MLB Stadium Saga: Oakland/Tampa Bay/Southside

[GDAWG]

Wasn't this thread about the Rays stadium situation?  How did it go off the rails and became a discussion about Mike Trout?

[Wings2]

1 hour ago, GDAWG said:

Wasn't this thread about the Rays stadium situation?  How did it go off the rails and became a discussion about Mike Trout?

 

I think it devolved from a conversation about contracting the Angels but who gives a crappie

[JayMac]

<insert picture of Kevin Bass here>

[IceCap]

2 hours ago, GDAWG said:

Wasn't this thread about the Rays stadium situation?  How did it go off the rails and became a discussion about Mike Trout?

Yes and we'll keep it on that. 

[goalieboy82]

21 hours ago, Wings2 said:

 

Trout or flounder?......sorry I need 5 more minutes to decide. 

 

[tp49]

No love for the Grouper?

[DustDevil61]

There are reports out there saying that Nevada Governor Steve Sisolak will block an A’s move to Las Vegas if public funds are being used on a stadium, though his office has denied that.

 

 

Between this and the lawsuits in Oakland slowing down the Howard Terminal project, the Athletics appear to be between a rock and a hard place. I think they’re more or less Vegas-bound, if MLB is OK letting the casinos/Las Vegas businessfolk fund a ballpark on their own dime.

 

Edited April 13, 2022 by DustDevil61
Added links

[BrySmalls]

Oakland drew a crowd of 3,748 for last night's game against the Orioles. It was the smallest crowd in nearly 42 years.

[Brian in Boston]

5 hours ago, BrySmalls said:

Oakland drew a crowd of 3,748 for last night's game against the Orioles. It was the smallest crowd in nearly 42 years.

Those 3,748 fans through the turnstiles in Oakland made for a smaller crowd than 13 affiliated Minor League Baseball teams were able to draw yesterday.

 

Dayton Dragons - 6,871

Las Vegas Aviators - 5,607

Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp - 5,153

Hartford Yard Goats - 4,765

Nashville Sounds - 4,506

Vancouver Canadians - 4,403

Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs - 4,354

Amarillo Sod Poodles - 4,317

Augusta Green Jackets - 4,156

Clearwater Threshers - 4,039

Springfield Cardinals - 3,879

Greenville Drive - 3,838

Louisville Bats - 3,751

 

That’s five Triple A teams, three Double A clubs, a trio of High A franchises, and a pair of Single A squads that pulled in more spectators than Oakland’s “Major” league outfit managed to attract yesterday.

 

 

[sky1324]

7 minutes ago, Brian in Boston said:

Those 3,748 fans through the turnstiles in Oakland made for a smaller crowd than 13 affiliated Minor League Baseball teams were able to draw yesterday.

 

Dayton Dragons - 6,871

 

 

We should move the A's to Dayton.

[Ferdinand Cesarano]

6 hours ago, BrySmalls said:

Oakland drew a crowd of 3,748 for last night's game against the Orioles. It was the smallest crowd in nearly 42 years.

 

I am currently reading* Billy Ball by Dale Tafoya.   I have just finished the chapters on the 1981 A's, who in only 56 home dates nearly matched the existing franchise attendance record that had been set in the first year after the move from Philadelphia to Kansas City, more than quadrupling their attendance from two years earlier.  And it only cost the careers of four or five starting pitchers. What a bargain! (I am now getting to the part where Billy inevitably implodes. Sigh.)


*OK, so it's more "listening to" than "reading". It still counts.  Shut up.

[McCall]

6 hours ago, Brian in Boston said:

Springfield Cardinals - 3,879

To be fair, that's on a Tuesday night. I haven't worked there in almost 13 years, but I know Tuesday's weren't exactly the biggest draw... so, Oakland seems even worse.

[DoctorWhom]

I have a soft spot for the A's because of Billy Beane. But my god is it obvious that they are sandbagging their way out of Oakland.

[FiddySicks]

Hey, um, so, remember that really small crowd from last night? Well, it looks like they drew more than a thousand people LESS today. :censored:ing how? Manfred, come get the A’s, they’re WASTED. 

