The Death of Baseball in Portland
It wasn’t supposed to end like this. In 2000, Portland came on the scene as a possible relocation candidate for the Montreal Expos. But, on Monday, the Triple-A Portland Beavers played their last game at PGE Park, pushed out, not by MLB, but Major League Soccer. With the departure, Minor League Baseball’s largest market is now empty, a victim of MLS wanting a soccer-only facility, and a city that, like most of the nation, has placed education and services above stretching a double into a triple.
Merritt Paulson, the owner of the Beavers, also owns the USL Portland Timbers soccer club. Paulson made the successful bid for an MLS franchise in March of 2009, with MLS Commissioner Don Garber adding the caveat that he and the city retrofit PGE Park and make it a baseball-less facility (college football would be allowed), removing dugouts, adding bleacher seating where the dugouts and ivy covered outfield walls are now at the expense of the Beavers.
Paulson and the city now had not one, but two stadium funding issues on their hands.
Paulson was willing to pitch in money for a new stadium, but only so much given the amount he was going to pour into changing PGE Park over to an MLS facility. The city tried several times to gain funding for a new ballpark for the Beavers, first at Memorial Coliseum site – the “Glass Palace” the Trail Blazers used to call home – but war veterans and architects that saw the Coliseum as historically significant became vocal roadblocks in tearing it down for a minor league ballpark. With the Rose Garden Arena so close by, the Blazers were quietly opposed, as well.
With the Coliseum off the site list, the Lent’s District on the far Southeast outskirts of Portland was targeted, and then later in the suburb of Beaverton. Both had issues.
For Lents, it was a NIMBY (Not In My Backyard) contingent worried about traffic and noise, while Beaverton’s issue surrounded land use, namely the need for eminent domain seizure of property; a nasty proposition.
But, the reality was, those issues paled when compared to how to fund the project. The MLS retrofit to PGE Park came in at approx. $31 million, while the new minor league ballpark was projected at $55.1 million. Finding over $86 million for the two projects came down to a matter of triage.
Paulson, a smart businessman, understood that when push came to shove, soccer made better business sense than minor league baseball. With MLS successfully expanding into Seattle, and Vancouver, BC on-tap for 2011, as well, a regional “I-5”rivalry is sure to occur.
So, what happens to the Beavers and Portland?
Paulson has reportedly sold the club for $20 million to the Padres, the MLB affiliate of the Beavers, and is locating them Lake Elsinore as a temporary home. Relocating doesn’t get the club away from stadium funding issues, however. The Padres clearly want their Triple-A operations closer to San Diego, and those efforts are underway.
“I would say that there are elements of this that are still formative, and we’re hoping to hear more definitive information soon,” PCL president Branch Rickey III said in mid-Aug. “But insofar as a North (San Diego) County relocation… certainly San Diego County is very large as a favorable option.”
As for Portland, this isn’t the first time that the city has been without pro ball. The Beavers have come and gone in various incarnations since 1903, first at Vaughn Street Park, and later Civic Stadium, which has been rechristened PGE Park. In 1973, the Portland Mavericks of Class A Northwest League called Civic home after the Beavers moved to Spokane. Owned by TV actor Bing Russell, son (and actor) Kurt Russell played during the club’s inaugural season, and Jim Bouton played with the team, as well, after retiring from MLB in 1970. From 1995 to 2000, Jack Cain’s Single-A Portland Rockies called Civic home. Cain, a master at marketing, made Single-A ball hip. The hot tub in center field didn’t hurt.
Which leads up to the current Beavers club, which arrived in 2001 after the city invested in sprucing up Civic with things like luxury boxes, threw in a naming rights deal with Portland General Electric, and PGE Park was christened.
But, that all changed yesterday. A sellout crowd of 15,639 took in the game, the largest crowd of the season. I was one of the many, as was ESPN’s Rob Neyer, city leaders, and a group called “Friends of Baseball” that will carry the torch for the Beavers in their absence. After the game, home plate was dug up and given to “Friends” to hold on to when professional baseball returns to Portland. And then, kids and grownups alike were given the chance to all run the bases.
