MADISON — There is nothing left but the shoutin’ as Toyota Field officially opens and the Rocket City Trash Pandas play their first game in just a couple of weeks. It will all go down, however, without the man who made it happen.

Trash Pandas CEO Ralph Nelson has announced his resignation from the organization he helped create to bring Minor League Baseball back to the Tennessee Valley in grand style.

“It is with great pride and a tremendous sense of accomplishment that I share the news that I have decided it is time step aside from my role with the Rocket City Trash Pandas to pursue a new venture,” Nelson said in a statement to BallCorps investors, community leaders, corporate sponsors and Trash Pandas employees. “My passion for finding and upgrading underperforming Minor League Baseball teams came to fruition when the Mobile Bay Bears were relocated to Madison and rebranded as the Rocket City Trash Pandas.

“The Trash Panda brand is now known throughout the world and I am beyond proud of this unprecedented accomplishment. My singular goal has always been to bring Minor League baseball back to North Alabama and, in less than two weeks, that goal will be accomplished with the Trash Pandas Inaugural Season Opener on May 11, 2021.”

The organization also released a statement thanking Nelson for his service and wishing “him the best in his future endeavors.”

“With the full support of ownership, which remains unchanged, General Manager Garrett Fahrmann and Vice President Lindsey Knupp will capably lead the organization,” the Trash Pandas’ statement said.

Nelson said because of the work Ballcorps, the investors group he headed, accomplished in North Alabama before the pandemic, he was presented in late 2019 with a new opportunity to pursue yet another team and potential new stadium that will require his full attention.

“I began due diligence on this project while overseeing the day-to-day operations of the Trash Pandas,” the statement said. “I was committed to ensuring the Trash Pandas were poised for success and wanted to see them through the first season.

“When the pandemic hit, the new opportunity was to be put on hold so I could focus my energies on keeping the Trash Pandas franchise afloat and utilizing Toyota Field in the very best ways possible while being COVID compliant, all without the team’s primary revenue source: professional baseball.”

He said with the Trash Pandas’ inaugural season just two weeks away, albeit a year later than first anticipated, it is time for him to pursue that renewed opportunity.

Nelson did not reveal any details about what that new project is – only that he is “going back to the work that I love the most: building a new team and a new stadium.”