Byline: DEIRDRE FERNANDES
By Deirdre Fernandes
The Virginian-Pilot
Virginia beach
Some of the brightest baseball stars to emerge from South Hampton Roads
have returned home with a proposal that could help aspiring athletes follow in their footsteps.
Major League Baseball players Michael Cuddyer, B.J. Upton and his younger brother Justin , and Tim Hummel have joined forces under the company 7 Cities Enterprises and are in negotiations with officials from two local cities to build a baseball clinic and separate sports therapy center.
The players hope to acquire taxpayer-owned land in either Virginia Beach or Chesapeake to build their facilities, which could draw young athletes from the region and across the country.
The group wants to open up a clinic where baseball players with dreams of going pro can train and pump up their game.
The sports therapy facility would be geared toward promising baseball, basketball and football players who need conditioning or help improving their agility.
Several of the 7 Cities partners are standouts from Chesapeake. Cuddyer is an outfielder for the Minnesota Twins. B.J. Upton plays for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. Justin Upton is a right-fielder with the Arizona Diamondbacks. Hummel played for the Cincinnati Reds before retiring. Local sports trainer Michael Hutchinson Call is also on the team.
The players want to build on 10 acres near the Sportsplex in Virginia Beach or off Greenbrier Parkway in Chesapeake.
'They are a dynamic group of people with an exciting program that would be an extraordinary asset to the entire Hampton Roads area,' said R.J. Nutter II, a Virginia Beach lawyer who is representing the group . 'They would like to have their program in Hampton Roads . The where is uncertain.'
Nutter declined to comment about negotiations with the cities.
Virginia Beach officials are negotiating with the company on the price for the land. Several of the players stopped by City Hall this month to meet with council members , but the athletes were turned away because the council was in closed session discussing the proposal.
The Beach's staff is still evaluating the proposal, but Councilwoman Rosemary Wilson said it would blend in with the athletic fields and facilities that already exist off Princess Anne Road.
'We have been moving toward being a mecca for amateur sports,' Wilson said. 'That fits in with the vision.'
This isn't the first sports-training facility to be proposed in Virginia Beach. In 2005, a developer announced plans to build the $16 million DLH Sports Complex off Baker Road, near the Norfolk city line. The project had buy-in from a New England Patriots' strength and conditioning coach and a Detroit Lions defensive back , but little has happened since the announcement.
The 7 Cities group looks more promising, city officials said.
The group already organizes baseball clinics with the Uptons, Cuddyer and Hummel in Chesapeake, and charges children $175 for a three-hour training session with the professionals.
'I don't think they're in it for playing games,' said Warren Harris, Virginia Beach's economic development director. 'You're dealing with major baseball players . I think they know what they want to do. They're completely and totally involved in this project.'
Harris worked with 7 Cities while he was the economic development director in Chesapeake. The players first approached Chesapeake with their proposal more than a year ago.
Scott Hall of Chesapeake's economic development office declined to comment on the proposal.
When negotiations with Chesapeake faltered, the group decided to look at Virginia Beach properties, said Councilman Ron Villanueva.
'This group is pretty hungry that this gets accomplished,' he said.
Some Beach council members have urged caution.
Councilwoman Reba McClanan said city officials need to determine what taxpayers will get out of this deal and determine what the 10 acres the city owns is worth.
'I think some of the people are enamored with sports players, and it sometimes clouds their judg ment,' McClanan said.
Staff writer Mike Saewitz contributed to this report.
Deirdre Fernandes, (757) 222-5121, deirdre.fernandes@ pilotonline.com
