Kinda sorta confirming what we had talked about previously (though I'm trying to find the link), the ValleyCats' championship push led to the renewing of the PDC with the ValleyCats. Or so says the Albany Times-Union.
Sports Editor Mark Mcguire:
Don't think the title and the deal are wholly unrelated.
Had the ValleyCats not transformed themselves into winners and then champions under manager Jim Pankovits, this very well could have been a story about Tri-City hooking up with a new major-league parent club...
...(The) fact Houston supplied the players, including late-season call-ups, needed to put the 'Cats in position to win a title went far toward continuing this relationship. "They were very, very smart and perceptive to clean up some things when we were below .500," Gladstone said. "It's a tribute to the Astros to recognize what it means to be winners. And they wanted to be winners."
You could see over the past several years the sustained losing grated at Gladstone, even as the stands were packed night after night. "Winning," he said Monday, "trumps attendance."
We didn't come out here to play tiddlywinks, son.
-Hal Smith
