MLB Stadium Saga: Oakland/Tampa Bay/Southside

[Burmy]

I still think that if the Triangle gets an MLB team, they should be called the Durham Bulls.

Recognizable name, full of history, protagonists of the most realistic baseball movie ever...the team doesn't even have to play in the city of Durham for it to work.

[kolob]

1 hour ago, GhostOfNormMacdonald said:

                    8 hours ago, throwuascenario said:  I prefer state over city every time if the city is named for the state                          Slightly (okay, super) pedantic, but it allows me to rant about MN history. TheMinnea- in Minneapolis actually comes from the Dakota word for waterfall Mnihaha instead of the Dakota word for water mni (where the Minne- in Minnesota comes from) . The original  spelling of Minneapolis was Minnehapolis, meaning waterfall city. Named after the only waterfall on the Mississippi, which allowed the city to become the milling capital of the US.                 Also, someone please fix typing on mobile    

 

 

[throwuascenario]

7 hours ago, BBTV said:

I'd wager when the average American hears "Raleigh", all they think of "Raleigh-Durham Airport", which would raise the ire of a former member here, but is likely true.

 

Raleigh's population density, while higher than I would have thought (3,148 / sq mi) is still on the low side, if not the lowest in MLB.  On par with the mostly strip-mall cities in the south west.  Without public transit (other than a tiny bus system), asking people who need to drive from sparse suburbs to fill a 40k stadium 81 times a year is a recipe for problems, especially if/when the team isn't doing well (and as we've seen, even when a team is doing well, that doesn't mean anyone will actually show up.)

 

 

 

I always hated the airport being called Raleigh-Durham. It's not like a DFW or twin cities situation. Durham is not a large or important enough city to necessitate having its name on it.

 

The thing about sparse suburbs though is that practically everyone has a car and driving is very easy. The other thing having a small urban core is that the suburbs are not very far away. And while MLB stadiums hold 40k, very few sell that many tickets. Only 4 teams averaged that or better last year. 13 teams out of 30 averaged 25k or less. I don't think that's that big of a stretch for a city that was top 2 in the league in attendance in the NHL last year.

 

Charlotte would be a better market, but there are other current markets (St. Pete, second team in Chicago, Miami) and prospective markets (Montreal, Portland) that would be worse than Raleigh.

 

4 hours ago, Burmy said:

I still think that if the Triangle gets an MLB team, they should be called the Durham Bulls.

Recognizable name, full of history, protagonists of the most realistic baseball movie ever...the team doesn't even have to play in the city of Durham for it to work.

 

I totally agree. The brand really is that strong. I doubt they would do it though. Especially because any team would likely play in Raleigh and the Bulls would most likely continue to play in AAA. So there would be an MLB Durham Bulls in Raleigh and then a likely-unaffiliated AAA Durham Bulls in Durham. Would be all kinds of confusing.

[Walk-Off]

On 11/9/2023 at 10:56 AM, Burmy said:

I still think that if the Triangle gets an MLB team, they should be called the Durham Bulls.

Recognizable name, full of history, protagonists of the most realistic baseball movie ever...the team doesn't even have to play in the city of Durham for it to work.

 

On 11/9/2023 at 3:17 PM, throwuascenario said:

The brand really is that strong. I doubt they would do it though. Especially because any team would likely play in Raleigh and the Bulls would most likely continue to play in AAA. So there would be an MLB Durham Bulls in Raleigh and then a likely-unaffiliated AAA Durham Bulls in Durham. Would be all kinds of confusing.

 

If a Major League Baseball team were to play home games in the City of Durham and/or Durham County or in a part of the Raleigh-Durham-Cary Combined Statistical Area that is in neither the City of Durham nor Durham County, but is clearly closer to Durham than to Raleigh, then ... and only then ... could I support such a team being called the Durham Bulls.  On the other hand, should an MLB team be based in the City of Raleigh and/or Wake County or in a section of the Raleigh-Durham-Cary CSA that is outside both the City of Raleigh and Wake County, but is decidedly closer to Raleigh than to Durham (e.g. Zebulon, the Carolina Mudcats' current hometown), then I think that a made-from-scratch, Raleigh-oriented identity would be a far smarter choice.

