Originally posted in Oregon Magazine

BASEBALL BUFFS JUST KEEP ON SWINGING

By Pigskin Pete

When the Oregon legislative proposal to devote state lottery funds to building a new Portland venue to attract major league baseball was tabled, we nodded sagely. We had predicted that lawmakers elected outside the Portland metro area would defeat this measure. However, we underestimated the determination and resourcefulness of the small cadre of Portland business folk that have kept their big league diamond dream alive
the past five years. A web site (www.oregonbaseballcampaign.com) now supports an effort that refused to go away when city politics dashed an OBC proposal to rebuild Portland Civic Stadium as a true major league venue and tossed municipal government support to a minor league refurbishment known as PGE Park.

Undaunted by the legislature's refusal to endorse lottery funding for diamondeering, OBC has floated another proposal in Salem that would raise a $150 million bond issue to be paid off with the state income tax on the voluminous salaries earned by a Portland team. This action has maintained the interest of major league officialdom that has recognized a need to revive at least one currently failing franchise. Leading candidate for resuscitation is Montreal, whose aging 45,000-seat arena is drawing an average of only 4,000 fans per game, lowest attendance in the bigs.

Can you dig "Duxpos?"

Jack Todd, columnist for the Montreal Gazette, dubs Portland as his local team's most likely new home. "Maybe we should start thinking of the Expos as the Portland Duxpos," he writes, "Portland is moving to clear the way for a major league franchise in the near future, if not next year," he adds, and dubs the Rose City as the "city most likely" in a group of possible relocation sites that includes Las Vegas, Charlotte, Nashville, Norfolk and Northern Virginia.

Todd quotes OBC spokesman Lynn Lashbrook as being confident he can put together a local ownership group "to buy any franchise in baseball" if given a down payment by our legislature (the $150 mil in the revised legislative bill is roughly 40% of the amount estimated for new stadium construction). Lashbrook points out that Portland is the largest market of any seeking a relocated team.

Todd's assessment of Portland baseball prospects is echoed by Seattle Times writer Larry Stone, who writes that "Portland's once laughable dream of acquiring a major league baseball franchise is becoming more realistic by the day." He predicts that Portland will soon become the place for the first major league relocation since 1972, when the Washington Senators became the Texas Rangers.

We think the shocking success of this year's Seattle Mariners and their new Safeco Park is another plus for the undaunted proposers of a Portland franchise. The natural rivalry between the leading urban lights in the Pacific Northwest should activate local turnstiles and be a draw for TV network coverage that adds to an owner's income.

Portland persistence keeps its franchise potential alive. Bud Selig, major league baseball commissioner, dispatched his representative (Corey Bush, former San Francisco Giants executive) to Oregon this month to visit with our governor and other politicos and to attend a AAA game at PGE Park. The latter is seen as a temporary home for a transplanted team while a 40,000+ seat stadium is built in the Portland area.

Football prospects noted

While baseball's attention is drawn our way, we Northwest denizens will be doubly blessed come fall. A midwest-based national sports publication, The Sporting News, has just extended early recognition to the pigskin prospects of Oregon's premier college squads. The News has placed the University of Oregon Ducks fifth in its preseason ranking of 2001 college teams, while rating the Oregon State Beavers as the 11th best eleven in the land.

What about hockey?

The National Hockey League has certainly noted the long term financial success of minor league hockey in Portland. The Rose Garden home of overpaid basketball players is seen as an ideal site for big league ice war. However, Garden owner Paul Allen has yet to display any public interest in an NHL franchise, nor has he or any of his paid minions stated support for a rather clumsy current effort to gauge fan interest by obtaining season ticket pledges. Certainly, the NHL overall suffers from fan deprivation in several of its sites. And, a larger Seattle market has yet to indicate interest worthy of bringing big time hockey to the Northwest.