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The Cavemen have announced a restructuring of their ownership group.
On Monday, the Hannibal Cavemen announced that their ownership group - now known as Hannibal Cavemen Baseball - has been approved by the Prospect League to replace its predecessor, the Hannibal Baseball Investment Group. The group is comprised of Bob Hemond, Rick DeStefane and former major leaguers Ryan Klesko and Woody Williams.
New co-owner DeStefane said there was a big reason a new group was formed.
“The prior orginazation did not provide the necessary resources to make the prior organization grow and succeed,” DeStefane said. “There were a lot of problems and it got to a point where there had to be an infusion of cash and capital. Instead of going back and buying the prior organization we decided to form a new one, because the prior organization basically defaulted on legal obligations. The owner of the property had no choice but to take it back.”
Previous co-owner Larry Owens had claimed that he had built Clemens Field. Hemond did not agree with those claims.
“I wanted to make it clear,” Hemond said. “This ballpark was not designed, was not built and was not financed by one individual.”
Hemond said the new ownership had to happen and that the best way to bring baseball to Hannibal would be to bring people with business experience and local passion into the fold.
Two of the new co-owners are bound to attract a lot of attention. Klesko and Williams were both former major league players. Hemond said bringing the two in had a lot to do with local issues.
“Ryan has some roots here in Hannibal related to his foundation and has been around the community recently,” Hemond said. “And Woody obviously has laid ground with the Cardinals. These guys want to be involved.”
Klesko’s foundation is called the Blue Ryno Foundation, which is a non-profit public benefit corporation designed to offer support to critically ill children and their families.
Hemond said this new ownership will help ignite excitement in Hannibal baseball.
“Clemens Field was always designed to be a part of the entire community,” Hemond said. “We’re at that point, this all just happened recently. We’re ready to move forward, that’s what we’re here to say. We’re ready to move forward in a positive direction.”
Klesko said this is a good opportunity.
“It’s an opportunity to do something great early on,” Klesko said. “Hopefully Woody and I will have a great relationship with these kids and work with them as much as we can.”
Cavemen pitcher Mark Sappington is already happy to have the new owners here.
“They are just so easy to talk to,” Sappington said. “Some people don’t understand how important that is.”
The Cavemen have announced a restructuring of their ownership group.
On Monday, the Hannibal Cavemen announced that their ownership group - now known as Hannibal Cavemen Baseball - has been approved by the Prospect League to replace its predecessor, the Hannibal Baseball Investment Group. The group is comprised of Bob Hemond, Rick DeStefane and former major leaguers Ryan Klesko and Woody Williams.
New co-owner DeStefane said there was a big reason a new group was formed.
“The prior orginazation did not provide the necessary resources to make the prior organization grow and succeed,” DeStefane said. “There were a lot of problems and it got to a point where there had to be an infusion of cash and capital. Instead of going back and buying the prior organization we decided to form a new one, because the prior organization basically defaulted on legal obligations. The owner of the property had no choice but to take it back.”
Previous co-owner Larry Owens had claimed that he had built Clemens Field. Hemond did not agree with those claims.
“I wanted to make it clear,” Hemond said. “This ballpark was not designed, was not built and was not financed by one individual.”
Hemond said the new ownership had to happen and that the best way to bring baseball to Hannibal would be to bring people with business experience and local passion into the fold.
Two of the new co-owners are bound to attract a lot of attention. Klesko and Williams were both former major league players. Hemond said bringing the two in had a lot to do with local issues.
“Ryan has some roots here in Hannibal related to his foundation and has been around the community recently,” Hemond said. “And Woody obviously has laid ground with the Cardinals. These guys want to be involved.”
Klesko’s foundation is called the Blue Ryno Foundation, which is a non-profit public benefit corporation designed to offer support to critically ill children and their families.
Hemond said this new ownership will help ignite excitement in Hannibal baseball.
“Clemens Field was always designed to be a part of the entire community,” Hemond said. “We’re at that point, this all just happened recently. We’re ready to move forward, that’s what we’re here to say. We’re ready to move forward in a positive direction.”
Klesko said this is a good opportunity.
“It’s an opportunity to do something great early on,” Klesko said. “Hopefully Woody and I will have a great relationship with these kids and work with them as much as we can.”
Cavemen pitcher Mark Sappington is already happy to have the new owners here.
“They are just so easy to talk to,” Sappington said. “Some people don’t understand how important that is.”
