RICHMOND, VA -- It is a letter that shocked several in Richmond City Hall this week.
Lou DiBella, the President of the Flying Squirrels, writing that the team's future in the city is "uncertain" after plans for a new stadium appear stagnant.
"The squirrels watched how quickly the Redskins Training Center was funded and built. The Redskins train in Richmond for approximately three weeks a year," DiBella wrote, seeming to criticize how the team that is here all year long has received nothing.
On Thursday, in a phone interview, DiBella reiterated that apparent threat
"If there's not a new ballpark built in Richmond there's not going to be a professional baseball in Richmond much longer," DiBella said.
DiBella would not give an exact date for when the city would need a new structure, saying the decision to leave may not be up to him, but up to minor league baseball officials.
"I can't have water leaking on the desks of my executives," DiBella said.
CBS 6 reporter Joe St. George took these concerns to Mayor Dwight Jones.
"The squirrels now say they have a sense of uncertainty in the City of Richmond," St. George asked.
"Why would you ask me that?" Jones responded.
"Because you are the mayor of city," St. George added.
"Lou Dibella must have lost my phone number," Jones interjected seeming frustrated that DiBella took his concerns public.
"If he really had something to say he should have called me," Jones said.
DiBella's concerns that other sports projects -- like the Redskins and World Cycling -- have seemingly gotten their projects done more quickly were mentioned. Jones said: "He watched as we proposed a new stadium."
"He watched as we proposed a new stadium," Jones responded.
"Why isn't is done?" St. George asked. "You have to ask city council, you have to ask our regional partners, you can't blame me for that," Jones said.
"You have to ask city council, you have to ask our regional partners, you can't blame me for that," Jones said. "I believe that the squirrels have an opportunity to remain on the Boulevard in the stadium they are using," Jones said when asked if he takes the threat from the Flying Squirrels seriously.
