Expensive endeavor

In the Major Leagues, deep playoff runs mean player bonuses, more TV money and an explosion in merchandise sales.
In the world of amateur baseball, winning is expensive.
The Portland Rockets’ trip to the National Amateur Baseball Federation World Series carried a price tag of about $5,000 in hotel rooms and travel expenses. That’s nearly half of what the organization normally spends on a yearly basis.
“When you win, it costs,” said Miller, adding that it takes about $11,000 for the Rockets to operate each regular season. “But it was the chance of a lifetime.”
In Miller’s case, literally.
He joined the Portland squad as a player in 1972 when his father, Ray, took over management of the team. The trip to the NABF World Series last week was the first in its 53-year history.
Many of the teams the Rockets found themselves stacked up against — Murray’s Diesel, Peppino’s Pizza and others — had corporate sponsorship. Perdue Chicks, which won the Maryland regional, had traveled to the World Series on a chartered bus. Price tag, $4,500.
The Lebanon Merchants, who Portland played in its World Baseball Congress Tournament, have a different business sponsoring each player’s uniform.
Miller hasn’t gone those routes with the Rockets yet, although he said he’d be open to such an arrangement if a large donor is interested in becoming involved with the team. In the meantime it’s outfield banners, concession sales, 50/50 drawings, personal donations and one key fundraiser that keep the team going.
“Right now we pretty much go by donation,” said Miller. “Our donations are huge. … A lot of it is from the guys who played and want to give back.
“Every year we keep those banners in circulation. We pick up a little bit there.
“Since we started the golf tournament three years ago, we’ve been able to start the year on the plus side,” he added of the outing, scheduled for Sept. 22 this year, that generally brings in about $3,000. “Before that, it was (paid out) of the Randy Miller retirement fund.”
Over the years it has been a fairly common occurrence for Miller, and his parents Ray and Betty before him, to pick up the tab for Rockets’ expenses to make sure the team kept taking the field.
Portland has been offered the opportunity to join the Great Lakes League, a summer league partially funded by Major League Baseball that includes Celina, Ohio’s, Grand Lake Mariners. But that league comes with a $20,000 franchise fee up front and would require several changes to the way the Rockets operate.
The GLL is for college players only, and its schedule would include long weeknight trips to places like Canton, Ohio, on the state’s east side. Its teams bring in players from across the country to live with host families.
Miller prefers to give area athletes a chance to have a more normal summer while still offering the opportunity to play the game they love.
“Our program offers a kid a chance to live at home,” said Miller, who had players this year from Jay County, Berne, Muncie, Yorktown, Cowan, Markle, Pendleton, Kokomo, Indianapolis and Coldwater, Ohio. “You don’t have to lose your summer to a host family and a baseball practice every day. You can do a job … eat mom’s food, enjoy your summer and still play ball.”
With the exception of the WBC Tournament, hosted in Portland, admission to see the Rockets’ play ball has traditionally been free.
Miller is thinking about changing that, with one key caveat. If the Rockets do begin charging admission, long-time supporters — Don and Marilyn Malloy, David Lyons and Stanley Teeter to name just a few — would get free VIP passes. He wants to bring in money, but he also wants to be loyal to those who have always been loyal to the team.
He said he knows he can do a better job of marketing the Rockets, through social media and other avenues. And he added that he’d like to get some committees of volunteers together to help make sure Portland has amateur baseball for another 50 years.
“I know people screen my phone calls,” Miller said. “They know when I call I’m asking for something. It would be nice to get some other people involved.”[[In-content Ad]]