Updated: Frederick lands second baseball team

Nov. 16—Frederick will be home to a new baseball team in the spring of 2023 to play alongside the Frederick Keys, according to the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball, which announced the new franchise on Wednesday.

The new team, whose name has not been announced, will be owned by Attain Sports and Entertainment, the same group that also owns the Keys, a collegiate summer baseball team in the MLB Draft League.

Attain also owns the Bowie Baysox, the Double-A affiliate of the Baltimore Orioles.

The Atlantic League plays a 126-game schedule, which is scheduled to begin on April 28.

The league has nine other teams, with franchises in Central Islip and Staten Island, N.Y.; Lancaster and York, Pa.; Waldorf; Charleston, W.V.; Gastonia and High Point, N.C.; and Lexington, Ky.

Frederick's team will be the 10th.

An 11th franchise has been approved for Hagerstown. Work is underway on a new stadium where the team will play, starting in the 2024 season.

Steve Shutt, the league's director of communications, said the league probably will have to find a 12th member — an even number makes scheduling easier. "We have a lot of time to work that out," he said.

The new Frederick team will play 48 home games, sharing Nymeo Field at Harry Grove Stadium with the Keys. Each of the other nine teams will have at least 63 home games.

After starting with a series on the road at Gastonia, the new Frederick club is scheduled to make its home debut on May 2 against the Lexington Legends.

The first half of the season will end July 7. The second half of the season will end Sept. 17.

The Atlantic League is known as a landing place for ex-Major Leaguers as they try to reestablish their career. Sometimes, it works and they get back to the Major Leagues.

Shutt said a recent example is pitcher David Robertson, who was injured in his 12th Major League season. Robertson suffered an arm injury in 2019 and had to get reconstructive surgery that forced him to miss the following season.

As he worked his way back into shape, and prepared to pitch for the U.S. Olympic team, Robertson signed in 2021 with the High Point Rockers in the Atlantic League. He ended up returning to the Phillies team that made it to the World Series this year.

The Atlantic League has a list of other players that made it to the Major Leagues at www.atlanticleague.com/players/notable-alumni.

Frederick Mayor Michael O'Connor said the community has always supported baseball, and the new team's addition will provide a full summer of entertainment.

Attain Sports and Entertainment, which is owned by CEO and Managing Partner Greg Baroni and President and General Partner Richard Roberts, bought the Keys in January.

The Keys had been an Orioles Single-A affiliate until 2020, when they lost their 31-year affiliation amidst a shuffling and reduction of teams by Major League Baseball and its clubs.

The Keys had previously indicated that renovations and improvements to the city-owned Nymeo Field at Harry Grove Stadium will be important to getting another affiliation. The team and the city agreed in January to split the $100,000 cost of a new scoreboard at the stadium.

O'Connor said the city's goal remains to get an affiliated team back in Frederick.

The city knows that will require stadium upgrades, and it's working with Attain to see what that looks like, he said.

Having more games at the stadium helps with ticket sales, but also things like concessions and merchandise sales, said Richard Griffin, the city's economic development director.

People coming from out of town for games might stop and eat dinner, fill up their gas tanks, or do shop on the way in or out of town, he said.

Harry Grove Stadium has served the community well, but the uses and operations of stadiums have changed since the facility opened almost 40 years ago, Griffin said.

Stadiums host conferences, concerts, meetings, and other events other than the baseball use, and the city wants to maximize the use of the facility for the community's benefit, he said.

In a press release on Wednesday announcing the formation of the new team, Baroni said having two teams playing at Harry Grove will be exciting.

"And, as we look to the future, we're continuing to work on providing all constituent stakeholders with a new and improved stadium," the release said.

Editor Andrew Schotz contributed to this story.

Follow Ryan Marshall on Twitter: @RMarshallFNP