Baseball could return, but this time is different. The common thread through teams coming and going in the past was a facility – the now PGE Park – waiting for a team to come back in and use. With MLS taking over, that option is now gone.
With Paulson and the city having to scrap for the $31 million to retrofit PGE Park for soccer, the chances of coming up for funds for a minor league ballpark after the Beavers leave seem exceptionally remote at this stage. Civic groups, such as the Oregon Sports Authority, worked not only with Paulson at one point on attempts at a new minor league ballpark for the Beavers, but also the MLB to Portland effort in the early 2000s.
“There’s no doubt we have a major challenge in front of us,” said Drew Mahalic, CEO of the Oregon Sports Authority. “It will require active community support and visionary political leadership to put together a viable plan for a new ballpark.”
Still, there are those that see baseball returning sooner, rather than later.
“For now, Portland will be better off with a fun and cozy 4200-seat park somewhere near the center of the city,” said Rob Nelson, former Portland Maverick who started Big League Chew bubblegum in 1980 with Jim Bouton . “This park would be a great spot for a June-through-August Single-A team and for so many other cool activities that Portland is known for: the blues festival, jazz in the park, Shakespeare, films under the stars, high school sports, other music concerts (bluegrass, rock, classical, etc.). The ballpark would be just ten or twelve rows high. A real park for the people.”
It’s an idea, but if Portland wants a chance to do more, there has to be forward thinking for the long-term.
There is a level of bias within me on this. Living in the market, and working with the Oregon Stadium Campaign (the MLB to Portland effort’s consortium), looking beyond minor league options has always been something that I have thought made the most sense for the long-term in the Portland market.
Ballparks cost money, no matter the size. If public dollars are to be spent, the city has to place itself in a position to leverage whatever is built for possible MLB purposes in the future. It could be that the site has enough space for an MLB stadium footprint. It could be that, and a design that allows minor league ballpark to transform into MLB ballpark. Future needs to be weighed against the rush to fill the market now.
Whatever the case may be, Portland is likely years from gaining pro baseball back. Fans in need of a fix will continue their 3+ hour trek to Seattle to see the Mariners, or head 45 min. south to see the Keizer Volcanoes, the Single-A affiliate of the Giants.
On Monday, after the game was played, a special ceremony was conducted as a salute to the fans, nearly all of which stayed. Beavers manager Terry Kennedy helped dig up home plate and presented it to the Friends of Baseball organization as well as a group of youth baseball players, who will serve as guardians of the artifact until baseball one day returns to Portland.
In a religious nod, there will need to be a resurrection. Turn off the lights, baseball has died in Portland.
 There’s no place like home. The Portland Beavers’ home plate was dug up and given to a group that will watch it until pro baseball returns to the market. The club is moving after MLS asked for a soccer only facility, and funding for a new minor league ballpark failed. |
At the very least, I guarantee that the Golden Baseball League is simultaneously licking their chops and scouting all college and high school ballparks in the area.
Isn’t Vancouver Minor League Baseball’s largest market?
Isn’t Montreal Minor League Baseball’s largest (empty) market?
Apparently Lehigh Valley is the largest market, if you go by game attendance…
The Inland Empire (San Bernardino-Riverside-Ontario) is currently the most populous metropolitan region in the USA without major league baseball (not Portland). Vancouver, British Columbia is currently the most populous metropolitan region that currently has affiliated minor league baseball and Mexico City is the most populous region on the continent with unaffiliated minor league baseball. As for Lehigh Valley, they are tops in attendance in the USA but they were outdrawn last year by the Monterrey Sultanes in Mexico.
Excellent piece, thank you. It’s a little personal with me, too, having worked for the Beavers in ’06. One Major League franchise is probably better than two minor league franchises, and in recent times, Timber fans were definitely more passionate than Beaver fans. I agree that Portland, Seattle, and Vancouver rivalries will mean something to MLS fans.
