Despite his team’s involvement in a minor league pennant chase, Dean Gyorgy wasn’t able to devote much of his attention to it last August. He had to concentrate on other things, namely securing a permanent home for his Bangor Blue Ox baseball team.

One year and two cities later, the Bangor Blue Ox have grudgingly given up the chase.

The team born out of an idea batted around at the beer truck long after the final pitch was delivered on warm Carolina game nights a few years ago is gone – enjoying its time in the sun and the grass for two seasons before meeting its demise on the floor of the Bangor City Council chambers last October.

Although the council voted 5-3 in favor of a $2 million bond issue for a multipurpose stadium, the proposal fell one vote short of being passed since city bond issues require a two-thirds majority (six out of nine).

The team preferred not to stay at the University of Maine’s Mahaney Diamond in Orono, where it averaged only 990 fans per game in its first season and 957 fans per game last year.

So the Blue Ox closed up shop, loaded up the truck, and moved to Bedford… New Bedford, Mass., that is… Tidal pools, sand bars.

It seemed like a a place where greener pastures, er fields, beckoned. A new chase was on.

New Bedford, same result

Although the reception the Blue Ox brass received from New Bedford officials and residents was better than encouraging and the road to a new stadium was paved a little further ahead than it was in Maine, Gyorgy’s dream eventually met the same fate as in Bangor.

“It’s funny because it was a city councilman who called us originally and wanted a team in New Bedford,” said Vincent Burns, Gyorgy’s father-in-law and majority owner of the Blue Ox.

And as was the case in Bangor, Gyorgy and Burns were working with a major handicap: time.

The independent Northeast League, which Bangor joined in the league’s second season, set a deadline of April 15, 1998 for Gyorgy and Burns to secure a stadium commitment and notify the league where the team would be playing in 1999.

“I think if we had had more time, we would have had the stadium and a team there,” Gyorgy said. “I wouldn’t be surprised if they end up with some kind of team. Like Bangor, it’s a great place for baseball.”

Unlike Bangor, one thing Gyorgy and Burns didn’t have to work hard to cultivate was support.

Most of the city council was openly supportive of the stadium idea early on and a non-binding public referendum was passed by almost 70 percent of New Bedford voters last November. But the same election also brought in a new mayor, further complicating the process.

“The government structure was different down there because the mayor has more power,” Gyorgy explained. “The day the referendum passed, they also voted in a new mayor. And it took awhile for him to get a feeling for the project. He did like it, and there was talk of commitment of city funds if there was private financial support, but we just ran out of time.”

Ironically, the stadium drive had the full support of three powerful individuals, but it never coalesced into a serious effort.

According to Burns, the mayor, council chairman, and a well-heeled lawyer all wanted the stadium, but instead of pooling their resources to get it done, they all wanted to do it their own way and went off in different directions.

“We thought it was going to work, but one thing after another kept coming in to screw things up,” Burns explained. “They were for the most part saying `Yes,’ but it was always `Yes, but…’ ”

So for the second time in six months, Gyorgy’s crew had to pick up stakes and leave town.

Vive le Quebec!

In spite of a fast-approaching league deadline that could result in the loss of his franchise without any compensation and having his latest hopes for a stadium dashed after a 10-month flirtation, Gyorgy was still reluctant to cut his baseball losses and move on.

While Gyorgy and Burns were trying to decide what to do next, independent league baseball pioneer Miles Wolff contacted them about their orphaned franchise. It was Wolff, Gyorgy’s boss at Baseball America, who sparked Gyorgy’s minor league baseball love affair by hiring him as assistant general manager for his Burlington (N.C.) Indians team.

“Miles had told us about a year and a half ago that he missed owning a team and was interested in a Northeast League expansion franchise,” said Burns. “We actually had agreed to be partners with him on the Bangor franchise, but we never formally signed it.”

Wolff, president of Baseball America and commissioner of the successful Northern League, still owns the Indians, but missed the freedom of hands-on ownership of a non-affiliated team.

Later, as Bangor’s stadium prospects in Bangor and New Bedford were turning sour, Burns thought back to what a fellow Northeast League owner told him a couple of years ago about a terrific opportunity in Quebec City, where fans were ready for baseball and a stadium meeting NEL requirements was already standing.

“So now we had a situation where Quebec was an option, and Miles was already thinking about it,” Burns explained. “Once we didn’t succeed with Bangor and then New Bedford, we could stay out on a limb, hoping one of the two other cities who were in contact with us came through with a place to play and take a chance on losing our investment. If we didn’t find a place to play, we would have lost the franchise.”

And there was the second option. Sell the whole franchise to Wolff, who would save money by buying an existing franchise instead of a more expensive expansion team, which could run about $700,000 (Bangor’s franchise cost $75,000 three years ago).

But Burns came up with a compromise. He suggested Wolff buy controlling interest (two-thirds) in their franchise, which now seemed bound for Quebec City. Wolff was very agreeable to the suggestion.

