Alexandria Aces to Debut in 2008: An All Things Valley League Exclusive

In breaking news, the Washington/Baltimore area will welcome a new summer league team in 2008. The Alexandria Aces, a team run by former Valley League general manager and owner Pat Malone, will begin operations in Four Mile Run Park two seasons from now.

Malone, marketing director for SportsFan Magazine in Bethesda, Maryland, has an extensive background in baseball.  He has worked to bring baseball back to Washington DC ever since 1975, soon after the Senators left the city.  He worked in the Immediate Office of the Secretary of Defense at the Pentagon for sixteen and a half years, and during that time, he was able to work for the effort to bring baseball back to the nation's capital.  In fact, Malone was invited by Mayor Williams's office to the Mayor's press conference when Major League Baseball agreed to move the former Montreal Expos to move to DC. (Picture to the right: Malone is left, with Hank Thomas, Walter "Big Train" Johnson's grandson)

Malone also has strong ties to the Valley League.  He first heard of the New Market Rebels in 2000 in Hardball on the Hill, a book by James Roberts.   Later, Malone drove past Rebel Park and ran into Jay Zuspan, a member of New Market's Board of Directors (Ex Officio).  Zuspan invited Malone to join him that evening at a Rebels home game, and that was it: Malone was hooked on the Valley League.

Malone increased his involvement in the league as a general manager and owner in 2004, as he took over the floundering Loudoun Rangers, renamed them the Battle Cats, and moved them to Haymarket, Virginia for the 2005 season.  However, he found the situation less than favorable, as the distance from his home to Haymarket's field was prohibitive.  The team was not doing well financially, either; ultimately, these reasons caused Malone to leave the ownership of Haymarket.

He never eliminated the itch to run a community-based baseball team, however, and when he found himself listening to a Haymarket-New Market game on internet radio one evening, he decided to do something about it.  He began work to create a team, from scratch, closer to his home.

Malone contacted Don Dinan, an attorney in Washington.  Malone had recently helped Dinan and Dinan's brother, Jamie, orchestrate the opportunity for them to buy a piece of the Fort Myers Miracle, the Minnesota Twin's high-A affiliate in Florida.  Dinan was enthusiastic about helping to finance the project, and the plans were under way.

The management team in Alexandria will use the New Market Rebels as a business model.  They want to work to make sure that the "club becomes a part of the fiber of the city of Alexandria during the summer," Malone says.  The team will be community-based, and a non-profit 501(c)3 organization.  Malone added, "In my opinion, Rebel Park is the greatest place in the world to watch summer baseball, and I've had the pleasure of working with Bruce Alger in New Market in the past and I've learned a lot from him." 

The Aces will play their home games at Four Mile Run Park, originally constructed in 1977, which was the former stadium of the Alexandria Dukes, a Carolina League team that moved after the 1983 season (and are now known as the Potomac Nationals), which is located very close to U.S. Route 1, Interstate 395, and the George Washington Parkway. The City of Alexandria Parks and Rec Department has done well with stadium maintenance over the years. The park seats about 2,200 fans.

Malone also mentioned, "While I know that Alexandria is about 100 times larger than New Market, I'd like to try to at least use some of the Rebels marketing strategy in working with local youth baseball and softball leagues as well as our chamber of commerce.  Most of all, we're going to make it fun for fans.  Next summer, for me, Four Mile Run Park may not be Rebel Park, but I'll always have my good friend Jay Zuspan to thank for giving me the great love of collegiate summer wooden bat baseball.  As I shout out "Go Aces!" to our fans, I'll still have New Market and the Valley League very close to my heart."

With his extensive background in baseball and his love for the game, the people in Alexandria are in good hands as this new venture begins.

Comments

[Sid Stone]

Pat - looks great! Good luck with everything. Alexandria is in for some great entertainment.