Columnist Dean Juipe: Dodgers rekindle spring fever

Dean Juipe

Tuesday, March 16, 1999 | 11:02 a.m.

Dean Juipe's column appears Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. His boxing notebook appears Thursday. Reach him at juipe@lasvegassun.com or 259-4084.

The last time they ran this one up the flagpole, very few people bothered to salute.

Clark County residents do not want to fund a spring-training complex for an assortment of Major League Baseball teams. Likewise, Henderson residents haven't stepped forward with their wallets out despite their city council expressing at least a passive interest in the idea.

The proposals are always given within the framework of Southern Nevada's never-ending need to attract tourists and expand its tourism base. Spring training, it's said, would be an enticement that would lengthen the guest list.

Like a staged fight between rival pirate ships or a monorail between competing casinos, it would be an attraction that appeals to a certain percentage of Americana.

Proponents take a jackhammer to the numbers and say for X investment we can expect Y in return. But the profit margin appears thin and the reimbursement for the outlay would take a long time in returning.

In terms of pure dollars, the proposal in its earlier incarnations failed to turn many heads. At the very least, it didn't turn the right ones.

A year ago, the concept looked to be left for dead.

Monday, however, there were hints of a resuscitation. Thank, or blame, the Los Angeles Dodgers for supplying the oxygen.

The Dodgers, it seems, are playing a little game. Despite appearances that they're entrenched at Vero Beach, Florida, for spring training, they've got their feelers out.

They're accepting applications for a new training base in spite of the fact they've called Vero Beach home for 50 years. If nothing else, the Dodgers have succeeded in getting Vero Beach's attention.

Other would-be suitors are also lining up to be heard. Be it Indian reservations or potentially receptive cities in Arizona and Florida, there are communities out there that are salivating at the chance to lure the Dodgers for spring training.

Las Vegans would be salivating too, but only if the taxpayers didn't have to foot the bill. The locals' attitude is to give the Dodgers -- or a private firm that would build the complex -- a tax break or two and let 'em have at it.

The Murdoch-owned Dodgers have truckloads of money and are among the wealthiest of pro franchises, yet they're not inclined to build or upgrade their own spring facilities. Times have changed and, like each of their counterparts, they're looking for a handout.

For Southern Nevada to play this game, it has to come to grips with the question of whether more than one team is needed to make the project work. Previous game plans have included a minimum of four teams, as if a singular team would be too isolated here and would reject even the Taj Mahal of spring facilities.

So there are numerous, worrisome details to address.

The issue of who's paying is foremost among them. If it's developers and financiers, the project -- particularly with the Dodgers as the centerpiece -- may have a future. If it's a governmental agency, it isn't nearly as promising.

The Dodgers would be the ideal tenant, everyone agrees. But add the pertinent factors -- bureaucracy and the fact this trial balloon was shot down before -- and it looks as doomed as it did when the last rites were first being readied.