It was near-perfect solution for Gyorgy. He and Burns were able to recoup a substantial portion of their franchise investment rather than lose it with nothing to show for it once the April 15 deadline passed and retain a piece of the ownership, keeping the door open for Gyorgy if he ever wants to return to baseball.

Will the Quebec team retain the Blue Ox nickname? Almost certainly not.

“No decisions have been made on that, but I know it really doesn’t translate well into French,” Gyorgy said with a laugh. “[Miles] is going to have a name-the-team contest. The name will almost certainly be different, although Babe might make an appearance up there sometime. Who knows?”

Blue Ox spanning the globe

Although the team may live on, in spirit only and with a pronounced French accent at that, the human component of the franchise has been scattered all over the world.

Former Blue Ox players and personnel are all over the globe, in most cases still making a go of it in baseball, from the East (Bangor and Pittsfield – Massachusetts, not Maine – to the West (Arizona and California) and the Far East (Taiwan).

Ironically, Chad White, the multi-talented outfielder who was arguably the most popular Blue Ox player and certainly a favorite son, is the only Ox alumnus who hasn’t left Bangor.

White’s decision to stay near his hometown of Brewer had nothing to do with a lack of opportunities or offers to move on. In fact, he could have taken any of several offers from Northeast League teams, all of which were for more money than Bangor paid him either of his two seasons.

“I think I got offers from every team in the league except the new expansion team [New Jersey]. More than what I was making in Bangor,” said the former Houston Astros prospect. “But I had pretty much resigned myself to baseball retirement, barring an astronomical offer. I just couldn’t do it with the time away from my family it would have taken.”

White and his wife Michelle have a 17-month-old daughter, Jessica.

So White, who admits he was homesick even before the Blue Ox gave him an opportunity to come home and play, made what he called a fairly easy decision to stay and continue working for Bangor Roofing and Sheet Metal Co., where he builds and installs ductwork.

He has also started his own business, installing playground equipment all over New England on the weekends.

White, 27, admitted even his close friends and family were openly shocked by his decision to hang up his cleats after coming within 24 hours of being the Astros’ opening day centerfielder on a strike replacement team in 1995.

“I just told them it was time for a change,” said White, who is still bothered by the shoulder he separated while playing last season. “I think I would have quit the Astros when I did anyway, even without the Blue Ox. If not that year, probably the next.”

Now, the only baseball in White’s life is fantasy baseball. He was interested in playing Twilight League ball, but wasn’t 100 percent with his nagging injuries. He agreed to play adult softball in Bangor, but his work-related commitments kept him finishing the season.

White still keeps in touch with two former Ox teammates, Lonnie Goldberg and Hugh Walker.

“Hugh signed with Allentown, but then I think he got out of his contract to play for Atlantic City [in the new independent North Atlantic League],” White said. “Lonnie’s still in Taiwan.”

Goldberg and Ox pitcher Pete Hartmann are both playing in the Taiwan Major League, which started up last year. This is Goldberg’s second season with Agan. Hartmann signed on after going 4-0 with a 1.70 earned-run average for the NEL’s New Jersey Jackals this season.

Another fan favorite, first baseman Corey Parker, who made national news when he homered five times in five straight at-bats in a June doubleheader two years ago, tried a baseball comeback in the independent Western League earlier this year, but ended it about two weeks into the season. Attempts to find Parker were unsuccessful.

Dennis “Oil Can” Boyd, the flamboyant pitcher-coach who starred on and off the field during the Blue Ox’ inaugural season, went on to pitch for Massachusetts in 1997 and had a stint in the Texas-Louisiana League before following through on a goal he mentioned while he was with the Ox.

Boyd is the lead member of a group buying an expansion franchise in the Texas-Louisiana Professional Baseball League, an independent league based in the Texas Panhandle region.

“We have a letter of intent with him to own a team in our league next season,” said Byron Pierce, president of the TLPBL. “He would be the principal owner and he’s bringing in some former major leaguers as part of the ownership group. I’ve heard names like Barry Bonds and Delino Deshields.”

The team will be based in Meridian, Miss., Boyd’s hometown. Boyd is having a new stadium built for the team., which is one of two privately-owned, “sanctioned” teams in the league. All others are owned by the league, now in its fifth season.

“They pay a franchise fee and they pay a monthly management fee for umpires and other league costs,” Pierce explained.

Players aren’t the only ones to have gone on to better things.

Bangor’s second manager, former Red Sox player Roger LaFrancois is pursuing a big league coaching job and was hired as the manager for the Pittsfield Mets, the New York Mets’ single A team in the New York-Penn League.

“We’re doing OK,” LaFrancois said of his fifth-place team (27-36 in the McNamara Division). “The baseball’s the same. It’s the talent level that’s different, and maybe you have to vary your approach or criticism.”

LaFrancois was signed in the offseason by Jim Duquette, cousin of Boston Red Sox general manager Dan Duquette. He said it was his stint in Bangor that Duquette said he was particularly impressed with.

