Now developer and South Knoxville native Randy Boyd is touting the transformational benefits of a sports park just east of the Old City. Boyd thinks it will revitalize the blighted area, triggering new development and creating new life on the western edge of East Knoxville. "I've had a love for baseball for decades. One of the things I have loved about it is how it brings communities together," said Boyd, owner of the Tennessee Smokies baseball team among others. The most successful baseball teams are the ones that operate in a downtown, he said. "They bring people from all parts of the community together. They share local foods and local cultures, and it's just a great community-building event."