Brian in Boston

10 hours ago, RyanMcD29 said:

MAJOR upgrades for both Hobart and William Smith. That is some impressive work by SME Branding. 

53 minutes ago, SportsLogos.Net News said:

Just days before their final game in Pawtucket...

Not only do the PawSox have another 15 home games to play over the 3 weeks and 5 days remaining in the 2019 International League regular season, but they have the entirety of their 2020 IL home slate to contest at McCoy Stadium. The franchise isn't scheduled to play a game in its new market of Worcester, Massachusetts until 2021,    

On 6/27/2019 at 3:17 PM, mjrbaseball said:

Th Angels aren't actually moving into the Dodgers territory because they're already there, but do the Dodgers have anything to say about the Angels' choice of site. This example is unrealistic, but say the Angels decided to put a new ballpark in Griffith Park. That's less than two miles from Dodger Stadium. Could the Dodgers block such a move?

 

No, the Dodgers - by themselves - can't block the Angels from relocating to anywhere within the territory that the two franchises share. When I last checked, Major League Baseball Rule 52; Attachment 52 defined the shared territory of the Angels and Dodgers as being comprised of "Los Angeles, Orange, and Ventura Counties in California". 

Now, I do know that at the time of the Angels' establishment as a Major League Baseball franchise, MLB rules dictated that a team setting-up shop in a territory belonging to a club in the other league had to play in a ballpark that was located at least five air miles from that of the existing club's facility, unless the two teams agreed otherwise. Obviously, the Angels and Dodgers hammered out such an agreement, as their respective home ballparks in 1961 - LA's Wrigley Field and the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum - were, at best, located 2 miles away from one another. For the 1962 season, LA's Wrigley Field would have been about 6 miles, as the crow flies, from the newly-opened Dodgers Stadium. Would MLB prefer that any  hypothetical future Los Angeles-based home for the Angels be at least five air miles from Dodger Stadium? While that remains to be seen, any downtown LA location would fall well short of a five-mile minimum distance from Dodgers Stadium.

One interesting side-note to this discussion is that the Angels and Dodgers can, per MLB and MiLB territorial rules, block any affiliated minor league franchise from operating anywhere within their shared Los Angeles/Orange/Ventura County territory. To date, the only MiLB teams that have played within said territory since the Dodgers and Angels arrived in Southern California - obviously, with the permission of the two Major League clubs - have been the Ventura County Gulls (1986) and the Lancaster JetHawks (1996-present) of the California League.

However, four years ago, the Dodgers began exploring the possibility of shifting their Class A-Advanced farm team operation from Rancho Cucamonga to the Woodland Hills neighborhood of Los Angeles. The plan was for Peter Guber (a member of the Dodgers ownership group and part-owner of their Triple A affiliate in Oklahoma City) to partner with his friend Peter Lowy (then the CEO of shopping center development/management company Westfield Corporation) on bringing a California League team to the southwestern corner of the San Fernando Valley.

Westfield Corporation was just about to open the Village at Westfield Topanga, a major extension and reimagining of the existing Westfield Topanga shopping center. The resulting facility was the deathblow for the Westfield Promenade, an aging and obsolete mall that had been struggling for the better part of a decade. Lowy had been brainstorming what to do with the land on which the Promenade was located. What if Westfield were to pay to demolish the Promenade and construct a 7,000-seat minor league ballpark on its site, Guber were to secure a California League franchise, and the Dodgers were to run the day-to-day operations? Westfield owned the land on which the stadium was to be built and was willing to foot-the-bill to construct the stadium. Between spaces at the Village at Westfield Topanga and land that would exist around the stadium, ample parking already existed. The project wasn't looking for a dime of public funding. 

Lowy put Westfield architects to work designing a stadium, Guber cleared the idea with Dodgers brass and began lining up financial partners, Dodgers president Stan Kasten broached the subject with MiLB president Pat O'Conner, and Los Angeles mayor Eric Garcetti was brought into the loop. All the parties loved the idea, so it was floated by MLB commissioner Rob Manfred. Manfred also thought it was a winning idea. It just needed one final approval... that of Arte Moreno, owner of the Angels.

The Dodgers pitched their plan to the Angels. They pointed out that the proposed Woodland Hills ballpark site was a 57-mile drive from Angels Stadium, 19 miles more distant than the trip from Anaheim to the stadium of the Dodgers' current California League affiliate in Rancho Cucamonga. They offered a variety of incentives, including the opportunity to host more of the games in the annual Angels-Dodgers pre-season Freeway Series. The Angels weren't biting. 

