Ruidoso Osos placed on the inactive List
9/30/2011 The Future of the Ruidoso Osos is uncertain. Effective immediately the Osos are going from an active team to an inactive team. The final straw for Ruidoso was the news that Jay Acton and the New York State League were being sued by Motel 6 Ruidoso for failure to pay for their rooms during two series during the season. As a result of this the New York State League will not participate in the Pecos League for the 2012 season. Jay Acton has had numerous heart operations within the last three months and does need problems from a travel team. Jay has been operating independent league teams since 1989 and operated the New York Federals in the Can-Am League.
According to head coach Ryan Powell the Carlsbad Bats were told their rooms were covered June 29 through July 1st. The Bats would be responsible for paying for rooms July 17th through July 19th. However on the night of July 18th Powell was notified by hotel management that his team was going to owe $2160 for both stays. Powell gathered his team and left the hotel immediately. The Bats choose to stay in Alamogordo for the final series of the season and never paid the hotel. The hotel ownership contacted the Osos team operator Billy Page and Billy stated the Bats were supposed to pay the bill. The hotel ownership then contacted the Pecos League office in attempts to get payment. That was again unsuccessful. Motel 6 was left to sue the New York State League and attempted to issue warrants on the players who stayed in the rooms. "We were notified by Billy Page and employees of the hotel that the rooms were paid for. Suddenly the owner of the hotel said we had to pay. I am sorry for the circumstances possibly lost in translation. You can't expect the visiting team to pay $2160 when the rooms were supposed to be paid for." says manager Ryan Powell.
The Osos also drove the cost of league insurance up by filing insurance claims that should not have been filed. The Osos also threatened not to appear at a Wednesday Night game in Las Cruces.
Pecos League Commisioner Andrew Dunn states "Keeping Baseball in Ruidoso is becoming a huge challange, no lights, no beer, no where for the visiting team to stay, unpaid lease, unpaid bills, No clear answer on what will happen with lights, at this time it is time for the Pecos League to take a step back and look at Ruidoso for the 2013 season. 2012 is problem not in the best option. The first question is where is the revenue going to come from to even operate this team. I personally attempted to assist with lights but this might have worked out for the better. The best solution for Ruidoso is to build a completely new facility that is easier to get to and more accessible to Highway 70. The current location will never allow the sale of alcohol and is extremely difficult to find for tourists looking for the games. I think the best option is to build a baseball/soccer venue in Ruidoso or Ruidoso Downs with lights and alcohol sales similar to Roswell or Alamogordo. Installing Lights at White Mountain Park would not be the best option in the long run and would not be worth the investment. The people of the Villege of Ruidoso got to see the Pecos League first hand and know they want a winning team and a winning team will have to sell beer and have lights to be competitive financially. The Pecos League will continue to explore options in Ruidoso and Ruidoso Downs."
There were no local funds or surplus of funds for the problems the Osos caused. Billy Page was the lone reason the team stayed together at all. Billy had an altercation with a player and resigned with two weeks left in the season. The Osos stayed together and managed to nearly win the Pecos League Championship. Numerous players that will be playing in higher leagues got their start because of the Ruidoso Osos.

For more information visit Pecos League of Professional Baseball Clubs LLC. http://www.PecosLeague.com 575-680-2212