Small issue, but it’s eminent domain, not imminent domain :)
I have been one of the few (150 strong this year!) Beavers season ticket holders for years, and as sorry as I am to see them go, I don’t think Portland deserves a minor league team at this point. Attendances just weren’t there, and haven’t been for years – Opening Day this year drew maybe 4,000 people, and in a place the size of PGE those people are lost.
The city of Portland should be ashamed that they couldn’t get a deal done to replace the aging, obsolete Coliseum with a smallish AAA ballpark – look at Sacramento’s Raley Field for a great example of what could be done in Portland. A ballpark on the river, with views of downtown and Forest Park, that has the added benefit of being right on a MAX line? Where was the downside there? Oh right, the Beatles played the Coliseum in 1965. That’s important.
You say “if public dollars are to be spent, the city has to place itself in a position to leverage whatever is built for possible MLB purposes in the future.” I could not disagree with this more. Portland is too small to be home to an MLB team – and it almost certainly doesn’t have the business base that is willing and able to buy the corporate boxes and club seats that most MLB teams depend on for a big chunk of their revenue. There are two major companies in town (Nike and Intel) and a whole slew of medium-sized companies, most of which don’t have the money or the will to spend on club seats and whatnot. The Blazers fight every year for suite renewals, and it’s never an easy sell; MLB parks are bigger than basketball stadia and thus would compete for the same business dollar, and the Blazers have a 30 year head start.
What would be wrong with building a stellar, 8,000 seat AAA park, like Sacramento or Reno or even Tucson (even though Tucson’s park is in the middle of nowhere, it’s a great ballpark) and leaving it at that? There’s no shame in “only” having a AAA team in town. Portland couldn’t even support the Beavers; do you honestly think that if MLB puts a team here that it would magically sell enough seats every year to be viable? In the first year it might, from curiosity alone, but in subsequent years they’d be the Pirates.
It will be a long time before baseball’s back in Portland, because even if the team is there, the building is not, and won’t be any time soon. And that makes me sad. As an adult, I have never lived in a town without baseball, and it’s depressing that I do now.
Just pointing out, the Portland Metro area has 2.2 million people, 23rd in the country and was one of the faster growing areas over the last decade. It’s grouped in with cities like Cleveland, Orlando, Pittsburgh and Denver.
I think that Portland has the population for a major league team, but the interest just isn’t there.
To be clear here, the understanding is that with a sizable gap in-between pro ball coming back to PDX, you set yourself up for considerations possibly 15-20 years out for MLB.
Lastly, in terms of corporate base, as a reference point, examine page 8 here. I assisted in this research and although dated (2001), base size was comparable, if not larger, than several current MLB markets:
http://www.oregonstadiumcampaign.com/submission/pdx_market_mlb_082604.pdf
That study compares per capita income to other MLB markets, but I don’t see any comparison between corporate base size and other markets.
I can only speak to what I know, which is the legal market (law firms tend to buy a lot of box seats and suites to woo clients, so that’s not nothing). Portland’s is miniscule compared with Denver, St. Louis, Milwaukee, and Cleveland, and slightly smaller than Cincinnati’s.
Obviously that doesn’t speak to corporate base as a whole, but it’s considered a very, very small market in the legal field. Even compared with other small market cities like Denver and Seattle.
Another small issue: the commissioner of MLS is Don Garber, not Don Barber.
As someone who lives in Lake Elsinore, I’m thrilled to be getting a AAA team; however, not at the expense of another city losing their team.
Sorry for the loss, guys.
As a citizen of Portland, I can say honestly that you shouldn’t worry about “stealing” them. If a city of ~2 million can’t get more than 3,000 fans to the ballpark on average, then we don’t really deserve them. The MLS team has already sold 7,500 season tickets in a 15,000 seat stadium, and the season doesn’t start until April or May. So I guess my advice is appreciate them, cause Portland really didn’t.
