The Jackson City Council approved a stadium license and use agreement for a new baseball tenant at The Ballpark at Jackson during a Special Called Meeting at City Hall, Tuesday.
Dennis Bastien and wife Lisa of ‘In the Big Inning, LLC,’ a Tennessee corporation formed in April 2021 for the sole purpose of becoming the operational entity were approved by a vote of 6-2.
“We look at that facility as not just a ball park, but an entertainment destination – a destination station,” Dennis Bastien said, “We work under the auspices of the NCAA. (We are) allowed up to four players from any one college program, and we have several hundred players who have made it to the Big Leagues who played in this league.”
The franchise in Jackson will not begin play until 2023.
Bastien said teams in the Prospect League have 32-man rosters.
The Propect League – based in Elkhart, Indiana – consists of 16 teams located in Missouri, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, West Virginia and Pennsylvania.
Bastien named numerous activities besides baseball the ball park could host – namely flea markets and drone racing inside the stadium and basketball tournaments electric scooter racing on the parking lot.
“Anything and everything possible,” Bastien said. “(And) we want our staff and ourselves involved on a daily basis in the community.”
Council members Ross Priddy and Paul Taylor voted ‘no’ on the proposal.
“I think Mr. Bastien is a great individual, and I’m excited about him taking this on, but the reason I voted no on this today is because I don’t we went through a good process to get to where we are,” Paul Taylor said, “As was stated today, there was some interference in the process, and I had some questions about who this was sent out to and the way that it happened.
“I couldn’t get a lot of good answers on why it went the way it went.
I got this licensing use agreement for the first time two weeks ago – the city has had it since August (and) we hadn’t performed any financial look at what this was going to cost the city – what the impact – positive or negative.
“I feel like we just came off a relationship with our former lessee and this felt like a quick rebound with a deadline.
“In those instances, I made a pledge to myself and a pledge to the people who voted me in here that I’m going to consider this as realistically as I can, and that’s what I did today.
“There were some other opportunities out there but we just didn’t go through a good process to seek those opportunities.”
(PHOTO: Dennis and Lisa Bastien)