“It certainly opened some doors for me,” LaFrancois said. “I think the longer you stay away from baseball, the tougher it is to get a job. I was still out there and getting some experience when others might have turned their nose up at independent ball.

“Even though I’ve been involved in baseball for a long time and had experience in Triple A, that experience managing up in Maine was to my benefit and I’m very thankful for the opportunity.”

Gyorgy and his family (wife Margot, daughter Emma, and new son Matthew) moved to Tempe, Ariz., in June. He is still the NEL’s vice-president and plans to get involved in sports management, but hasn’t decided in what capacity.

“There’s a lot of stuff going on with six professional sports so it’s a good place for someone in sports management,” Gyorgy said. “I really still enjoy the event, whether it’s a game or concert.”

Gyorgy said he didn’t think he would get back into sports journalism or baseball in the near future.

“I think we’re all drained as far as baseball. We were all very disappointed in what happened in Bangor because we thought we had it after all that work,” Gyorgy said.

“I just hope our brief stay still made a difference. We’ll never know how many lives we touched just by being there two years. That’s the beauty of baseball.”

And Blue Ox principal owner Vince Burns? He’s still enjoying retirement in Readfield while summering in Florida with his wife and plans to attend a few games in Quebec City next summer.

What about Babe, the Blue Ox’ mascot?

“I think Babe will live on, but right now he’s in my family room,” said Burns. “The costume is on a 7-foot tall mannequin. It’s a shame not to have a marvelous mascot like that in use somewhere.”

Tracking the Ox

An updated look at some past players and personnel of the Bangor Blue Ox, an independent league baseball team which played at the University of Maine’s Mahaney Diamond in 1996 and 1997.

Managers

DICK PHILLIPS, the Blue Ox’ first manager, died last year at age 66.

ROGER LaFRANCOIS, Bangor’s second manager and a former Red Sox player, is pursuing a big league coaching job and was hired as the manager for the Pittsfield Mets, the New York Mets’ single A team in the New York-Penn League.

Team personnel

DEAN GYORGY, former Blue Ox president, has moved with his family to Tempe, Ariz. He is still the NEL’s vice-president and plans to get involved in sports management, but hasn’t decided in what capacity. He is a minority owner in the Quebec NEL team.

VINCE BURNS, the Blue Ox principal owner, is still enjoying retirement in Readfield while summering in Florida with his wife and plans to attend a few games in Quebec City next summer. He is a minority owner in the Quebec NEL team.

JOSH GORDON, Ox general manager, has given up baseball for a financing job and a spot in the executive training program with State Street Bank in Boston.

SEAN BIGHAM, director of media relations and voice of the Blue Ox, is back on his native West Coast in Seattle, trying to decide what direction he wants to go with his career.

CRAIG PAYMENT, the team’s first trainer, took a job with a minor league professional hockey team after the 1996 season.

Players

CARLOS MOTA has taken his catcher’s gear to the Albany Diamond Dogs and is batting .293 with three home runs and 25 RBIs.

JAMIE DAVIS is pitching for the Adirondack Lumberjacks. Davis, a Vermont native, is 1-4 with a 5.19 ERA.

MARK HREBEN of Smithfield, who also played for Husson College in Bangor, is 0-3 with a 5.54 ERA in two stints with the Adirondack Lumberjacks.

GABE DUROSS, a former University of Maine standout, is batting .267 with 26 RBIs as first baseman for the Waterbury Spirit.

GEORGE TSAMIS, an ex-major leaguer who was pitcher-coach for Bangor last year, was 1-0 with a 0.00 ERA for Waterbury.

WILLY KINGSBURY, a former Ox utility player, is with George “Boomer” Scott’s Massachusetts Mad Dogs. Kingsbury is hitting .259 with seven homers and 32 RBIs.

MIKE MACONE, a pitcher, is also playing for the Mad Dogs. He is 4-2 with a 5.62 ERA.

ANDY HIGH, Davis’ Campbell College teammate, is with New Jersey along with ROGELIO NUNEZ and JOHN QUIRK. High is 4-2 with one save and a 2.61 ERA while Quirk is 0-3, 7.02 with a save. Catcher Nunez is hitting .261 with three homers and 16 RBIs.

CHAD WHITE, a former Brewer High and University of Maine standout, works for Bangor Roofing and Sheet Metal Co., where he builds and installs ductwork. He also works weekends installing playground equipment.

HUGH WALKER plays for Atlantic City in the new independent North Atlantic League.

LONNIE GOLDBERG and PETE HARTMANN are playing pro ball in Taiwan. This is Goldberg’s second season with Agan. Hartmann signed on after going 4-0 with a 1.70 earned-run average for the NEL’s New Jersey Jackals this season.

DENNIS “OIL CAN” BOYD is the lead member of a group buying an expansion franchise in the Texas-Louisiana Professional Baseball League, an independent league based in the Texas Panhandle region.

– Compiled by Andrew Neff