Letter to the Editor: Could Gems be sold to another owner? Could Flinn Stadium be converted into baseball field?

Appreciate your reporting. I was very sad to hear the news of the Gems leaving or at least going dormant for 2024. 

One question I have: Is it possible the team could be sold to another owner and the team staying in Quincy?  From the press release, it almost seems to me the Louthans may be fishing for potential buyers.

I also thought about the following.  Has anyone ever entertained converting Flinn Stadium for baseball?  Looking at the aerial video on Youtube, I’d think it could be fairly affordable to do.  I could see home plate in the lower left hand corner of the track.  That would put dead center around 400 feet, with strange and short porches down the lines.  Doubt the turf would take a whole lot of a beating, plus it has the new training facility which would give players for both teams nice locker rooms, I would assume.  Sure, some work would have to be done, but I think it’s a potential win-win for everyone.

Look, to me, QU Stadium is awesome with its old-time charm.  But it truly needs renovation, especially of the seating area.  It is subpar but would be costly for QU to refurbish.  The problem for QU administration is would they see enough of a return on their investment?  If there is no summer league team to play there, probably not.  I think another way it could be improved is if there were some kind of roof on the third base side of the field (sort of like there is in Hannibal) to keep fans out of the sun. Probably would be costly, though, especially if it went all the way around the stands.  It could also possibly cause drainage issues with water when it rains, but I think that could be worked out.

An old Mizzou classmate of mine commented to me that his hometown of Lewistown, Maine lost its hockey team when he was a kid, and he’s never really gotten over it.  Perhaps Quincy and the Gems can have a better fate.

Phil O’Neal
Quincy, IL