I was at this game yesterday, and as a recent transplant to Portland, this was my first game attended. I was always of the opinion that Portland would be a great town for an MLB team given the market size, but in my short time here, I really haven’t seen the interest in baseball that I would’ve expected for a city that is always near the top of MLB expansion lists. Perhaps it’s just because of the lack of MLB talent, but I would’ve expected the Beavers to be supported better if there was really enough interest for an MLB team.
From a financial standpoint, the state is not doing well. Our unemployment is one of the highest in the nation and our schools aren’t ranked all that highly. It’s hard to justify spending a large amount of tax dollars on baseball when those things are also going on. I’m really dissappointed that I didn’t get to spend more time enjoying the Beavers while they were here.
Build a bonfire, build a bonfire, throw the TIM-BERS on the top!
Portlanders like baseball, but there’s not much interest in watching San Diego’s 4A players compete in games that are essentially meaningless. And, for casual fans, parking is tough and the stadium lacks a baseball atmosphere — it’s cavernous and there’s fake grass.
Soccer draws well, but many of those fans are younger people without kids — the type more comfortable using a mass-transit option. The soccer team also has far fewer home dates, so it’s not nearly the commitment.
And Seattle didn’t deserve to lose professional basketball either. Considering the demographics of Seattle and Portland, one team in each professional sport is enough. Seattle and Portland are just too white collar to support teams through the tough times. Support that is necessary for the teams to have long term stability. The west coast is not back east or the midwest, the blue collar demographics of those areas provide a consistently higher level of support, even in losing years. When Seahawks games start seeing blackouts again some time this year or next my point will be proven. Instead of lamenting the loss of baseball in Portland or the NBA in Seattle, those cities should be celebrating that they have teams at all. Teams that would not be their if not for huge geographical drawing power from among other places Canada, Eastern Washington, rural Oregon, Idaho and Montana. There is a reason soccer does so well in Seattle and Portland and the major sports are always a few losing seasons from being in trouble. Many Football, Baseball, Basketball and Hockey fans in other regions of the country would not be caught dead at an MLS game and would rather die than watch soccer. Look into the demographics both ethnically and economicly and there you find the answer to the problems professional sports continue to encounter in the Pacific Northwest.
Too white collar? Seattle had higher regular season attendance in 2008, after 5 awful seasons culminated in the 2nd-worst record in baseball, than Cleveland did in 2007, when the Tribe came within one game of the world series.
It doesn’t get more blue collar than Cleveland.
Maybe there’s something else at play, and the whole “latte-sippers can’t be sports fans” meme has nothing behind it, hm?
“And Seattle didn’t deserve to lose professional basketball either. ”
The issue wasn’t whether or not Seattlites deserved to lose Sonics, it’s that they didn’t care. It was pretty clearly stated in papers, talk radio and attendance figures (even during the save the Sonics efforts near the end) that Seattlites were more than content with the Mariners, Seahawks and fine arts rather than a relatively trashy and unsuccessful NBA franchise, one who soon would be asking for someone else buy them a new stadium.
That’s a load of crap that continually gets regurgitated. Seattleites cared (and still care) deeply about losing the Sonics. I’m a Blazers fan who happens to have been living in Seattle for the last five years, and I saw an arrogant, rich, owner take over who deliberately alienated fans. Despite that, the Sonics were still in the top half of the NBA in terms of percentage of tickets sold in their arena. And I witnessed thousands of Sonics fans rally outside the steps of the federal courthouse to show their support for their team. It’s not that Seattle doesn’t have plenty of fans who care about the NBA – it’s that apparently none of those fans were billionaires.
There were quite a few vocal fans and websites, but in totality the numbers and power of the effort weren’t that strong. The cities own mayor allowed the Sonics our of their lease. There was little political pressure against him. From an article questioning the impact of his decision to let the Sonics out of the lease early on his political career:
“But he did recall the response to an earlier poll question, taken before Nickels agreed to a settlement in July 2008 that let the Sonics out of the KeyArena lease two years early.