They did have a question for the Dodgers: if the Angels someday wished to move a minor league affiliate into the shared Los Angeles/Orange/Ventura County territory of the big league teams, would the Dodgers grant them permission to do so? The Dodgers wanted to know, might such a move be into the City of Los Angeles? The Angels conceded that could be a possibility. The Dodgers said they couldn't envision ever granting the Angels permission to operate a minor league team within the City of Los Angeles.

The Angels refused to sign-off on the plan to allow a Dodgers farm team to set-up shop in Woodland Hills.

You know who I see being inspired by Stu Sternberg's truly visionary two-market, bi-national, split-season proposal? Arte Moreno. Hell, if Tampa Bay-Montréal works for the Rays, imagine how the Angels would thrive splitting their season between Anaheim and Edmonton! After all, 12 of the Trappers' 24 seasons were spent as the Halos' top farm team. And to prove that he's really thinking outside-the-box, Arte could take things further and opt to have the Angel-Trappers play the Edmonton half of the schedule against Pacific Coast League teams. The club might not contend for the AL West crown, but the PCL Pacific Northern Division should be within reach, right?  

29 minutes ago, GDAWG said:

I meant NFL (Cowboys in 1960), MLB (Rangers in 1972) and NBA (Mavericks in 1980) among the leagues still around today.  Plus the Stars didn't arrive until 1993 and FC Dallas didn't arrive until 1996.

Well, in any event. Las Vegas won't be the first city to land franchises in the leagues we now regard as major professional in rapid-fire succession. After all, if you're only going to regard American Football League franchises as joining the ranks of top-tier pro sports when the full AFL merger with the NFL took place, then...

Buffalo Bills / NFL / 1970
Buffalo Braves / NBA / 1970
Buffalo Sabres / NHL / 1970

BOOM!!! Three franchises in three of the so-called "Big Four" North American pro sports leagues in one fell swoop.

Similarly... 

San Diego Rockets / NBA / 1967
San Diego Padres / MLB / 1969
San Diego Chargers / NFL / 1970
(That's three years to land three franchises in the "Big Four".)

Kansas City Royals / MLB / 1969
Kansas City Chiefs / NFL / 1970
Kansas City-Omaha Kings / NBA / 1972
Kansas City Scouts / NHL / 1974
(Five years to land teams in all of the "Big Four" leagues.)

Denver Broncos / NFL / 1970
Denver Nuggets / NBA / 1976
Colorado Rockies / NHL / 1976
(Six years to land three teams amongst the "Big Four".) 






  

18 minutes ago, GDAWG said:

 

... it took 20 years for Dallas to get three teams. 

Technically speaking, it took Dallas seven years to get three teams.

Dallas Cowboys / National Football League / 1960-present
Dallas Chaparrals / American Basketball Association / 1967-1970, 1971-1973
Dallas Tornado / United Soccer Association-North American Soccer League / 1967-1981

You really shouldn't dismiss the Chaparrals and Tornado. The Chaps spent 5 campaigns (six, when you count their 1970-71 season split between Dallas, Fort Worth, and Lubbock) in a league that lasted 9 seasons and forced a merger with the NBA. As for the Tornado, they played 15 seasons competing at what was the top tier of professional soccer in the United States and Canada at the time.

We now return you to discussion of Major League Baseball's asinine Tampa Bay-Montréal 2-city "solution", already in progress.   

19 minutes ago, GDAWG said:

{A new ballpark in Oakland] may be farther along, but it's not a done deal, far from it and things could easily go south. 

Cue Major League Baseball's next 2-city solution: the Oakland-Mexico City A's-tecs.

Why stop at Tampa and Montreal? Let's throw Charlotte, Las Vegas, Mexico City, Nashville, Portland, and Vancouver into the mix. After all, imagine how sought after tickets would be if a Major League Baseball team's 81-game home schedule was divided amongst eight home markets? Think about the ticket scarcity when your team is only in town for ten* "home" games a season!

I give you... The Bingo Sternberg Traveling All-Stars and Motor Kings!!!

* Whichever market sells out its guaranteed ten game regular-season ticket inventory the quickest is awarded the opportunity... to foist the 81st "home" date of the season onto one of the other seven cities.       

2 hours ago, Ferdinand Cesarano said:

In a classic running gag from Jack Benny's radio show, Mel Blanc portrays a train station announcer who makes the announcement "train leaving on track 5 for Anaheim, Azuza, and Cuc...amonga".

The true comedy in that bit - at least for those familiar with Southern California geography - is that the three communities were never linked by the same passenger rail line.

