Thanks to HawkerRob for sending through the full details of Lyndon Little’s write-up in the Vancouver Sun yesterday, and thereby allowing us share the details with the world - here’s a few snippets of what you can expect in the years ahead:

- Moving in the outfield fences by approximately 15 feet. This has long been a request of the parent Oakland A’s and the new owners also believe it will help enhance the fan experience at The Nat.

- The tearing up and replacing of the infield playing surface.

- Some initial updates to the concession and washroom areas.

"Some of the early improvements may not be overly apparent to the fans, but we feel it’s important to do something right away in our first year," Mooney says.

Trust me on this - the longer term renovations are WAY more impressive, but I won’t spoilt them if the new owners don’t yet want to trumpet them.

One thing I won’t be too happy about is the replacing of the infield grass. As club historian Bud Kerr will tell you, in amongst that grass is Babe Ruth’s chewing tobacco spit, deposited when he came to Vancouver with an all-star team on his way to Japan. The legend has it that the rain was bucketing down, and The Babe looked at the 3000 fans and said something akin to "if they can come out for the game, we can put one on for them."It’s also the infield grass that Satchel Paige prowled as a 50-something pitcher trying to get back to the big leagues.

Of course, realistically, it’s no such thing. Grass doesn’t last 90 years, especially when it’s been moved from two other ballparks previously, and a film crew did a great job of chopping the crap out of it a few years back - something it hasn’t yet recovered from. But still, it’ll be a damn shame to lose one historic piece of Vancouver baseball, even if it is entirely in people’s heads.

Other news relating to the new ownership:

* The owners have been in operational control of the franchise since November, despite the fact that the change has yet to be ratified by Major League Baseball.

* Dan Kilgras and Delany Dunn (President and GM respectively) will return for the 2007 season.

* The 25-year lease includes four 5-year renewable options, so should the new owners decide to split for better digs, they can.

* Because the new owners are spending considerable amounts of money on the ballpark upgrades, the first five years of the agreement will be RENT-FREE. Thereafter, they’ll pay either $100,000 per year, or 4% of the audited gross revenues - whichever is larger.

* The final sale price for the team was $7m, which sees a nice fat profit for ex-owner, Fred Hermann.

Another interesting side note - in fact, a historic one: the Parks Board will actually be SPENDING MONEY contributing to the upgrade on the stadium! 

Under the terms of the lease, the city will contribute an immediate $500,000
towards ballpark improvements, a figure that will be matched by the new
owners. The Park Board will also submit a request for an additional $2 million
in 2008 to be included in the city’s next capital plan. The C’s owners have
pledged to match that amount as well, bringing to $ 5 million the total
investment into fixing up the picturesque city-owned facility at the foot of
Queen Elizabeth Park. 

Hot diggity dawg. So let’s summarize.

The new ownership got a 25-year lease that they can get out of every five years. They got cheap rent, and no rent for the next five years. They got money from the Parks Board, with the promise of more if they can get it out of the city government… Now we know why Jake Kerr is a millionaire.

Remember, baseball fans, this deal happened once Spencer Herbert took over as Parks Board Commissioner. He told Notes From The Nat he’d do what he could to help keep the stadium open, saved, and upgraded, and he has delivered in spades. Added to that, he’s been front and center in the fight to save and restore Stanley Park after it was decimated by high winds last month.

So remember to say thank you next time there’s an election for the Parks Board, okay?