“About 75 percent said, ‘Let them leave,’” Elway wrote. “The Sonics episode may have contributed to the overall picture people have of his administration, but I don’t think there is an identifiable voting bloc of appreciable size on that issue alone..”
http://www.seattlepi.com/thiel/409425_thiel20.html
The Sonics leaving was pretty much the movie Major League in real life.
I’d pretty much disregard mowill here, he seems to think he knows fans of the NW, but is really quite confused. The Mariners, Seahawks and Blazers “a few losing seasons from being in trouble”? Hardly. Try taking a look at how well these teams have been supported during their tough times in the past 5 – 10 years before you write.
I’m from the northwest, I’m pretty sure I’m familir with just how many elitist yuppies live their. Their numbers are profound are they are ‘latte sippers’ and ‘fine arts’ connoisseurs and most certainly are not sports fans.
Seriously. Ever since Safeco opened the Ms attendance has ranged from best in the league to about average. 2010 is the first year they’ve ranked in the bottom half in the NL. Their rank is 8th out of 14. After having the 2nd worst record in baseball for the second time in the past three years. Say what you want about the Mariners, but they sell tickets.
“I’m from the northwest, I’m pretty sure I’m familir with just how many elitist yuppies live their. Their numbers are profound are they are ‘latte sippers’ and ‘fine arts’ connoisseurs and most certainly are not sports fans.”
Well there is your biased opinion and there are facts on attendance and merchandise sales. Choose one.
Oh and there is the proper use of the word their. And spelling.
I like lattes, fine arts, AND baseball and football.
It’s almost as if all people of a certain socio-economic status aren’t exactly the same. Shocking.
To suggest that Seattle didn’t care about the Sonics shows a profound misunderstanding of the situation. What Seattle people didn’t want was to give hundreds of millions of tax dollars to billionaires to build their arenas. Seattle already did this twice (Mariners and Seahawks) and that bitter taste remains.
an MLS franchise in the pacific northwest will draw far more fans than any minor league baseball team can ever hope for. seems like a solid business decision
There’s already an MLS franchise in the PNW. A team in Portland will dilute the market, hurting one of the most profitable franchises MLS has.
The Sounders and Timbers fanbases are 99.9999999% exclusive. Believe that.
People in Portland hate the Sounders. People in Seattle hate the Timbers. There will be no dilution there. Just an extremely intense rivalry between the two.
How many people in the NW actually follow these soccer teams and how much money do they spend?
I consider myself to be apart of the sports culture here in the Northwest and have many friends and family in fields closely related to sports health, legal, marketing and finance, plus the “latte drinking elitists” who favor soccer over typical American sports. We aren’t: going to these soccer games, spending much time paying attention to following MLS or spending money on merchandise and very few of our extended friends and family are.
What basis do MLS owners and investors have to feel there is such a potential money-maker here?
RE:
DownWiththeDH: MLS average is approx 15-16k. Sounders average is a ‘sell out’ of seats released for sale at QWEST of 32k (or maybe 36k after they released more seats).
All of the recent round of expansion teams (Real Salt Lake, Toronto, Quaks 1.0 to Houston, Seattle, Philly) that went to a new market (ie not the Quakes 2.0 or Chivas the 2nd LA team) have been in the top half of attendance having missed the stupid phase of the league.
Vancouver and Portland, along with Montreal who join MLS in 2012, were the best draws for USL minor league soccer.
Both Portland and Vancouver have over 10k season tickets already sold.
That is what MLS execs see.
On top of the robust attendance figures at home, the PAC NW fans travel well Finally, player salaries are low.
Paulson made a wise business move, but he really wanted to keep both the Timbers and Beavers. It was the stadium issue, nit a lack of want for the Beavers
“There’s already an MLS franchise in the PNW. A team in Portland will dilute the market, hurting one of the most profitable franchises MLS has.”
what? there has been a great rivalry between seattle and portland since the USL days, and there was never any “market dilution”.
bringing Portland into the MLS mix will only make the league MORE profitable.
the statement you made is most certainly false.
