Lemurs release 2012 schedule

The Lemurs released their 2012 schedule of games on Wednesday, along with the American Association’s announcement that it has allied with the Can-Am league to form interlocking, 100-game schedules.
The Lemurs begin their inaugural campaign on May 17 with a seven-game homestand against division rival Grand Prarie and then Winnipeg before taking off on a seven-game road trip.
The season wraps up on Sept. 3 when Laredo plays at Gary (Ind.) Southshore, with their last home game coming on Aug. 26 against El Paso.
The Lemurs’ 2012 season schedule, with home games in italics:
May
May 17-20: vs. Grand Prarie, 7:30 p.m.
May 21-23: vs. Winnipeg, 7:30 p.m.
May 24-27: at Amarillo, TBD.
May 28-30: at Lincoln, TBD.
June
June 1-3: vs. El Paso, 7:30 p.m.
June 4-6: at Grand Prairie, TBD.
June 7-10: vs. Amarillo, 7:30 p.m.
June 11-13: at Grand Prairie, TBD.
June 14-16: vs. El Paso, 7:30 p.m.
June 18-20: vs. Gary, 7:30 p.m.
June 22-24: at El Paso, TBD.
June 25-27: at Amarillo, TBD.
June 29-July 1: vs. Worcester, 7:30 p.m.
July
July 3-6: at El Paso, TBD.
July 7-10: vs. Grand Prairie, 7:30 p.m.
July 11-14: vs. Amarillo, 7:30 p.m.
July 16-18: vs. Wichita, 7:30 p.m.
July 19-22: at Amarillo, TBD.
July 23-25: vs. Lincoln, 7:30 p.m.
July 27-29: vs. Wichita, 7:30 p.m.
August
July 31-Aug. 2: at Lincoln, TBD.
Aug. 3-6: at Grand Prairie, TBD.
Aug. 7-9: at El Paso, TBD.
Aug. 10-12: vs. Grand Prairie, 7:30 p.m.
Aug. 14-16: at Sioux Falls, TBD.
Aug. 17-19: at Kansas City, TBD.
Aug. 21-23: vs. Amarillo, 7:30 p.m.
Aug. 24-26: vs. El Paso, (6 p.m. on Aug. 24; 7:30 p.m. on Aug. 25-26).
Aug. 28-31: at Fargo, TBD.
September
Sept. 1-3: at Gary, TBD.

Far from OK on Lemurs’ assumed move to AA

Lemurs President Mark Schuster (left) may find himself in a different league that what he initially thought.

Somebody’s hiding something. That’s the only logical conclusion to the current situation with the Laredo Lemurs.

Only a little more than three months ago, Lemurs President Mark Schuster explicitly said the following to me: “We are going to the AA (American Association).” For those not in the know, the AA is one of the top leagues in independent minor league ball. The Atlantic League is the top league, with the AA second due to its premier stadiums and strong owners.

But today, Schuster all but implied that the AA is no longer an option. He says there are currently four total options as destinations – with the AA indeed being one. He says it was wrong for people to assume the Lemurs would be going to the AA … even though he clearly said as much.

The reason he told me today for that declaration was, at the time, Schuster was a part of the AA as he had not yet sold his rights to El Paso. Now that that’s over and that Laredo is his only gig, he says, “I’m doing my duty as to what’s the best choice for Laredo and us.”

So what we have here is an interesting conundrum. While AA Commissioner Miles Wolff said Thursday that the league has “very high interest” in Laredo, Schuster said it was fair to say that his interest in the AA has waned.

He would not go into details on the record. All he said is that he hopes to be introducing a league within the next two weeks, and he left it at that.

Well, this is quite the turnaround, no? After all, one of the attractive traits when Schuster and his Ventura Sports Group were awarded the rights to the new ballpark is that a new, more established league would be brought in. That league was very widely assumed to be the AA, since Schuster was one of its founding members, and indeed was verified when Schuster declared as much in June.

But what happened between now and then? All there remains is speculation. At one point, Schuster and Ventura owed the AA money from their time as owners of the Grand Prairie and El Paso franchises. And while Wolff said Thursday that “they (Schuster) owe the league nothing and everything is settled,” Ventura and Schuster do have history with debt. It’s why they’re no longer in charge of Grand Prairie or Ventura.

While all signs show that they have paid meticulous detail to the Laredo franchise, it’s entirely possible Wolff is covering up for an organization he is interested in. After all, who wouldn ‘t want to have a team with a brand new, $18 million ballpark; a team that has the undying support and help of city officials? Anyone would jump on that boat.

Looking at the options that Schuster has on the table, we know this: The Atlantic League is not in the picture, boasting teams with rosters of primarily triple A and Major Leaguers. Another option is the North American Baseball League, the league the Laredo Broncos would have been in had they remained alive. The Mexican League is also a possibility, albeit a long, long shot. So realistically, if it’s not the AA, it’s likely to be the NABL, which is said to play a better brand of ball than the AA but lacks the variety of opponents and exposure. Familiar names like San Angelo, Harlingen and Edinburg would again be rivals, opposed to the likes of St. Paul, Winnipeg and Kansas City, among others, in the AA.

Still, there’s a possibility the Lemurs end up in the AA. As long as the AA is showing interest (they even extended the Lemurs’ deadline which to submit a formal application), anything can happen. That door will continue to be open – and I assumed quite a tempting lure – until Wolff and his league close it.

But it’s also a possibility that the Lemurs end up in the NABL or somewhere foreign like that. And for a franchise that made a couple of quick splashes with the hiring of Pete Incaviglia as manager as its controversial nickname, this would be considered a move backward in light of so much work being done to make sure it gets off on the right foot.

They’re ‘The Laredo Lemurs’

 

LMT’s Adam Geigerman is reporting that the name of the new Laredo baseball team will be “The Laredo Lemurs.”

The lemur is most famous in Madagascar and is a primate whose look resembles that of a cat crossed with a squirrel and dog.

Team logo and colors will be posted soon. So far, public reaction to the name of Laredo’s latest independent baseball franchise has not been positive.

The photo in the entry of this blog is of Maurice the lemur from the Madagascar movies. Lemurs obviously have a heavy influence in Laredo as well.