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Double Play
Chris ’73, M.A. ’80, and Bill Cummings ’71 Realize Their Childhood Dream
It’s October, and the smell of franks and peanuts has drifted away. Fans of the World Series teams breathlessly anticipate each windup. All others have posted “Wait ‘til next year” on their blogs.
Yet for brothers Chris and Bill Cummings, the final days of the baseball season are not disappointing. They recently ended their first season as owners of the Fresno (California) Grizzlies, the San Francisco Giants’ Triple-A affiliate.
How Chris, a Boston-based real estate developer, and Bill, an Exxon Mobil public affairs executive, became AAA franchise owners is the story of a suspended dream come true for Red Sox Nation devotees.
As Rhode Island natives, they followed the Sox, attending as many games possible. “It was a treat to go to Fenway ‘all the way’ to Boston,” said Bill.
Like many boys capable of reciting the RBIs of the Sox’ sluggers, Chris and Bill hoped to be involved with baseball but soon learned that acquiring a team is harder than buying jerseys at the pro shop.
Setting more attainable goals—like earning college degrees—they enrolled in URI. Bill joined ROTC and earned a journalism degree. Chris studied sociology as an undergraduate and counseling in graduate school. Upon leaving the U.S. Army, Bill joined the oil company, relocating to far-off countries.
Chris capitalized on experience gained from his job in URI’s housing department and pursued an M.B.A. at the University of Illinois at Chicago, where he also worked in the housing office. After graduation, Chris segued into multifamily residential real estate development, working in markets across the country.
Chris became involved with projects in Fresno and met former major league pitcher Dick Ellsworth, who spent a season with Chris’s beloved Sox. “When I met Dick, it dawned on me that he was the same guy whose pitches I heard called on my transistor radio.”
Now a commercial realtor in Fresno, Ellsworth resurrected Chris’s dreams of becoming involved in baseball. Dick’s friends owned the Grizzlies and wanted to sell. Before you can say “Strrr-ike there,” Cummings formed Fresno Baseball Club, LLC, with brother Bill, Ellsworth, and a fourth partner.
Owning the club is more than a wish-turned-reality for Chris. “I do a great deal of business in the area and want to give back to the community.” With plans to use the Grizzlies Stadium for concerts and soccer games, he hopes to offer Fresno residents a year-round entertainment venue.
Chris and Bill further strengthened their commitment to Fresno by purchasing the Fresno Falcons, the ECHL team affiliated with the NHL’s San Jose Sharks.
As professional team owners, the brothers migrated from fan to front office, and that could very well be the stuff that dreams are made of.
By Maria V. Caliri ’86, M.B.A.’92