Hey, at least you are getting something (MLS). Here in Medford, OR we’ve had our share of minor league clubs come and go, the last leaving for Vancouver in 1999. There were five years of efforts to woo a new team, but in 2004 the stadium that most of these teams had used, and the only one really deemed fit for a minor league team, was torn down adn replaced by… walmart. A replacement field was actually built, in 2006, but for some moronic reason that I don’t know, the city and the builders agreed to make it one that was unsuitable for minor league ball meaning the area had no venue to offer. To add salt to the wound created by a team leaving, a stadium being torn down for a walmart and a city agreement not to build an adequate replacement, the inadequate replacement remains unused to this day due to legal battles over the site. Nice huh?
Just a couple comments from someone who has lived 45 minutes or less from Portland for 27 of his 29 years:
PGE is a terrible place to see a baseball game or a football game. It’s hard to get to and park near, it’s hard to get around inside and it has bad angles from too many seats. All it could support is a local following, micro-local if you will.
Portland area people certainly aren’t too white collar to support a team through it’s highs and lows as a previous poster alleged. They have loved and we do love our Blazers with as much passion as any franchise has been loved by it’s city in professional sports. And we’ve been through so much with them. It’s really hurt to be a Blazer fan in the past ten years. I don’t know if us sports fans out here could deal with another relationship right now. When we Northwesterners support something, it’s normally held very close to our hearts. I believe the Blazers would need to finish correcting their path before we could take on another team.
Now it’s football season and we love our Ducks and Beavs more than any pro team is capable of being supported in any area of the country. And now they both have excellent baseball programs as well. Maybe there’s just to short a period in a year we’re feeling like we’re “missing” a baseball team.
As a part time resident of Portland who has previously worked for the Mariners and currently owns and event management company, I made an effort to discuss ballpark site options with both Meritt Paulson (through his consultant) and the Portland city council as well to no avail.
The land for a new stadium was available on the east side of the river; roughly half of which is owned by the State of Oregon. There was the option to combine this land with street closures & relocation of the main north south (SE Water Street) arterial to the west to create a front road to the ballpark with the railroad tracks to the east. Portland Development Commission funding could have been used to purchase the necessary private parcels of land and relocate the handful of business to the east as well for the site and Meritt Paulson offered to spend his own money for ballpark construction.
Here’s is a copy & paste Google Map browser link to the aerial view of the site I researched and proposed to all of them:
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=Portland,+OR&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=29.163842,83.583984&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Portland,+Multnomah,+Oregon&ll=45.514347,-122.666388&spn=0.006285,0.020406&t=h&z=16
The site I proposed was/is between SE Taylor & SE Madison Streets and was bordered on the east by the railroad tracks with SE Water Street being relocated to the west (partially under the I-205 offramp from I-5).
The Ballpark would have had home plate to the SW of this site to comply with MLB new ballpark rules and would have been a quick walk over the Hawthorne Bridge or easily accessed by both MAX service from the new line being built that the new bridge will be shared with the Portland Streetcar extension on the east side of the river, along with surrounding TriNOT bus routes.
Yet the arrogantly stupid and corrupt powers in charge of the City of Portland (Stumptown seems to be an appropriate name since political leaders are stumped when it comes to having any common sense) and the media including the Oregonian, PT and WW didn’t want to bother taking the story at all since it would have rocked the Portland political boat (yet another example of the failure of an arrogant/indignant american media as a part of the overall corruption of our country – especially with all of the political connections involved in this situation).
The reality is that baseball will never fly in Portland just like it didn’t fly in Vancouver BC when they had AAA baseball (now the Rivercats). People simply won’t go in the numbers that are necessary to support a AAA franchise and will not pay ticket or concession prices that are similar to other AAA cities. Besides the people in oregon are either broke since their unemployment extensions have run out, or are too busy camping, “smoking a bowl” or sucking down another PBR since they lack ambition/ motivation and a desire to get ahead in life like most everwhere else in the country. Baseball has no audience there.
And for those of you who read the comments above and disagree, sorry if the truth hurts but it is your reality in oregon.
