Major League Baseball says it never had a definite timetable, and, besides, we had a rough winter, weatherwise.
The Phillies say it's not that the project is late getting started, it's just that the announcement came too early.
The attorney handling the bidding process says it's complicated when you have this many partners in a project.
"There's nothing sinister involved," said Dave Montgomery, the Phillies president. "The road is paved with good intentions."
Yikes. It's the road to hell that is paved with good intentions. We're talking about an academy that will teach baseball skills while offering tutoring and academic help to ease the path toward college scholarships.
The Phillies have pledged help in maintaining the "show" field planned for FDR Park, and personnel to conduct clinics. They are also responsible for any cost overruns on the project.
"We might take some of the blame for pushing up the announcement," Montgomery said. "We wanted a player there and Ut [Chase Utley] was there."
That was nice, but a kid from Penn Charter wound up stealing the show. Demetrius Jennings talked about his love for the game, his years of playing ball at Anderson, about coming back to mentor kids after he gets his medical degree.
Will the Academy be up and running before Jennings gets his degree?
After a week of prompting, Jimmie Lee Solomon, MLB's executive vice president of baseball development, answered some questions by email.
"Since there was no timetable," Solomon wrote, "we can neither claim to being on time, ahead of schedule, nor admit to being delayed. In addition to our diligent planning, weather has played a factor in our ability to move things along at a quicker pace."
