ERIC BENDER, Free Press Sports Reporter

Scott Dart has bought the ball club that has been Arden Eddie's baby since 1976.

No. 24 will no longer patrol the playing field at Labatt Park. Arden Eddie, who played in the Intercounty Baseball League for 26 seasons and had owned the London Majors since purchasing the senior amateur team in the fall of 1976, officially announced yesterday he has sold the franchise.

No price was disclosed. The league has approved the ownership change.

New owner, London mortgage consultant Scott Dart, said the price was "a fair price, but Arden owes me a lot of lunches."

Eddie reportedly turned down a $55,000 offer last fall.

Dart, 37, played a small role in the late 1980s as a right-handed pitcher with the former St. Thomas Elgins of the intercounty league and baseball is still in his blood.

It will be heavy on his hands now, too, Dart said.

"Building a team will be a little bit tough this year because of the late start. I'm looking for class acts and true team players." Training camp is just weeks away.

Dart said his love of baseball and the rare opportunity for someone to say they own a baseball team were the motivations for contacting Eddie just a month ago and reaching a deal. He's the sole purchaser.

Although Eddie said he'd had sale talks and even negotiations with up to half a dozen persons over the past five years, the sale to Dart was a good fit.

Dart said he was a buyer Eddie "felt comfortable with."

"He was looking for somebody who would carry on the tradition, somebody he felt comfortable with, somebody with an appreciation for the game," Dart said.

There was one sale condition: Eddie and his family have lifetime passes to Majors games, a condition future Majors owners will have to uphold if Dart sells the team.

"This is an opportunity to work within the community," Dart said. "I have a few different participation ideas, particularly with non-profit agencies."

Lifelong friend and player with the Majors and St. Thomas Storm, Roop Chanderdat, has been an unofficial sidekick.

"Scott is a business guy and has a passion for baseball -- so it's a good combination," Chanderdat said.

Dart plans to handle all the team's business transactions himself, but needs to find a field manager. It will be, he says, someone with experience and ties to baseball in London and preferably with the Majors.

The Majors last won the intercounty championship in 1975, the year before Eddie bought the team.

The Waterloo Tigers have dropped out and, with 10 teams, the league has split into east and west conferences and will play an unbalanced schedule this year. Teams will play more games against teams in their own conference than they will with the other conference. For instance, London and St. Thomas will play each other six times instead of four.

Eddie said he now plans "to find out what the rest of the world does in the summertime."