Combine that with the horrible remodel of PGE Park by Marshall Glickman. His group didn’t even do a seismic survey before the remodel and that put the project way over budget when they found out the place needed a foundation installed since it never had one to begin with! The “remodeled” stadium was doomed to fail from the start since it has no leg room, practically no bathrooms and is far too cavernous (down in that hole) for a fan friendly baseball environment.
Portland might have a chance to take the Rainers from Tacoma in a few years since I don’t see people paying the Seattle MLB prices that Tacoma is now charging, even after they remodel Cheney Stadium. Besides having the Mariners Farmclub in Portland would be just like Sacramento is to Oakland, Fresno is to San Francisco, etc., etc., for many other clubs and good for business, yet Portland probably will loose out there too since there is no general consensus motivation in oregon for something like this at all.
That’s why Meritt Paulson gave up and sold the team and continued with something that will make money in town, and bring the state it’s second major professional big city sports franchise. Everyone in portland should be happy with that and at least they can save up to buy those tickets since there are fewer games in that league.
The Rainiers have a 30 year lease with the city of Tacoma and an affiliation agreement with the Mariners until the latter half of this decade. The Rainiers will not become the Beavers. If Portland does get baseball back this decade, it’ll be in the Northwest League, just as soon as they get a ball park built.
As for Tacoma’s prices, they’re already charging $22 for the first few rows of seats, $11 for the rest. The Beavers were charging $15.50 for most of their seats. So New Cheney will find their mid-level prices in alignment with what the Beavers are charging this year — and they’ll still be less than what the Mariners are charging for upper deck seats ($22 view reserved).
What kind of idiot drinks PBR in Portland when we have so many awesome microbreweries?
Joof, while I did yesterday greatly enjoy Pyramid’s latest seasonal “Juggernaut Red Ale” and a Ninkasi “Tricerahops Double IPA”, Pabst, as America’s last macro-brewing company, is the one consistent component in my selection of brews. Union made, always the same, a quality American beer. The beauty is we get both on a daily basis.
Independent ball is the way to go. We lost our AAA team here in Tucson but immediately had a team in the Golden Baseball league the next year. Attendance was no different. Minor league ball stopped being about wins and losses for most fans years ago. It’s an activity, a form of entertainment. The quality of play has gone down a bit, but by moving to the older stadium in the center of town that had been the Rockies spring training base from the beautiful white elephant stadium in the middle of nowhere that the Dbacks, Whitesox and AAA baseball used, attendance has been comparable or even better.
The fans don’t seem to mind the drop in play. In fact, the local fans and paper have actually followed the team more intently, focused for success. The roster is made up of guys trying to get on with a big league organization and a lot of local guys. The local guy angle is what I think makes people care about winning. One guy drives a mine truck full time and only plays on the team for home games. His company bought a ton of tickets and they come out to support him. These aren’t guys making a short stop on their way to the bigs. They are our friends and neighbors and can play ball surprisingly well.
“The reality is that baseball will never fly in Portland just like it didn’t fly in Vancouver BC when they had AAA baseball (now the Rivercats). People simply won’t go in the numbers that are necessary to support a AAA franchise and will not pay ticket or concession prices that are similar to other AAA cities. Besides the people in oregon are either broke since their unemployment extensions have run out, or are too busy camping, “smoking a bowl” or sucking down another PBR since they lack ambition/ motivation and a desire to get ahead in life like most everwhere else in the country. Baseball has no audience there.”
Haha nice rant. I suggest a little ambition, motivation and desire to improve your spelling and grammar. It might help you with your relationships in the NW, specifically when you’re lobbying. You know, the way you say something can be just as important as what you’re saying.
Wisecracks aside, you’re pretty much brushing off this significant variable: “… relocate the handful of business to the east as well for the site…”
Are you some type of ironfisted industrialist who thinks nothing of moving people off their land? I doubt it, but maybe so.
