The Disappearing Black Baseball Player

African Americans are opting out of baseball — but the sport won't let them go without a fight

River Front Times

John Mozeliak Names Craig Unger General Manager Of Triple-A Memphis

The St. Louis Cardinals announced today that Craig Unger, a five year veteran of the Cardinals front office, will become the new General Manager of the Memphis Redbirds as the Cardinals take over the daily management of the Redbirds.
St. Louis Official Site

St. Louis Cardinals front-office veteran Craig Unger was named general manager of the Memphis Redbirds on Monday. The Cardinals made the announcement in a news conference at AutoZone Park.
Memphis Commercial Appeal

The St. Louis Cardinals introduced Craig Unger today as the new General Manager of the Memphis Redbirds as the team takes over the daily management of the Redbirds.
STL Baseball Weekly

Craig Unger, a five-year veteran of the St. Louis Cardinals front office, has been tapped to lead the organization’s minor league affiliate the Memphis Redbirds.
Biz Journal

The St. Louis Cardinals have taken another step in their transition as owners of the Memphis Redbirds by naming Craig Unger, who has spent five years in the Cardinals’ front office, as the new general manager of the Redbirds.
Memphis Daily News

Commission Approves Ballpark Deal

The deal for the city of Memphis to buy AutoZone Park and the St. Louis Cardinals to buy the Memphis Redbirds franchise is on its way to a mid-February closing.

Memphis Daily News

Commission Approves Other Part Of Ballpark Deal

Shelby County Commissioners reluctantly approved county government’s part of the AutoZone Park deal Monday, Jan. 27, despite delaying a vote on it at committee sessions last week.

Memphis Daily News

Memphis City Council Approves $24 Million Purchase Of AutoZone Park

The Memphis City Council approved at its Tuesday meeting the issuance of $24 million in city-backed bonds to buy AutoZone Park, thus enabling completion of the deal that will also see the St. Louis Cardinals buy the financially strapped Memphis Redbirds minor league team.
Memphis Commercial Appeal

We bought a ball park.
Memphis Flyer

The city of Memphis just bought a ballpark. After two debate and angst-filled meetings in December, the City Council and the administration of Mayor A C Wharton reconciled and voted for the city to acquire AutoZone Park from Fundamental Advisors for $19.5 million.
Biz Journal

Citing the need for more deliberation and information regarding a proposal that included the Cardinals' purchase of the Triple-A Redbirds franchise, the Memphis City Council had delayed a December vote on the issue. On Tuesday -- more than a month after the council first heard the proposal -- the necessary approval finally came.
St. Louis Official Site

Memphis City Council members approved the city’s $19.5 million purchase of AutoZone Park Tuesday, Jan. 7, and another $4.5 million in improvements to the baseball park.
Memphis Daily News

Council Members Cry Foul For Not Being Included In AutoZone Park Discusses

Redbirds representatives met privately with Memphis City Council members on the sale of AutoZone park. Some Memphis City Council members cried foul saying the city administration was not including them in the discussions, but Friday they were center field.

WMCTV

City's Takeover Of AutoZone Park Would Avert Ricky 'Unknowns', Mayor AC Wharton Says

Memphis Mayor A C Wharton, in an interview last week, expanded on why he thinks the city should take over AutoZone Park, saying negative outcomes could result if the government doesn’t participate in a larger plan to sell the financially troubled Redbirds minor league baseball team to the St. Louis Cardinals.

Memphis Commercial Appeal

Mets May Have Pressured Cardinals Into Moving Forward With Memphis Purchase

The key players, from Memphis Mayor A C Wharton Jr. to St. Louis Cardinals chairman and CEO Bill DeWitt Jr., grabbed the microphone at an invitation-only rally held on the club level of AutoZone Park and made their best pitches.

Memphis Daily News

Cardinals Will Acquire Triple-A Affiliate Memphis

In an effort to rescue their financially-troubled Triple-A affiliate, the St. Louis Cardinals will acquire the Memphis Redbirds. The club's home ballpark, AutoZone Park, will be acquired by the City of Memphis.
St. Louis Official Site

The Memphis Redbirds Baseball Foundation ("Foundation") today announced that it has reached a strategic agreement that would rescue the financially troubled Memphis Redbirds and AutoZone Park. The Foundation has been operating the Redbirds and AutoZone Park under a forbearance agreement since it defaulted on its required bond payment in 2010. The agreement calls for the St. Louis Cardinals ("Cardinals") to acquire the Memphis Redbirds and the City of Memphis to acquire AutoZone Park. The City would then lease the ballpark to the Redbirds through a long-term lease agreement. The agreement includes a significant capital investment in AutoZone Park to add features that will significantly improve the overall fan experience.
St. Louis Official Site

The St. Louis Cardinals have reached an agreement to purchase their AAA affiliate in Memphis, with the city of Memphis buying the team’s home ballpark, AutoZone Park.
KMOX

