Lansing Lugnuts to be sold to Diamond Baseball Holdings, pending city's approval
The Lansing Lugnuts will soon be under new ownership.
Diamond Baseball Holdings has entered into an agreement to purchase the Lugnuts from Tom Dickson and Take Me Out to the Ballgame, LLC.
It will be the first ownership change for the Lugnuts since being their arrival to Lansing in 1996. Dickson's organization purchased the club in 1994 when they were then the Waterloo Diamonds and brought the team to Lansing.
"The Lugnuts have been one of the great joys in my life," Dickson, a managing partner with Take Me Out to the Ballgame, said in a released statement. "It is a bittersweet decision to sell the team. I can promise you that DBH's Peter Freund and Pat Battle are terrific people who love baseball. I am confident that the Lugnuts and city of Lansing are in good hands."
The Lugnuts will join a collection of minor league baseball teams owned by Diamond Baseball Holdings. Battle, the executive chairman, and Freund, the CEO, oversee the organization that also owns teams at all levels of the minors. Other teams owned by Diamond Baseball Holdings include the Iowa Cubs, Memphis Redbirds, Gwinnett Stripers, Midland RockHounds, Mississippi Braves, Portland Sea Dogs, Wichita Wind Surge, Hudson Valley Renegades, Rome Braves, August GreenJackets and San Jose Giants.
"We are thrilled to have the opportunity to own such an iconic franchise as the Lugnuts, built by one of the best owner/operators in the game in Tom Dickson," Freund said in a statement. "We could not imagine a better city, ballpark or management team, and we look forward to being part of the Lansing community for years to come."
The deal will be completed subject to Take Me Out to the Ballgame obtaining necessary approvals from the league and the City of Lansing. Once finalized, Diamond Baseball Holdings will assume the Lugnuts' lease. The rights to Jackson Field extend through the 2034 season.
Lansing Mayor Andy Schor told the Lansing State Journal that members of Diamond Holdings Baseball will be in town Monday to present to the city council's committee of the whole, and he hopes that the resolution for an ownership change will be passed two weeks later, before the season opens with the Crosstown Showdown against Michigan State on April 4.
"The only thing that's being changed in the contract is the ownership," Schor said.
“I'm confident that knowing baseball the way these folks do, this is going to be a good thing for Lansing,” he said. “And so I'm excited. I'm excited to meet them. Change is never easy when you've got someone who's been there from the beginning. But I trust Tom Dickson and I trust that he would leave this team in capable hands. After all the blood, sweat and tears he's put in, he's not going to leave the team to someone who's going to let it die on the vine.”
As the ownership change takes place, the Lugnuts will continue to be led by first-year general manager Zac Clark and remain in the Midwest League as the High-A affiliate for the Oakland Athletics.
Contact Brian Calloway at bcalloway@lsj.com. Follow him on Twitter @brian_calloway.
This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: Lansing Lugnuts to be purchased by Diamond Baseball Holdings
