Coverage of Wichita baseball owner Lou Schwechheimer

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Press coverage of new Wichita baseball team majority owner Lou Schwechheimer.

We don’t know much about the ownership team of the new Wichita baseball team, led by majority owner Lou Schwechheimer. But here’s a look at some of the press coverage from November 2015, when Schwechheimer was announced as part of the new owners of the New Orleans Zephyrs AAA minor league baseball team (later renamed the Baby Cakes).

The New Orleans Times-Picayune contributed this quote: 1

“Our goal is to make the New Orleans Zephyrs one of the top franchises in all of Minor League Baseball. With the great South Louisiana fans, the love of sports here and our hard work, we have every reason to believe that we will succeed,” Schwechheimer said.

“New Orleans will be in the top tier of attendance, because this is a great town. This is a resilient town. This is a magical town. … I can promise you this ballpark will come alive. We will provide first class family entertainment where families can come out with their kids, where grandparents can bring their grandkids to their first game, where young couples can go on their first date. It’ll be a family place. We only ask the fans in New Orleans one thing: just come once. Let us earn your trust one time and I promise you’ll be back.”

The news organ of minor league baseball reported this: “Our goal is to make the New Orleans Zephyrs one of the top franchises in all of Minor League Baseball,” Schwechheimer said. “With the great South Louisiana fans, the love of sports here, and our hard work, we have every reason to believe that we will succeed.” 2

In 2016, local media reported this: “Schwechheimer, announced Monday as manager and controller of a company that has bought 50 percent of the New Orleans Zephyrs, said that type of diligence, dedication and now experience will be used to turn around this city’s Triple-A team.” 3

In 2018, at least a few people in New Orleans weren’t happy with Schwechheimer’s plans to move the team to Wichita: “Relocating the Baby Cakes to Wichita, a city with one-third the market of New Orleans would be in many ways the final act of betrayal by owner Lou Schwechheimer. First, Schwechheirmer changed the team name from the Zephyrs, which New Orleans embraced, to the Baby Cakes. The name is loathed by most in the New Orleans area.” 4

An unhappy fan submitted this letter to The Times-Picayune: 5

The Babycakes were never committed to New Orleans

After only two years, the cleat finally dropped. The organization that owns the team formerly known as the Zephyrs is decamping New Orleans for the friendlier and far more lucrative confines of a new ballpark in Wichita, Kan. Hope they come up with a catchy nickname.

This group of carpetbaggers from New England were on their way out the door the day they walked into New Orleans. They clearly demonstrated their utter lack of regard for this community and for the game of baseball when they adopted the most demeaning, the most nonsensical and the least authentic nickname they could have come up with. It wasn’t even a part of our community’s well-known idiosyncratic idiom.

Sure, they sold tons of merchandise the first year, then in only two years presided over the dissolution of a quarter of a century of AAA baseball in a major league market. That was no accident. To demonstrate how bush league these guys are, they didn’t even sew the logo or the numbers — much less player names — on their jerseys. They simply printed the shirts. Even Little League teams have numbers and team names sewn on.

The New Orleans Times-Picayune also reports that the Baby Cakes will be leaving before the end of the team’s stadium lease: “The New Orleans Baby Cakes have filed an application to relocate the team to Wichita, Kansas, according to the Louisiana Stadium and Exposition District. The LSED said in a release Thursday (Sept. 6) the team is expected to stay until the expiration of the lease through the 2021 season. The Wichita Eagle reports the city hopes to have a team in place by 2020. That would make 2019 the final season for the Cakes in the New Orleans market.” 6 Minutes of the October 25, 2018 meeting of LSED confirm that the lease runs through 2021. 7 This means the Baby Cakes, if playing in Wichita in 2020 as planned, will have left New Orleans with two seasons remaining on the lease.


Notes

  1. Boudwin, Julie. New Orleans Zephyrs announce new ownership group, day-to-day management team. The Times-Picayune, November 30, 2015. Available at https://www.nola.com/baby-cakes/2015/11/new_orleans_zephyrs_1.html.
  2. MiLB.com. Schwechheimer introduced as Z’s owner. November 30, 2015. Available at .
  3. Williams, Darrell. New owner Lou Schwechheimer tasked with turning New Orleans Zephyrs around. The New Orleans Advocate, April 22, 2016. Available at https://www.theadvocate.com/new_orleans/sports/zephyrs/article_0119ed0a-4d00-5a7e-be97-00d430c0f819.html.
  4. Boyd, Kevin. BREAKING: New Orleans Baby Cakes Are Heading To Wichita After 2019. Available at https://thehayride.com/2018/09/breaking-new-orleans-baby-cakes-are-heading-to-wichita-after-2019/.
  5. Letters, September 14, 2018. Available at https://www.nola.com/opinions/2018/09/babycakes_leaving.html.
  6. Dabe, Christopher. Baby Cakes on the move: team to leave after lease expires, LSED says. The Times-Picayune, September 6, 2018. Available at https://www.nola.com/baby-cakes/2018/09/baby_cakes_moving_wichita.html.
  7. Available at https://www.lsedgov.com/uploads/1/0/9/6/109696749/october_minutes.pdf.

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