Also, over the course of The Jack Benny Program's history - both on radio and television - Benny, Blanc, and the show's creative team hit upon the idea of gradually extending the pause that the train conductor would insert between the beginning and ending of the name Cucamonga. If memory serves, the record was set on the television version of the show, with a full  five or six minutes of dialogue taking place amongst various cast-members between Blanc's initially intoning, "Train now leaving on Track 5 for Anaheim, Azusa, and Cuc..." and eventually bellowing, "... amonga!!!"    

By the way, it's Azusa... with an S. 

 

1 hour ago, Gothamite said:

Alhambra and Beverly Hills, then. 

Which one takes the place of Brentwood and which takes the place of Van Nuys? Or don't you take into account nuances like population, land area, demographics and the such when you elect to hold forth about the City of Los Angeles and its sphere of influence over other communities in Southern California?

I mean...

"Orange County may well have its own vibe, but so does Malibu.  So does Brentwood. So does Santa Monica.  So does does Van Nuys, gods help them."

"And as OC (mercifully) browns..."

"If it wasn’t so close to LA, Anaheim would be Bakersfield."

Do you have any idea how smug, condescending, and dismissive these tossed-off assessments sound? Honestly... "browns"? 

"When I lived there... "

Oh, now I get it. You put in your time in Southern California and now believe yourself to be some sort of cultural anthropologist with a special insight into what makes the entirety of the region tick... as only someone ensconced in New York can. 

It might be time to retire "Gothamite" and adopt the handle "Alvy Singer".     

      
 

26 minutes ago, Gothamite said:

Sure it is.   A smaller city orbiting a larger one.

When the central city is as large as LA or New York, the satellite cities get larger too.

Brentwood and Van Nuys aren't smaller cities orbiting a larger one. They're neighborhoods in a large city.

 

1 hour ago, Gothamite said:

I’m saying they’re part of the LA metroplex.  Orange County may well have its own vibe, but so does Malibu.  So does Brentwood. So does Santa Monica.  So does does Van Nuys, gods help them.  

Anaheim is an independent municipality in Orange County that ranges anywhere from 2-1/2 to 27 times as populous as the City of Los Angeles neighborhoods (Brentwood and Van Nuys) and LA County independent cities (Malibu and Santa Monica) that you lump it in with here. Anaheim ranges anywhere from 2-1/2 times to 6 times as large in total land area as the neighborhoods and cities you cite.

Look, Anaheim may not be New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston, or Phoenix, but it isn't Malibu, Brentwood, Santa Monica, or Van Nuys, either.

Hell, if we're all in on naming Anaheim's MLB team the Los Angeles Angels, why not dub Oakland's MLB team the San Francisco A's? After all, San Francisco's more populous than Oakland, it's the Bay Area municipality with the higher profile, and the Athletics' ballpark is closer to downtown San Francisco than the Angels' is to downtown Los Angeles.      

 

The Clearwater Beach Dog appears to be the more well-kept canine cousin of the San Diego Surf Dawg.

Dallas Cavalry (Dark Blue Sky Blue Dark Yellow) or Dallas Stampede (Slate Blue Bronze Black)
Houston Roughnecks (Columbia Blue Red Silver) 
Los Angeles Condors (Black Pink Pale Orange) or Los Angeles Shock (Neon Lime Sky Blue Orange)
New York Gargoyles (Black Pewter Deep Red) 
St. Louis Centaurs (Purple Gold Black) 
Seattle Steelheads (Olive Silver Red)
Tampa Bay Tiger Sharks (Orange Black Silver)
Washington Force (Red White Blue)

10 hours ago, NicDB said:

I'm taken aback at the thought of the Red Sox top farm club being anywhere but Pawtucket.  Are they at least getting a AA or Single A version of the Paw Sox?

With the PawSox set to relocate to Worcester following the 2020 International League season, the City of Pawtucket and State of Rhode Island issued a request for proposals to redevelop the site of McCoy Stadium site. Of the six responses to the RFP, two centered on returning professional baseball to the facility.

Frank Boulton, founder and CEO of the Long Island Ducks, proposes bringing an independent Atlantic League franchise to the facility.

Meanwhile, Minor League Baseball for Pawtucket - a group of local investors that includes current PawSox minority owner and vice chairman Mike Tamburro - is seeking to bring another  affiliated team to McCoy Stadium. Given affiliated professional baseball's territorial rules, the only minor league ownership group with rights to place a team in McCoy is the PawSox leadership. That scenario will continue after the Triple A franchise's relocation to Worcester, as Worcester County falls within the same geographic territory as the Pawtucket, RI market. So, in order for an affiliated MiLB franchise to set-up shop at McCoy following the PawSox relocation to Worcester, the PawSox ownership group would either have to cede their territorial rights to Pawtucket and McCoy to another owner/operator, or elect to own and operate a lower classification Pawtucket-based team themselves.

