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T-Bones evicted from stadium

A play from one of the last games at T-Bones Stadium this year, on Sept. 8, 2019. The T-Bones were evicted from the stadium on Oct. 14. (Video by Mary Rupert)

by Mary Rupert

After a one-month extension expired on their stadium contract, the Kansas City T-Bones were evicted from T-Bones Stadium by the Unified Government.

The UG notified the T-Bones they would be evicted Sept. 13 for not paying overdue utility bills and other payments of around three-quarters of a million dollars. That figure is now not as high, as the T-Bones, who were in the process of selling the team, got a one-month extension after making a $50,000 payment.

“We’re optimistic that a new ownership group will come in and will have baseball there next season,” said Mike Taylor, a spokesman for the UG.

Taylor said a team of locksmiths and a UG crew went to the stadium at 6 a.m. Monday and padlocked all the gates, changing the locks, so the T-Bones would not have access to the stadium.

The T-Bones issued this statement today:

“The Kansas City T-Bones are progressing toward a sale and are scheduled to complete the sale this week. The incoming owner has been in close negotiations and planning with the Unified Government, all for the sake of setting the table for continued American Association professional baseball in Wyandotte County.

“The current and future owners have, in fact, satisfied a number of action steps to move toward closing and have communicated these with the UG. The parties have executed a Letter of Intent and Due Diligence is in-progress. As such, neither party can comment outside the confidentiality of the LOI,” the T-Bones stated in a news release.

The UG, however, says that the T-Bones had a lot of opportunities and a lot of time to pay the bill.

“We gave them a lot of opportunities, we gave them a lot of leeway and extensions,” Taylor said. It is a publicly owned stadium using taxpayer dollars. “An average citizen is expected to pay their BPU bill or mortgage and we should expect the same from our business partners. We gave them enough slack, we finally have to say, no more.

“We’ve been in constant discussions with the league and we are very optimistic that a new ownership group may come in, and we’ll still have baseball there next summer,” Taylor said. “That’s not a promise, but we’re optimistic that a new ownership group will come in and bring a team under new ownership.”

Taylor said the T-Bones’ owner, Adam Ehlert, was not at the stadium this morning.

“This shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone,” Taylor said. “We gave them ample notice that unless they paid their debt by midnight, Oct. 13, they would be evicted from the stadium. It shouldn’t have been a surprise.”

The Ehlerts are trying to sell the team currently to a new ownership group, according to Taylor. The next team to play here could either have the name T-Bones or could have a new name, he said, depending on their agreement.

Some vendors have contacted the UG and told them they had items in the stadium that were not paid for, or that were leased. The UG is doing an inventory and at some point will let vendors come in and take their equipment, Taylor said.

He also said a T-Bones staff member told them she had left a few personal things on her desk at the stadium. Taylor said they will get back in touch with her and let her collect her personal items.

The T-Bones were the American Association champions in 2018 and made a run for the title again in 2019.

No eviction tomorrow for T-Bones; team will stay another month

The Kansas City T-Bones won’t be evicted from their baseball stadium on Friday.

The Unified Government announced today it would give them another 30 days.

Mike Taylor, UG spokesman, said that the T-Bones and American Association made a $50,000 payment, and the UG gave them 30 more days.

The team has told the UG a couple of different groups are interested in buying the team and it will take a little more time to happen, Taylor said.

In August, the UG stated that the T-Bones were more than three-quarters of a million dollars behind in their utility and stadium payments to the city of Kansas City, Kansas, and the Board of Public Utilities.

The UG issued an eviction notice to the T-Bones in a letter dated Aug. 16, for an eviction on Sept. 13.

According to Taylor, the one-month extension was granted in order for the team and the American Association to negotiate the sale of the team to a new owner.

“The T-Bones, the American Association of Independent American Baseball, and the Unified Government have been committed to playing the 2020 season and beyond. This agreement with the UG is a good reinforcement of that mutual commitment,” Joshua Schaub, the commissioner of the American Association, said in a news release.

The Unified Government owns the stadium and in 2017 reworked the management agreement with the T-Bones in an effort to keep the team in the stadium. Under the agreement, the T-Bones are responsible for paying current utility bills, past due utility bills and past due payments for use of the stadium, the UG news release stated. The T-Bones failed to make most of those payments.

Team owners have stated they are in the process of selling the team and indicated the back debts could be paid when the sale is confirmed. The extension gives the T-Bones and American Association 30 days to negotiate and complete the sale of the team and payment of the debt. The payment of the $50,000 and extension of the eviction does not relieve the T-Bones organization of paying the remainder of the debt owed, the UG stated.

“The Unified Government looks forward to the sale of the team to new owners and repayment of the debt. More importantly, we look forward to keeping a baseball team in our stadium because we view the team as a community asset and an important part of our successful Village West tourism district,” County Administrator Doug Bach stated.

The 30-day extension runs until 5 p.m. Oct. 13.

T-Bones lose South Division championship 5-2 to Sioux City in 13 innings

Sioux City celebrated after winning the South Division championship Sunday over the T-Bones, 5-2, in Kansas City, Kansas. (Photo by Steve Rupert)

Action from Sunday evening’s T-Bones playoff game in Kansas City, Kansas. The T-Bones lost 5-2 in 13 innings to the Sioux City Explorers, who won the South Division title. (Staff photo)

It was the end of the line on Sunday evening for the Kansas City T-Bones, who lost 5-2 in 13 innings to the Sioux City Explorers.

Sioux City won its third game in the best-of-five series for Sioux City, which ends the T-Bones’ post-season.

Until the 13th inning, the game at T-Bones Stadium in Kansas City, Kansas, was a pitchers’ duel, with multiple pitchers for the T-Bones.

Ramsey Romano scored the T-Bones first run in the fifth inning.

It wasn’t until the eighth inning that the T-Bones scored their second run. Danny Mars doubled, and Daniel Nava brought him in to tie the game, 2-2.

The Explorers exploded for three runs in the top of the 13th inning to take the lead, and the T-Bones were unable to answer in the bottom of the 13th.

The T-Bones were the American Association champions in 2018. This playoff series was a far cry from last year’s T-Bones’ post-season attendance, as local fans ghosted the T-Bones this year.

Nevertheless, the T-Bones gave a great performance at the final game, with excellent pitching and fielding, keeping the game close for almost all of its five hours.