weeks from now, and both (Blue Wahoos season tickets) and (“Mini Plans”) covering specific sets of games will be available. The stadium is multipurpose, and will also be used for other sports, such as soccer and football. It could even double as a concert venue, certainly having enough room for seating and a stage