After a long and winding road, the St. Louis Cardinals have acquired the Memphis Redbirds.
KMOV

The Memphis Redbirds will be acquired by the St. Louis Cardinals and AutoZone Park will be acquired by the City of Memphis under an agreement announced this morning by the Memphis Redbirds Baseball Foundation.
Memphis Commercial Appeal

The St. Louis Cardinals will purchase their Triple-A affiliate in Memphis to help the struggling minor league franchise.
Fox16

The financially troubled Memphis Redbirds baseball team and park has reached a deal with the St. Louis Cardinals and the city of Memphis.
KPLR11

This morning the Memphis Redbirds Foundation announced a deal sell the team to the St. Louis Cardinals and to sell AutoZone Park to the City of Memphis.
Biz Journals

The Cardinals have acquired their Class AAA Memphis Redbirds franchise and the city of Memphis has acquired AutoZone Park to help rescue the financially troubled franchise and stadium, which had been operated by the Memphis Redbirds Foundation for the last three years.
Cardinal Beat

Parents are always looking out for their kids, and the same can be said for the St. Louis Cardinals and their Triple-A affiliate Memphis Redbirds.
Fox Sports Midwest

The St. Louis Cardinals baseball organization has a tentative deal with the Memphis Redbirds Baseball Foundation and the city of Memphis in which the Major League Baseball organization would buy the Memphis Redbirds team and city would buy AutoZone Park.
Memphis Daily News

Rally Planned To Build Support For Sale Of AutoZone Park, Redbirds

An invitation-only rally is scheduled for Tuesday evening at AutoZone Park to build support from the business community for a sale of the Memphis Redbirds and their stadium.

Memphis Commercial Appeal

Memphis Official: 'Fairly Close' On Plan For City's Involvement With AutoZone Park

City of Memphis officials are closing in on presenting a plan that is expected to involve the city taking ownership of AutoZone Park in a three-party deal that would also see the St. Louis Cardinals purchase the financially troubled Memphis Redbirds minor league baseball team.

Memphis Commercial Appeal

Memphis, Cardinals Still Talking About Possible Sale

Discussions between the Memphis Redbirds Foundation and the St. Louis Cardinals about the sale of the Triple-A baseball team to its major league affiliate are continuing.

Memphis Commercial Appeal

In Need Of Relief

Perhaps it is only too appropriate that baseball is played without a clock. For securing the future of the Memphis Redbirds may require extra innings, not to mention extra effort.

Memphis Daily News

AutoZone Park & The Steroids Era

AutoZone Park is the Mark McGwire of minor-league baseball stadiums.

Memphis Flyer

Potential AutoZone Park Sale To City Of Memphis Could See 'Serious' Council Scrutiny

The potential sale of the Memphis Redbirds to the St. Louis Cardinals could mean a safe landing for the financially challenged minor league baseball team, but the possibility that the city of Memphis could assume ownership of AutoZone Park could prompt “very serious” scrutiny by the City Council, that body’s budget committee chairman said Thursday.

Memphis Commercial Appeal

Cardinals Weigh Buying Memphis Redbirds

The St. Louis Cardinals are showing renewed interest in purchasing the Memphis Redbirds, but any deal that would transfer ownership of the team and AutoZone Park from the nonprofit Redbirds Foundation almost certainly would require “city involvement,” foundation president Ray Pohlman said Thursday, April 4.

Memphis Daily News

Picnic In The Park: Right Field Dining Area One Of Several Improvements For 2011 Memphis Season

The way Memphis Redbirds Foundation treasurer John Pontius saw it, with 14,384 seats, AutoZone Park could spare a few hundred if it meant enhancing what is still viewed by many as the best minor league baseball stadium in the country.

Memphis Commercial Appeal

As of March 1st, AutoZone Park has undergone several improvements around the stadium in the past month.

Memphis Redbirds Official Site

Wall Street Pounces On Distressed Muni Deals

As conditions in the corporate bond market improve—limiting potential gains for bottom-fishing investors—private equity firms and Wall Street banks are seizing opportunities in the $28 billion market for distressed municipal bonds. The investors are using a strategy borrowed from the corporate bond world known as "loan to own," which involves buying debt to gain control of revenue-producing municipal projects.

Business Week

Who Controls The Memphis Redbirds & AutoZone Park

Every now and then, a baseball team finds itself in serious financial trouble.

Under the ownership of leveraged buyout specialist Tom Hicks, the Texas Rangers became mired in financial difficulties so deep the team was taken into bankruptcy and eventually sold at auction.

The Cardinal Nation Blog

Citigroup Distressed Muni Hotel Deal May Point Way For Investor Takeovers

Private-equity firms and Wall Street banks, struggling for returns in troubled corporate debt, are seizing opportunities in the $28 billion market for distressed municipal bonds.

Bloomberg