JACKSON — Not even Xander Witt wanted a baseball game in Grand Teton National Park.
The 21-year-old Jackson-raised baseball player, University of Wyoming club baseball president and Jackson Giants U15 head coach said it was “jarring” to read The Washington Post’s report that Major League Baseball was considering a Field of Dreams-esque game in Grand Teton National Park.
He was relieved to hear that, as of Thursday afternoon, the MLB is no longer interested.
“I’m a huge baseball guy,” Witt said. “I can’t state enough how against that game I was. Holding a baseball game there was just the cherry on top of the lunacy happening as of late.”
The idea of baseball in Teton Park stirred rebuke from residents and a wide range of Wyoming politicos, at a time when anxiety over how public lands are managed lingers across Jackson Hole.
The Jackson Hole Chamber of Commerce drafted a letter early Monday morning and got Teton County Commission Chair Mark Newcomb and Jackson Mayor Arne Jorgensen to sign off by the end of the day. The letter, addressed to U.S. Department of the Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, expressed “strong opposition” to the idea.
By Thursday afternoon, MLB Commissioner Robert Manfred got the memo.
He responded saying the league was no longer considering a game in Teton Park.
“The local community does not want us to continue evaluating Grand Teton National Park as a potential site,” Manfred said. “We obviously would not bring a game to a community that has concerns about the venue, and will not continue to evaluate Grand Teton National Park as a potential site.”
The league was in the early stages of considering the idea and would have consulted with community members and weighed environmental impacts had it moved forward, Manfred said.
At the League of Women Voters’ Teton County Board of County Commissioners candidate forum, Democrat Ali Dunford was asked about baseball.
She said she hoped the idea would be evaluated with a high level of environmental scrutiny. The pitch should be assessed through a National Environmental Policy Act environmental impact statement, Dunford said.
Commissioner Luther Propst, who is running for reelection and was quoted in the Post’s article, suggested a sterner approach.
“We just need to say ‘This is stupid,’ ” Propst said. “No, ‘Go away.’ ”
Jorgensen was in Washington, D.C., on Thursday meeting with federal officials, including Interior Department leaders and members of the Equality State’s federal delegation. The trip was planned before the baseball saga began.
“There’s an opportunity here to maybe better inform corporate America that the values of public lands exceed the business model interest that they may have,” Jorgensen said.
Jackson Hole Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Rick Howe also celebrated the MLB’s response Thursday. Howe is grateful the MLB responded quickly.
He is hopeful MLB officials understand that the concerns raised by Jackson Hole community members extend beyond Teton Park. Howe is proud of rallying local leaders to provide the MLB with a quick and unified response.
“I’m just very pleased with how it all unfolded,” Howe said. “It also shows the importance of speaking up.”
Get any of our free email newsletters — news headlines, sports, arts & entertainment, state legislature, CFD news, and more.