How’s this for a bombshell!

The International League Charlotte Knights might be on the move, and it looks now like it won’t be from their current digs in Ft. Mill, South Carolina to a new venue in Uptown Charlotte.

The Charlotte Herald reported last week that the planned opening date for their new ballpark would have to be pushed back yet again. With the current credit crunch and the ever escalating costs of building the ballpark, plus the added on lawsuits from obstructionists, the entire project may have become untenable.

So now Knights owner Don Beaver is examining all his options, which would include claiming the open Richmond market. Meanwhile, an investment group led by the owner of three independent teams named Peter Kirk has proposed $1-million in proposed upgrades and renovations to The Diamond, locating an independent league team there for 2009, while moving forward with plans to build a new ballpark in Richmond to AAA specs, and even using some of the new fixtures at The Diamond in the new facility.

If Richmond puts together a plan with real teeth this time to get a new ballpark done, then the Charlotte Knights are history. With the NFL and NBA and their gleaming newer facilities, not to mention being a NASCAR hot bed, my guess in that AAA baseball in Charlotte would hardly be missed.

After all the stability and lack of franchise movement in the I.L. for the longest time, this has been a crazy 24 months, and it’s about to get crazier.

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