FORT WORTH -- For the past 12 years, Cracker Jack and cracks of the bat have been the standard at LaGrave Field, the now-former home of the Fort Worth Cats.
"We love baseball here in Fort Worth," said Trinity River Vision Authority (TRVA) executive director JD Granger, "but regretfully, I was put on notice by the owners of the ball field they were not going to continue with the current operators."
That notice now appears to be a done deal. A letter sent to Fort Worth Mayor Betsy Price from the stadium's owners revealed they terminated the baseball team's lease a month ago. The name "Fort Worth Cats" will stay here in town, but the team will now have to find a new place to play.
"Losing it? Devastating," said city council member Dennis Shingleton. "Our community loves the Cats."
The team's owners say their future is bright; they'll simply play somewhere else. But the future of the field itself is another issue altogether.
"There's not a whole lot of appetite there for us to be baseball owners, nor do we want to own LaGrave Field," Shingleton said.
The council member and head of the Fort Worth Sports Authority tells News 8 the stadium's owners approached the city about investing in the stadium, but they declined. So did Granger with the TRVA.
"We're not in the baseball business," he said. "We don't know it. It's not us."
The same letter indicates the owners' strong desire for the property to remain a ball field. But it also says selling the stadium or re-developing the land - perhaps for mixed-use developments - are options.
It's widely accepted that the stadium sits on prime real estate, right near the ever-developing Panther Island.
"From a personal standpoint, the sports authority, the city of Fort Worth, mayor and council would hate to see someone bulldoze LaGrave Field," Shingleton said.
But that could be a possibility, which would make this the final inning for LaGrave Field.
Granger believes we could know what the plans are for the stadium fairly quickly; an online search shows the property is indeed for sale. The stadium opened in 2002.