As far as the camping, bowl smoking, PBR drinking Oregonians, hey you nailed it there. Except you’re missing the other half, the effectively working, Pinot Noir drinking, active progressives who make things move up here. Then mix in the foundation of conservatives this state never seems to get credit for but which definitely share the backbone of Oregon. I’m guessing you’ve had some tough relations with the progressive group, can’t connect with the rightward leaning group and are dumping your frustrations on the easier target.
I’m also surprised you target the conservative, business friendly Oregonian as anti-development. If your plan was as seamless as you briefly make it sound you should have their backing.
Actually there is a thriving minor league team in Portland. The ballpark is beautiful and the fanbase is supportive; it’s hard to get tickets on a lot of days in the summer. They’re called the Seadogs and I would recommend that every baseball fan check ‘em out.
(sorry for the snark but we Mainers love our biggest city, even if it only has a population just shy of six digits)
Maury
You didn’t do your homework on this piece. While you were right about Memorial Coliseum, you whiffed badly on Lents. This had little to do with NIMBY and everything to do with a one city councilman and a rich out of towner attempting to take over a well-operating local little league field and somehow jam a large ballpark into the footprint. It was never clear why anyone would put a ballpark out in the (relative) boonies for Portland anyway.
As to the city prioritizing “education” over a ballpark, again, do your homework. The City does not fund the public schools–the money comes from the state. The issue here was terrible timing by a very wealthy individual who had only recently arrived in the state, and who unfortunately shared the last name with the outgoing Treasury secretary during a major economic meltdown. Can you wonder if locals were leery of his motives?
Meanwhile the City was already on the hook for tens of millions in bonds from the LAST renovation.
And how can you not mention to very sketchy political situation, with a Mayor who was facing a recall movement?
Seriously, do your homework.
Minor league baseball can (and should) absolutely succeed in Portland with the right product in the right facility. PGE Park was not a good facility for many reasons, and the Beavers did a poor job of promoting and publicizing at the level needed to make minor league ball succeed in Portland. There is plenty of blame to go around for losing the Beavers, but I wish people would stop saying Portland won’t support pro baseball. Heck, the mayor suggested as much today debating with Canzano on the radio … he said Portland couldn’t get the necessary 4,500 avg. attendance to support a AAA team. In the right facility in the right location with the right promotions, I suggest they’d double that. I just hope there’s a minor league owner who sees the big open Portland market and jumps in soon. My 5-year-old only knows his right from left because he knows which one’s left field and which one’s right field … I can’t tell you how much it pains me to lose baseball in this city, and I know I’m not alone.
Hey… It looks like there’s a problem with the site layout. For some reason the text block overlaps the border. I don’t know if it’s just me or are others reporting the same thing? Just wanted to let you know in case you’ve been changing things recently. Thanks! Iris Cerecer
This is the last straw….I’m moving from Portland.
With the advent of the Portland Beavers leaving Portland at the end of the 2010 season everyone is asking what will happen to baseball in Portland next season (2011). The Northwest Independent Baseball League has the answer.
Come see Semi-professional baseball played with local teams and players form the Portland’s and Vancouver area. Fourteen teams play baseball from May through August at Walker and Sckavone Stadiums (see schedule at NWIBL.ORG) in Southeast Portland. Teams consist of players with High School, College, and Professional experience and are looking for local sponsorship.
The 2011 seasons looks for the league to expand with up to 4 new teams (Portland Yankees, Westmoreland Red Sox, the Vaughn Street Bee’s, and a team to be named from the Oregon City area). Players within the two divisions can continue their passion playing base ball at the highest level. Players follow modified MLB rules, using wood bats.
definitely have to express you render some very good facts and may write-up a number of concepts to add on shortly after a day or two.
Anybody know what happened to the old hand-operated baseball scoreboard?
Yes. They offered it for free to the University of Oregon, but said that they would have to ship it to Eugene. They passed on it so… It was scrapped.
i find it some what hillarious that the portland timbers are the worst team in soccer! its too bad they represent the city of portland, (now a laughing stock!) so be it! thanks to merrit paulson for throwing out 107 years of portland beavers baseball! may the foreign timbers never win another game! #curseofthebeavers paulson you are a bum!