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Wait 'til next time
Portland is out of the race for the Montreal Expos but looks ready to compete for the next available team
An Editorial
The Oregonian
Saturday, August 28, 2004

Right about now, Major League Baseball ought to give Portland a pat on its backside, murmur "nice try" and suggest a little more time in the batting cage.

Portland's out. Its tentative swing for the Montreal Expos has missed. Major League Baseball is now talking seriously only with Northern Virginia and Washington, D.C., about the Expos. Big-league officials even seem to see more promise in Las Vegas and Norfolk, Va., than Portland.

Still, it was important for local baseball leaders to unveil their stadium plans Thursday, even though it looked like they were pulling on their uniforms and adjusting their caps for a big game they weren't even invited to play in.

There will be more games one day, and more at-bats for Portland. All along, Oregon Stadium Campaign leader David Kahn has insisted that his group's goal was to get Portland into a position to eventually woo a Major League Baseball team. There will be more opportunities: The Oakland A's, Florida Marlins and Minnesota Twins all have stadium or attendance issues, and have discussed relocating.

The Expos came along at a particularly bad time for Oregon and Portland. The state was economically flat on its back, slashing spending on schools and other critical services. A new baseball franchise, even one that didn't directly burden taxpayers or services, even one that would create jobs, looked frivolous by comparison.

Even now there's still a broad misunderstanding of who would pay for the stadium necessary to bring big-league baseball to Portland. In the $350 million stadium-financing plan outlined Thursday, taxes on players and team officials would pay for nearly one-third of the costs. Most of the rest would be raised through ticket taxes, a tax on businesses in the stadium district and taxes on concessions and merchandise.

It's a promising plan, though still vague in many key areas. Portland's bid for a franchise is far from complete. It hasn't selected a site for a stadium. The city still needs someone to emerge as a majority owner eager to bring a team to the city. It needs its next mayor to show even a hint of the same enthusiasm that Mayor Vera Katz has demonstrated for a project that would be a large economic boost and a terrific entertainment addition to the city.

Portland is now one of a handful of top major-league franchise prospects, a city loaded with tools and potential still playing Triple A baseball.

One day it will be ready to move up.

(admin. note - added font stylings)