ASHEVILLE, N.C. — The Asheville Tourists, the city's Minor League Baseball team, could be approaching their last season on McCormick Field come April 1. 

What You Need To Know

  • The Asheville Tourists could be approaching their last Minor League Baseball season at McCormick Field

  • City staff say they are focusing on McCormick Field funding options that will have no impact on the Asheville budget or allocated capital project funds

  • Major League Baseball is requiring updates for the field. If a plan and financing isn’t set up by April 1, the city will lose the minor league franchise

According to team leaders, Major League Baseball is requiring updates for the field. If a plan and financing isn’t set up, the city will lose the minor league franchise.

The costs of the required changes would amount to $30 million. Some of the updates include female staff facilities, equipment room expansion, press box expansion, field lightning improvements, and commissary and dining expansion for home and visiting teams. 

City staff say they are focusing attention on McCormick Field funding options that will have no impact on the city of Asheville budget or allocated capital project funds. 

According to the team, the Asheville Tourists generate an economic yearly impact of around $9.8 million for the county and $7.8 million for the city. 

If this is the last season of Minor League Baseball in Asheville, a Western North Carolina family could be losing more than just a day of fun at the ballpark.

“A lot of us don’t live in the big cities and can’t go to major league games, and this is how we expose our kids to baseball,” Asheville Tourists fan Carl Schreck said.

Schreck has been taking his 9-year-old son Noah to the games since he was a baby.

“He’s got an intellectual disability and autism, and so he’s a little more limited on some of the things that he can do or enjoy, and baseball has really been the thing that he gravitates towards,” Schreck said.

For Noah, it’s not only the team, it’s also the mascot. 

Schreck says Noah uses his communication device to ask for "Mr. Moon," even when it’s not baseball season.

“Noah’s not really in a place to understand what’s going on with the team, and that’s probably something that could make it even more heartbreaking,” Schreck said. “Right now, every day, he’s asking for Mr. Moon and Teddy Tourist. We can just say, ‘Oh, he’s in Florida for the winter, he’ll be back soon,’ but someday that may not be the case, if Mr. Moon wasn’t here to come back to, and that would be really heartbreaking.”

As Noah spends quality time with Mr. Moon, his father worries about the team’s future in Asheville. 

“I don’t wanna have to imagine what it would be like not to have a local baseball team,” Schreck said. 

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