SUNY Oneonta has cut ties with Cooperstown Baseball World, a tournament hosted at the university for the past 25 years.
The tournament hosted games on campus and off in the city of Oneonta every summer for a full week, with players lodging in campus dorms.
The announcement was first posted on CBW’s Facebook page Thursday, Aug. 8, after the end of the 25th anniversary season.
According to a letter submitted to The Daily Star, which was posted on Facebook Monday, Aug. 12 by CBW President Debra Reed, the company was started by Eddie Einhorn in 2000 who wanted the tournaments to take place in Cooperstown, but was denied permission to “build the tournament complex he envisioned.”
The letter stated that former Oneonta Mayor Kim Muller and SUNY Oneonta President Alan Donovan contacted Einhorn about hosting the tournament in Oneonta instead.
At the time, there was only one baseball field on campus, so CBW built two fields on campus sized for players ages 12 and younger.
After the first season in 2000, Einhorn decided to build a third field on campus and a field at Neahwa Park, now known as Field 6, according to the letter.
Games for older players were hosted on the campus varsity field and Damaschke Field.
Reed said Thursday to The Daily Star that she first got the news from the university in October of last year during her annual phone call with Assistant Director of Business Services Graig Eichler, who helps with summer youth camps and programs at the university.
Reed said he told her the university was ending the partnership, and he didn’t know why.
“We had just been there and left in August, so I was a bit shell shocked,” she said.
She said that he asked her whether CBW could go elsewhere, such as Hartwick College.
“I told them outright that that was not an option for us because of the way that we operated, to be eating in one place, housing one place, and then traveling for someplace else,” she said.
She said that she contacted the university and asked for a meeting with the president, or anyone who would sit down with her to discuss CBW’s future, but the decision was final.
Reed said that in April she received the last contract for summer 2024, and she kept it a secret from staff and coaches for the season, revealing it after because she “didn’t want to ruin anything.”
Oneonta Mayor Mark Drnek said Tuesday that it was a complete surprise to him.
He said he found out via CBW’s post on Facebook announcing the closure.
“I was not informed at all,” he said.
SUNY Oneonta Vice President for Administration Julie Piscitello said Tuesday that the university is trying to “align our year-round work with institutional priorities” in order to “ensure we can achieve those institutional missions and goals.”
“It’s in this context that we made this decision,” she said.
She said there were no meetings to discuss the end of the partnership as far as she is aware, and there is a different process for “year-to-year summer camp organizations.”
“It was a difficult decision to come to,” she said. “We’ve appreciated the 25 years of collaboration with the CBW.”
Reed shared the letter and the closure of CBW on Facebook on Monday, thanking the families and emphasizing the positive economic impact the weeklong tournament had on the city.
“We employed hundreds of people from Oneonta and the surrounding towns each summer to umpire, work the fields, the gift shop, the concession stands, the infirmary and so many other jobs,” she said.
Reed said that on Thursday morning, she reached out directly to SUNY Oneonta President Alberto Cardelle, and she is due to speak with him Friday.
She said that she will be waiting until after the meeting to comment any further.