Given the current stability of the Eastern League and its franchises, the chances of Pawtucket landing a Double A franchise are slim to none. It's far more likely that a New York-Penn League team would be targeted for McCoy Stadium. The Batavia Muckdogs are league-owned and the NY-PL would love to unload the franchise. The Auburn Doubledays are municipally-owned, but the City of Auburn has been shopping the team since 2016.

6 hours ago, tron1013 said:

Ballpark Digest has an article on possible team names for the relocating PawSox. Go Worcester Worcesters!

Of the three names that the Pawtucket Red Sox Baseball Club filed for trademark protection back in February - Ruby Legs, Wicked Worms, and Worcesters - the only one that strikes me as being at all decent is the Worcester Ruby Legs. It not only references one of the names used by the city's National League team from 1880 through 1882, but it also serves as a variation on Red Sox. Wicked Worms - a play on Worcester's "Wormtown" nickname - is awful, while Worcester Worcesters sounds ridiculous.



 

Norwich Nine

The modern City of Norwich, Connecticut has its roots in the 1659 settlement of Norwichtown, a village founded upon a plot of land "nine miles square". It was within this nine square mile plot that the community's original 35 settlers - including the Reverend James Fitch, Thomas Leffingwell, and Major John Mason - laid out the Norwichtown Green and established the first center of the community.

Norwich Nine not only pays homage to the size of that original plot of land, but has an old-time sound to it that fits with the long history of Connecticut and New England. It conjures up images of ballplayers taking to the diamond in pillbox caps, collared lace-up or shield-front jerseys, baggy pants, and knee-high stockings.    

9 hours ago, WideRight said:

I would say that while the "classics" are common in HS and in the NCAA, they are amazingly rare in pro sports.  

 

Stallions--0

 

I think the XFL would do well to play up the "Nostalgia, Olde Tyme Footballe" theme by pushing not only old-school play style, but also old-school team names that remind people of HS and College rather than trying to be edgy and kewl.  I could see a lot of people getting on board with a retro look to the league and retro names like: 

 

St. Louis Stallions

The Stallions name is not only already used by a professional sports franchise, it's currently being sported by a team in the other alternative football league.

   

4 hours ago, CaliforniaGlowin said:

The Westfield Starfires' jerseys don't, in fact, feature horizontal stripes. The player in this photo is wearing a horizontal-striped polo shirt under his jersey.  

The Futures Collegiate Baseball League expansion franchise that has been granted to Westfield, Massachusetts has unveiled its identity. The team will be known as the Westfield Starfires.

The name is a nod to the fact that Barnes Air National Guard Base - located at Westfield's Barnes Municipal Airport - is home to the 104th Fighter Wing of the Massachusetts Air National Guard. From 1954 to 1957, members of the unit flew Lockheed F-94A jet aircraft, the first operational U.S. Air Force fighters to be equipped with afterburners, and precursor to the F-94C Starfire variant.

The Futures Collegiate Baseball League expansion franchise that has been granted to Westfield, Massachusetts has unveiled its identity. The team will be known as the Westfield Starfires.

The name is a nod to the fact that Barnes Air National Guard Base - located at Westfield's Barnes Municipal Airport - is home to the 104th Fighter Wing of the Massachusetts Air National Guard. From 1954 to 1957, members of the unit flew Lockheed F-94A jet aircraft, the first operational U.S. Air Force fighters to be equipped with afterburners, and precursor to the F-94C Starfire variant.



   

18 minutes ago, raysox said:

Also for a quick second I thought about the prospect of naming them the California Angels, before I realized they're Los Angeles still

Long Beach is, indeed, in Los Angeles County.

As I wrote elsewhere...

"Claw marks EVERYwhere. The white jersey paired with the RED pants is a choice. The grizzly in the various logos seems a bit... stiff... disjointed... awkwardly-rendered. All in all, I could give a passing grade to the grey road uni that Vanilla Ice is sporting, but the rest adds up to a BIG swing-and-a-miss in my estimation. Well... Brandiose did have the Traverse City Pit Spitters unveiled yesterday. So, at least they have THAT goin' for them."  

29 minutes ago, DC in Da House w/o a Doubt said:

 

Wow! That's... that's something, alright.

Claw marks EVERYwhere. The white jersey paired with the RED pants is a choice. The grizzly in the various logos seems a bit... stiff... disjointed... awkwardly-rendered.

All in all, I could give a passing grade to the grey road uni that Vanilla Ice is sporting, but the rest adds up to a BIG swing-and-a-miss in my estimation.

Well... Brandiose did have the Traverse City Pit Spitters unveiled yesterday. So, at least they have THAT goin' for them.