Forest city owls New Owners

The Forest City Owls baseball team proudly announces its new owners, Becky and Phil Dangel. Effective immediately, the Dangels own the name and rights to the Owls.

Much of Phil's life has concentrated on baseball. Growing up in Newton, Mass., he played baseball and developed his love for Boston Red Sox. Phil moved to Atlanta soon after he graduated from Babson College. One of his first moves was to buy season tickets to the Braves who, at the time, played in Fulton County Stadium.

Phil also raised three baseball fans. Their eldest son, Paul, lives in Birmingham with a wife and daughter. Their middle son, Keith, resides in Chapel Hill with a wife and son. Phil and Becky's son, Boomer, served as the Owls' Director of Broadcasting and Media Relations in 2015. Boomer graduates from Syracuse University in December.

A native North Carolinian, Becky's roots trace back to Greensboro. She attended Grimsley High School in Greensboro and graduated from Duke University. She then worked in Atlanta, where she met Phil. Becky worked in retail as a store manager of an Atlanta, Macy's department store.

The first date Phil ever took Becky on was an Atlanta Braves game in the 1980s. She'd be the first to confess her lack of baseball knowledge before meeting Phil. Now, Becky knows the ins-and-outs of the game after watching her children play and sitting through many more Major League games.

Becky and Phil have been married for 25 years and lived in Knoxville, Tenn. for the past 20. As their first move as owners, Becky and Phil will extend the ongoing season ticket promotion through October 15. Phil says the new ownership is focused on winning baseball.

"We expect to bring strong baseball back to Forest City. We've already signed a few local players and our focus is on winning baseball and improving the gameday experience," he said.

In Knoxville the Dangels realized the absence of fresh, quality seafood markets. Now the family owns three successful fresh seafood stores under the name "The Shrimp Dock." Phil sits on his hometown's Board of Economic Development and is very involved with the local community. Becky volunteers with her church including Mobile Meals and food pantry efforts. Family and baseball remains their number one love.