Do It Yourself

Be the Boss

Could you get your hands on $46,000? If so, you can round up a dozen affluent friends and buy a minor league team. The low-end price in the rookie league is about $600,000, says Bob Richmond, a Scottsdale, Ariz., lawyer who in 1981 founded Baseball Opportunities, a brokerage firm for minor league clubs. Richmond has set up nearly 100 proto-Steinbrenners, including Mark and Bob Sperandio, a Rochester, N.Y., father-son duo who bought the Everett (Wash.) AquaSox this year.

For farm clubs the big league parent team pays player salaries but the minor league owner pays for almost everything else, even some of the bats and balls. "It's not a business to get rich in," says Richmond, "but it's fun." As a low-minors owner you'll sell hot dogs, not sign them for millions, but you can park anywhere you want.