Marshall, I'm sure that the exceedingly high payroll you received, as well as the executive offices that were downtown, as opposed to space at PGE Park, was the City's fault, not yours.

Read the entire article here on the Oregonian website.

Glickman: City caused PFE's woes
By John Hunt
The Oregonian
Monday, May 17, 2004

Marshall Glickman, former president of Portland Family Entertainment and the man who brokered ill-fated deals with the Rose Garden and PGE Park, blamed the city and PFE's limited partners for the park's fiscal problems.

Interviewed on KXL's "Sports Business Radio" on Sunday from Barcelona, Spain, Glickman said the city imposed "totally unrealistic" deadlines for purchasing a team, and the limited partners "for whatever reasons, pushed us to complete the renovation in time for the (Portland State) football season, in spite of the fact that we had no team to purchase."

PFE's purchase of the Calgary Cannons fell through, then it had to pay some $3 million more to purchase the Albuquerque Dukes.

"So the limited partners are basically saying to us, keep the project on schedule, but spend as little money as possible until we find a team to buy," Glickman said. "And the message sent through the city to every team owner in Triple A baseball was, hey, we've got a hot one here.

"It also sent a message back to city council that we would agree to almost anything to keep the project on schedule, and believe me, the city took full advantage of our weak position."

Glickman said he was forced to accept the 35-cent surcharge on every ticket for free transit by city commissioners.

Oh and 10

Today's matchup between Matt Bruback (0-5) of the Beavers and Nashville's John VanBenschoten (0-5) is a little misleading, despite ERAs of 7.27 and 6.81, respectively.

Bruback is coming off his best start of the season. In Memphis, he went seven innings, allowing two runs and two hits with one walk in seven innings.

VanBenschoten, the Pirates' No. 1 prospect, held Tacoma to three hits and two runs and a walk in eight innings in his last start. The Beavers faced Pittsburgh's No. 2 prospect, left-hander Sean Burnett, in the second game of Sunday's doubleheader.

Center stage

In the span of a week, the Beavers got rid of both of their center fielders. Gene Kingsale was released when shortstop Jose Nieves was activated last week, and Saturday, the Padres traded Henri Stanley to Boston for a player to be named.

At Double A Mobile (Ala.), center fielder and leadoff hitter Freddy Guzman has spent much of the season above .300 but has dropped to .283.

Memphis blues

While the Seattle Mariners were losing four consecutive games by one run, the Beavers were having similar luck. All three of Portland's losses last week in Memphis were by one run, then the Beavers lost 7-6 in 10 innings to Nashville in the first game of Sunday's doubleheader. The Beavers are 4-10 in one-run games.

Rehabbing Hitchcock

Sterling Hitchcock will make at least two starts for the Beavers on a rehabilitation assignment. The left-hander, working his way back from a broken rib, is scheduled to start Thursday when the Beavers open an eight-game homestand.

-- John Hunt