PA Taxpayers Fund Money to Ballparks

Rendell funnels $47M into minor league fields
By Robin Acton
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Tuesday, May 29, 2007

...In Pennsylvania, where more than $47 million in state grants has been used to build or renovate small ballparks and stadiums since 2003, there is more to minor league baseball than hits, runs and errors. And with six parks built here in the past five years, the sport that is an integral part of the American fabric has become central to a debate over the use of taxpayer dollars for private enterprise...

...Gov. Ed Rendell's administration has pumped more money into small ballparks and stadiums than former governors Robert Casey, Tom Ridge and Mark Schweiker combined, state records show. In a 2003 speech, Rendell described a grant for Lancaster as "a perfect example of the type of targeted investment" to turn the state's economy around.

But does it work?...

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/search/s_509891.html