By JIM AUSTIN
Editor

HARTWICK - The future looks good for Eddie Einhorn's Cooperstown Baseball World in Oneonta, but the future of his proposed facility on Route 28 in Hartwick, next door to the Dreams Park, is not so clear.

In a letter to the town of Hartwick late last month, Einhorn, a part-owner of the Chicago White Sox, laid out a new repayment schedule for his delinquent balance due for expenses incurred by the town in the review of two proposed youth baseball facilities. The letter also contained further hints that he has pulled the plug on his Hartwick proposal.

Einhorn ran up a bill of more than $32,000 for the town's consultants and still owes more than $15,000, but has not been making regular payments, despite promises to do so.

According to his letter, in the past two years Cooperstown Baseball World has made an operational profit, but remained in the red. Last season, with 165 teams and 2,500 players, the business had an operational profit of $200,000.

"New capital costs, extraordinary legal costs to settle a suit, and prior debt incurred in the 'Hartwick' fiasco, however, kept us still in a debt mode as of now," he wrote.

In his letter, Einhorn anticipates that next summer they will turn the corner to profitability. "2002 should represent our first breakout year. We already have 80 teams signed up with deposits that become non-refundable by December 1, and then a pre-payment schedule that allows us to get all the debt paid before the new season opens next June," he wrote.

He included a letter from a New Jersey accounting firm, Untracht Early & Associates, LLC., which he hired to manage debt and cash flow issues for Cooperstown Baseball World.

Certified public accountant David Untracht agrees with Einhorn's financial forecast. "In each of its first two seasons, the camp has produced more than sufficient cash flow to fund the direct operating expenses. The cash flow shortages resulted from expenses not directly related to the operation of the camp, including, but not limited to the litigation related costs," he wrote.

While he is looking forward to his third season in Oneonta, he makes no mention of his proposed facility in Hartwick Seminary which has been on hold since July.

What he does mention is that he foresees no capital spending in the coming year. "With no new capital expenditures in 2002 and no Hartwick expenses, we expect a much better bottom line," his letter stated.

Hartwick town planning board co-chairman Richard Kelly said Tuesday afternoon that he has heard nothing from Cooperstown Baseball World since this summer.

The review of Einhorn's plan by the Hartwick planning board is close to complete, but nothing has been done since it was not approved during the county planning board's mandatory review in June. County planning director Diane Carlton said the major reason the board failed to approve the project was concerns over the accuracy of the traffic study.

Speculation has been growing that Einhorn has abandoned the plan for a Cooperstown Baseball World facility in Hartwick as part of a settlement deal that removed him from the long-standing legal battle between Dreams Park partners Louis Presutti III and his two partners David Dinallo and Peter Nash. The suit accuses Einhorn of conspiring with the other two partners to wrestle control of the park away from Presutti. That lawsuit is currently being heard by a judge in a New Jersey courtroom in proceedings that are expected to stretch into January.

In a telephone interview in September, Einhorn said he had "no comment" about future plans for Cooperstown Baseball World in Hartwick Seminary. He said he was "getting back into the swing of things" and that he had "too much to do right now." He said he would talk about plans for Cooperstown Baseball World after the first of the year.

The fact Einhorn sees "no new capital expenditures" in the coming year and "no Hartwick expenses" lends credence to the speculations.

Einhorn did not return a call Tuesday to his New Jersey home for comment.