Jim Solomon is best known locally as a successful restaurateur, having owned The Fireplace in Washington Square since 2001. But in New Britain, Conn., he has another claim to fame: owner of the local professional baseball team.
Solomon, along with his sister and brother, are the newest owners of the New Britain Rock Cats, the Double A affiliate of the Minnesota Twins, as first reported by brooklinehub.com. The trio purchased the team in March and Solomon said he?s thrilled to be part of a pro team.
?It?s got to be almost every child?s dream to own a baseball team,? said Solomon. ?I never knew it would actually happen.?
Solomon?s brother, Josh, is a real estate developer in Boston and northern Virginia, and his sister, Jennifer Goorno, is a social worker in Sudbury. The trio purchased the team for $15 million, Solomon said.
Solomon and his siblings knew a little bit about minor league baseball ownership before they sought a team, with their father, Arthur, owning Class A Bowling Green Hot Rods and the Double A New Hampshire Fisher Cats. They looked for a team in New England so they could have a place nearby to take their families, Solomon said, and the Rock Cats were the right fit.
?It?s just good family fun,? said Solomon. ?It?s nice to be able to go to a ballpark to watch a game that?s still affordable and see guys really play hard on the field.?
And while it might not seem like there would be much in common between owning a baseball team and owning a restaurant, Solomon said there are a lot of similarities.
?You have a lot of young folks working for you and it may be their summer job and may not be there lifelong ambition,? said Solomon, ?but it?s a good, fun job to have and you need to motivate them, teach them to be detail oriented and teach them to keep their eye on the job and not be distracted by the entertainment that is often going on while at work.?
The ownership group recently traveled to the baseball winter meetings in Nashville, where they networked with Major League clubs and met other minor league owners.
Solomon said they?re looking to expand on the previous ownership?s efforts to make the field more accessible and have games to engage kids at the games.
?It?s a real thrill to be able to go to the game and to not only soak in the atmosphere and enjoy the game on the field, but to be able to really shape other kids experiences and other families time at the ball park,? said Solomon.
Solomon said he was a die-hard baseball fan as a kid, getting $2 bleacher seats at Fenway Park, sneaking down to better seats to see the likes of Carl Yastrzemski and Carlton Fisk, and said he even attended the 1975 World Series against the Cincinnati Reds.
But when asked if he?s ready to jump allegiance now that he owns a team that is part of the Twins organization, he wasn?t quiet ready to quit on his hometown team.
?I don?t think instead of the Sox,? said Solomon, ?though I have a new interest in the Twins.?
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