Baseball is about many things — hot dogs and home runs, stolen bases and broken hearts, steamy nights and cold truths — and one of these is that baseball is ultimately a business.

In a few short years, the Martha’s Vineyard Sharks, featuring top-drawer collegiate talent, has become a fixture of the Island’s summer scene. From its founding in 2011 the team offered a welcome changeup to the usual fare of fundraisers and beach parties. In 2013, after outdoor lighting was added to the Shark Tank, the team’s home field behind the high school, Islanders were treated to an improbable championship season.

Stars on the field have varied from year to year, but have included homegrown players Tad Gold and Jack Roberts. The team has had four different coaches in four years. And behind the scenes, the lineup of owners has turned over since the team’s inception.

For many Islanders, two men have been constants. General manager Jerry Murphy and Bob Tankard, vice president of operations, have been the public face of the Sharks, lining up players, exhorting sponsors, organizing volunteers and generally marshaling community support for the team.

The news this week that both are leaving the Sharks (along with manager John Toffey) in a management shakeup is a real loss, and we thank them for helping generate excitement and filling a need the Island hardly knew it had.

The whys and hows of their departure are a matter of debate, but what seems not to be in dispute is the challenge of making a financial success of the Sharks enterprise. Despite tremendous support from the community, the costs of maintaining the field, housing and transporting players has made owning the Sharks a labor of love at best.

Running a business always involves hard decisions, even when that business is entertainment. We hope the owners can build on the success and good will that the Sharks have accrued to date, and run the enterprise in a way that makes the Island proud.