 

[who do you think]

Meanwhile the Rays are clocking in at a below-average-even-for-them 12,000 per game after 7 home dates. Granted that's against AAAA teams, and I'm sure the influx of visiting M:censored:s and New Yorkers will help bring it back up to the more standard 15,000 average when all is said and done, so no need to worry.

 

I bet all the loose change in my gym bag that both teams get whacked by 2030. Anyone who thinks Montreal or Vegas is the answer for either of these franchises is nuttier than genderx dot com. They are not viable where they are and have nowhere to go.

[McCall]

7 hours ago, who do you think said:

Meanwhile the Rays are clocking in at a below-average-even-for-them 12,000 per game after 7 home dates. Granted that's against AAAA teams, and I'm sure the influx of visiting M:censored:s and New Yorkers will help bring it back up to the more standard 15,000 average when all is said and done, so no need to worry.

 

I bet all the loose change in my gym bag that both teams get whacked by 2030. Anyone who thinks Montreal or Vegas is the answer for either of these franchises is nuttier than genderx dot com. They are not viable where they are and have nowhere to go.

Ok, say "I don't watch baseball" without saying "I don't watch baseball".

 

The Rays have been one of the most successful on-field teams over the last 14 years. This is a reflection on the market and/or the stadium, not the team. You put them in a market with a legitimate fanbase, and they'll be fine.

 

The A's have such a history of outperforming expectations, so the same could be said for them. Granted, they tend to dismantle rather quickly, but somehow always seem to be in the playoff hunt. Again, put them in a better market and they'll be fine as well.

[gosioux76]

Meanwhile, the marketing hucksters behind the MLB-to-PDX charade say they've renewed their invite to the A's to come kick the tires on Portland and claim the have four viable stadium sites, two each in the city and the suburbs. Of course, they don't say where specifically, and they admit they don't have any sort of development rights in the suburbs. So at this point, it still feels like a vacant marketing tactic to make the case that they're not just a campaign to sell baseball caps with a "P" on them. 

 

Anyway, the resident sports columnist bit on this without asking any tough questions: https://www.johncanzano.com/p/canzano-mlb-to-pdx-effort-invites?s=r

 

For the longest time I had questions about who would own a Portland team and who's backing this Portland Diamond Project endeavor. But It's starting to become clear that this is just a business recruitment effort. They trot out Russell Wilson and Ciara as "investors" but it seems as if they're just trying to get the current owners to decamp for Portland.   

[leopard88]

9 hours ago, FiddySicks said:

Hey, um, so, remember that really small crowd from last night? Well, it looks like they drew more than a thousand people LESS today. :censored:ing how? Manfred, come get the A’s, they’re WASTED. 

 

 

To be fair, the game time yesterday was moved up 3.5 hours to avoid impending nasty weather (the first ever reverse rain delay?).

 

That doesn't mean they would have drawn 30,000 at the regular time, but there were at least extenuating circumstances yesterday.

[Brian in Boston]

10 hours ago, FiddySicks said:

Hey, um, so, remember that really small crowd from last night? Well, it looks like they drew more than a thousand people LESS today. :censored:ing how? Manfred, come get the A’s, they’re WASTED. 

 

So, which MiLB teams outpaced the Oakland A’s at the turnstiles last night?

 

Dayton Dragons - 7,343

Louisville Bats - 6,615

Round Rock Express - 5,826

Carolina Mudcats - 5,652

Hartford Yard Goats - 5,274

Mississippi Braves - 5,205

Las Vegas Aviators  - 5,174

Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs - 4,798

Nashville Sounds - 4,270

Amarillo Sod Poodles - 4,251

Wichita Wind Surge - 4,175

Sacramento River Cats - 4,025

Buffalo Bison - 4,009

Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp - 3,939

Bowling Green Hot Rods - 3,902

Portland Sea Dogs - 3,419

Springfield Cardinals - 3,395

Memphis Redbirds - 3,373

Augusta Green Jackets - 3,301

Greenville Drive - 3,259

Greensboro Grasshoppers - 3,026

Pensacola Blue Wahoos - 2,909

 

I can’t shake the image of a clueless Rob Manfred sitting in his office, a cocksure grin on his face, smugly musing, “And they said my restructuring would destroy the minors.”

 

 

 

[GrayJ12]

My high school gym could fit more than 3 times the amount of people that went to the A's game last night.