As you surely read in this morning’s paper, the Vermont Lake Monsters are at risk of extinction. It was disturbing news to ponder over breakfast.

I pose this question to you: What, if anything, should be done about it?

According to Major League Baseball, which seems to favor slick stadiums built at taxpayer expense that charge exorbitant amounts for seats and snacks, Centennial Field isn’t up to snuff.

It should come to the surprise of no one who has watched a game from Centennial’s concrete bleachers that this is not Yankee Stadium – either the new or the old one.

MLB said that it’s more than that _ Centennial’s falls short in some surprisingly simple ways – weak lighting, the wrong distance between bases and the wrong sized pitcher’s mound. Some of those things have apparently been fixed.

Will the little fixes ever be enough?

You could tell that Burlington’s single A franchise was in trouble when Albany and Staten Island and Brooklyn sashayed into the league with their sweet new parks a few years ago. How long could concrete Centennial compete?

So now here we are. Should Vermont let this thing slip away to the next town that’s willing to shell out bucks for better bleachers? Should the 1.65 million fans who’ve cheered for the team in the last 15 years move on to other pursuits? Just forget about bonding over double plays and hot dogs? Get used to not seeing Vermont in the standings?

Or is there some way to save the franchise without selling the soul?

(p.s. It has come to my attention that there is now a Save the Lake Monsters Facebook page).

- Terri Hallenbeck

Labels: politics, Vermont