ONEONTA _ The Oneonta Tigers did not submit an application to sell beer at Damaschke Field during the 2009 New York-Penn League season, a New York State Liquor Authority spokesman said Friday.
"We don't have the application," said Milford native Bill Crowley, the NYSLA's director of communications. "I am 100-percent positive."
Andrew Weber, the first-year general manager of the short-season, Single-A Tigers, said he completed the paperwork required to obtain a beer license and that his attorney was handling the application process. He added that his attorney returned documents to him twice to "update and/or fix stuff."
"All I do is fill the stuff out," said Weber, who would not elaborate on the changes requested by his attorney, a woman he refused to name. "From the very get-go, I've been told by everyone that this is a six-to-eight-month process."
Not so, says Crowley.
"The longest it would take is a month, worst-case scenario," said Crowley, who lives roughly 25 miles north of Albany in Easton. "I assume they'd be applying for a ballpark beer license. We have people who work on those exclusively. Because they're summer licenses, it's an easier process and a faster turnaround. ... The summer ones, especially, we get those out quickly because we know (summer) is a short season."
Crowley said the NYSLA "asks for a lot" in its 26-page application for a three-year ballpark beer license, which must be accompanied by the owner's fingerprints and costs $676 _ including a non-refundable $100 filing fee. Applications are sent to a licensing unit for approval and very few are rejected, he added.
"There's a presumption the application's going to be approved," Crowley said. "It's not a complicated process. Some of these megabars in New York City, we look at security plans and stuff like that. But this is selling a couple of beers to people watching a baseball game. It's American."
Weber told The Daily Star in May that plans were under way to obtain a beer license at Damaschke Field, which is one of the only alcohol-free parks in the minors. Weber also said in May that once the application was approved, the license would belong to Oneonta Concessions.
"I double-checked this morning because I received another phone call about it," Crowley said, adding a reporter from the Boston Globe also inquired about the status of the Tigers' application Friday. "I looked under the name Weber, Damaschke Field, Oneonta Concessions; I Googled their website. I don't want to say we don't have an application and be wrong, but we just don't have anything."
Oneonta staples Sam Nader and Sid Levine sold the Tigers to a group led by New York City attorney E. Miles Prentice III in December. Nader and Levine are the only living members of the Oneonta Athletic Corporation, a 10-man group that bought the franchise for $7,500 in 1966. Prentice and five others purchased the OAC's 10 stocks Dec. 4 to complete the sale, which Nader and Levine announced July 1, 2008, during a media conference at Damaschke Field.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but it's likely the franchise's price tag was in the millions. Levine told The Daily Star in 2001 that the OAC rejected an offer for $2.5 million in 1998. In December, the website minorleaguebaseball.com stated a short-season Single-A franchise is worth at least $1.8 million.
Damaschke Field was a dry ballpark during the OAC's reign, but Weber appeared before the Oneonta Parks and Recreation Commission in early April and presented a plan for selling beer at home games. The Common Council accepted the plan and approved it April 21.
The Daily Star reported June 1 _ 18 days before Oneonta opened its NY-Penn season at home _ that the Tigers had not filed for a beer license. The Daily Star has repeatedly asked Weber, whose father is part of Prentice's investment group, for updates on the application's status throughout the season. Each time, Weber said the team was waiting for approval from the Liquor Authority.
"They have not submitted an application with the agency," Crowley said.
Asked Friday if the Tigers filed an application with the NYSLA, Weber said: "I'll have to talk to my attorney. ... If that's what (Crowley) said, I'm not sure. I want to talk to her before I pass along any information."
The Tigers have 16 regular-season games left, including eight at home. All eight will be played during their final homestand, from Aug. 27-Sept. 3. Oneonta closes its regular season Sept. 4-6 at Hudson Valley.
Prentice did not return a message left at his New York City office Friday. Prentice also owns the Huntsville Stars (Ala.) and the Midland RockHounds (Texas), which are Double-A franchises.
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Dean Russin can be reached at drussin@thedailystar.com or 607-432-1000, ext. 215.
