READING PHILLIES MAN MOVING

By Jeff Schuler

Of The Morning Call

The lure of bringing professional baseball back to one of the major markets on the East Coast proved to be a strong one for Chuck Domino.

The president of the Triple-A Lehigh Valley IronPigs and Double-A Reading Phillies relinquished those titles Wednesday to become the chief executive manager of the Eastern League's Connecticut Defenders, who announced Wednesday morning that they were relocating to Richmond, Va., for the 2010 season.

Domino, who turns 50 on Oct. 22, will take on his new duties through a management agreement between Domino Consulting and the new Richmond ownership group. He will assume the same title of chief executive manager of the IronPigs, but was forced by Minor League Baseball rules to give up his position with the R-Phils, who are also in the Eastern League.

MiLB regulations prohibit one individual from being involved in the front office of two teams in the same league.

"I didn't want to resign from Reading, and Craig [Stein, the R-Phils owner and co-owner of the IronPigs] didn't want me to either," said Domino, speaking from Richmond after the introductory news conference today. "But it's a challenge and an opportunity I felt I needed to do.

"This is going to be the last great challenge of my career, I think," he added. "It gives me a chance to combine my experience in Reading and in Lehigh Valley in one endeavor."

Richmond lost the Triple-A Braves, owned by the major league affiliate, to Gwinnett County in suburban Atlanta in 2009, primarily over Atlanta's dissatisfaction with the deteriorating condition of Richmond's aging baseball facility, The Diamond.

"This will be a very intriguing endeavor as we re-enter a market that has had success in the past but saw interest wane in recent years as The Diamond declined with age while controversies over a new stadium dominated the landscape," Domino said in a statement released by the Reading Phillies. "I look forward to giving The Diamond a facelift as we re-energize fans in the short-run while efforts begin to give a city with the status of Richmond what it deserves -- which is the best new minor league ballpark in America."

Richmond will be an affiliate of the San Francisco Giants. The IronPigs, like Reading, are affiliates of the Philadelphia Phillies.

Stein hired Domino as Reading's general manager shortly after buying the club in 1987, and the pair built the franchise into one of the most successful in minor league baseball, annually ranking among the attendance leaders in Double-A. As president of the IronPigs, Domino oversaw the creation of a franchise which finished fifth in the International League in attendance during its inaugural season and was second in all of minor league baseball last season, attracting more than 9,100 fans a night.