In early April 1999, Penn State Athletic Director Tim Curley met with the ownership group of the newly founded Altoona Curve and proposed the idea of a minor league baseball team in State College to draw upon the success of the university.

Six years later that idea has blossomed into a reality.

Until last month, State College's new minor league squad had been nameless, but on a day which the Director of Communications Jason Dambach called "a huge moment in the history of State College sports," the team unveiled its identifier -- the State College Spikes.

The team will become a member of the New York-Penn League; a league comprised of 14 short-season Class A teams. Although the Spikes franchise may be new, the team is not. The Altoona Curve ownership group, Curve Baseball L.P., purchased the former New Jersey Cardinals and moved the franchise to State College.

Curve Baseball L.P., which has doubled its staff to 40 full-time employees, will operate both the Altoona Curve and the State College Spikes simultaneously. Staff members such as ticket sellers and the grounds crew will also work with Penn State selling tickets and maintaining the field.

Former Curve assistant general manager Rick Janac has been handed the reins of the State College Baseball Club becoming the general manager of the State College club.

With State College being a short-season Class A team, it is one of the beginning stages in the St. Louis Cardinals' minor league system. The team will be comprised of rookies selected from the 2005 and 2006 major league baseball draft. There will be a lot of turnover because most players do not stay in rookie ball for more than a season or two.

The coaching staff will also change frequently. The Cardinals have yet to announce who will be the manager and coaches for the 2006 season. In minor league baseball, coaches change levels very frequently and a major league third base coach one year may be a Class A manager the next.

The franchise sale and move from New Jersey has not yet been made official. The New York-Penn League, Minor League Baseball, as well as the office of the commissioner of Major League Baseball must approve the move. The minor league winter meetings are being held this week, and it is expected that the move will be approved well before the start of the season.

The Spikes will play in the new Medlar Field at Lubrano Park, which is currently under construction on the corner of Curtin Road and Porter Road, adjacent to Beaver Stadium and the Bryce Jordan Center. The park's completion is expected by late May, with the Spikes beginning their season around the middle of June 2006.

The stadium will also be home to the Penn State varsity baseball team beginning in the 2007 season.

The season is still six months away but the team is starting to take shape. And no one is happier than Todd Parnell, the general manager of the Altoona Curve.

"I'm more excited than Bugs Bunny in a carrot patch," he said.