Yuma Consortium Identified; Ringer Rings In
Roberta Umor, Yuma Sun
14 January, 2013: Yuma, AZ — The new owners of the Yuma Bulldozers hosted their first press conference earlier today. Speculation had run high since yesterday’s announcement, but the owners upstaged themselves when they unveiled a “ringer” among their group.
The new owners include some of Yuma’s most prominent businesspersons:
- Jimmy Doolittle, owner of the aviation company Let’s Fly
- Tammy Boomershine, owner, AMF Inca Lanes
- Charlie and Shirley Landshark, owners, Fisher’s Landing Resort
- Mark and Cindy Plantars, owners, Main Street Physical Therapy
- Patsy Bovinery, owner, McElhaney Cattle Co.
- Karen Koolchuk, owner, Morris Ag Air & Sons Inc.
- Max Grain and Mark Woods, owners, Yuma Lumber Co.
- Donald Soldwell, former owner of the Yuma Sun
- Mayor Alan Krieger, owner, Al Krieger Construction Services
- Lee Allen, owner, Lee Allen Builders & Bulldozers
But one outsider was included in the new consortium. Whether her presence was due to her celebrity or her financial contribution wasn’t evident. What was apparent was that the consortium had found themselves a real baseball fan and an articulate spokesperson in writer/reporter/bloggist Emma Span.
Span is author of the 2010 book 90% of the Game is Half Mental, a collection of journalistic pieces on baseball. Her 2012 sequel, Bitching is 110% of the 90% of the Game that’s Mental, was nominated for the prestigious J. G. Taylor Spink award. Span also maintains several blog sites devoted to baseball, including the notorious “Eephus Pitch”.
Speaking for the other owners, Span said, “It’s good baseball is still being played in Yuma,” alluding to the demise of the other Yuma baseball club, the Scorpions, a former minor league team of the now-defunct MLB that relocated to Baja Mexico in early 2011. “Towns need baseball. Fans need baseball. Hell, I need a little baseball myself, right now,” she said. “I miss the loss of the Yankees and Mets terribly. The offer to help rescue the Bulldozers from the same fate that befell the Scorpions has been a godsend for me personally. I have something to wake up for each morning.” Span smiled. “In addition to sex, drugs and rock and roll, of course.”