 

Please think about this for a moment.  How likely is it that a Durham Bulls brand for an MLB team with a home field in either Raleigh proper or a suburb in Raleigh's cultural and economic sphere of influence would be regarded as tone-deaf and dismissively disrespectful by many people in the Durham-focused and Raleigh-centric halves of the region?  If you live in Durham, would you not at least suspect that the regional MLB franchise's ownership thinks that your city is good enough to be represented in the team's name, but not good enough to contain the team's actual home ballpark?  Meanwhile, if Raleigh is your home, would you not feel at least indignant over the MLB team in your proverbial backyard, as opposed to a Durham resident's proverbial backyard, opting to glom onto the history and Hollywood-induced fame of a minor-league baseball brand rooted deeply in "the other big city" in your region?

 

Besides, the major advocacy group for a Raleigh MLB franchise seems to have too much of a Raleigh-first-and-only provincialism to want anything to do with Durham, let alone with the Durham Bulls organization and brand.  For starters, those in charge of the Raleigh MLB group seem to think that their desired team and a still-minor-league Durham Bulls club could coexist with each other easily.  Furthermore, all of the ballpark sites proposed so far by the Raleigh MLB group look to be firmly within the Raleigh city limits.

 

Then again, neither the A's nor the Rays seem to have any interest in moving to Raleigh or any nearby part of North Carolina anytime soon.  Thus, I will try to steer this thread back on topic with a link to a Morgan Wick blog post -- The Blunt Reality Facing Oakland Sports Fans -- that was made in late June, but which I find to be very relevant right now, with MLB owners presumably planning to vote on the 14th, 15th, or 16th of this month as to whether or not to let the A's relocate to the Las Vegas market.

[The_Admiral]

Oh god this is too many words about the prospect of a Major League Baseball team going to a loose constellation of McMansion tracts called "Pine Needle Carriage Estates"

[B-Rich]

On 11/12/2023 at 10:42 AM, the admiral said:

Oh god this is too many words about the prospect of a Major League Baseball team going to a loose constellation of McMansion tracts called "Pine Needle Carriage Estates"

Can't put all the proper emoji responses in,  so I'll just write it out:

 

Though I disagree with Admiral on a lot of things and take umbrage at quite few (Hey, I represent that statement!),  I still can laugh at his biting satire even when it skewers me and mine. 

'the admiral'-- the H.L. Mencken of the Sports logo board. 

[Walk-Off]

The Mercury News: A’s relocation: Teachers union to file lawsuit that could stop public funds for Vegas stadium

[Ridleylash]

1 hour ago, Walk-Off said:

The Mercury News: A’s relocation: Teachers union to file lawsuit that could stop public funds for Vegas stadium

Man, imagine the egg on Fisher's face if this suit actually goes through lmao

[GDAWG]

1 hour ago, Ridleylash said:

Man, imagine the egg on Fisher's face if this suit actually goes through lmao

 

he will send either Dave Kaval or Jeremy "For The Record" Aguero in any lawsuit hearing.

[TrueYankee26]

 

[Cujo]

VIVA!

 

[Walk-Off]

USA Today: It's official: Oakland Athletics' move to Las Vegas unanimously approved by MLB owners

 

This article by USA Today writer Bob Nightengale gives a good in-depth view on the vote and a few of the remaining issues that surround the relocation.

[TrueYankee26]

Before October 2017, Las Vegas, Nevada had only UNLV.

 

Since then the Golden Knights, Aces, Raiders, now A's will be in Las Vegas with probably more coming soon. Fenway Sports Group with LeBron as a partner wants to own an NBA team and that team may come into existence in a few years in Nevada

[FiddySicks]

Good riddance. Enjoy playing in a city that will have no water in a decade. 

[Ridleylash]

What a :censored:ing joke lmao. People can dunk on the Coyotes, but at least they have a set home.

 

The A's are just going to be a traveling circus ripped right out of the 50's, which is even more pathetic. The Los Angeles Buccaneers of baseball, everybody.

[gosioux76]

1 hour ago, FiddySicks said:

Good riddance. Enjoy playing in a city that will have no water in a decade. 

By the time Vegas runs out of water, the A's will have already relocated to Omaha. At this point, the A's are just a really slow-moving nomadic tribe. 

[GDAWG]

1 hour ago, Ridleylash said:

What a :censored:ing joke lmao. People can dunk on the Coyotes, but at least they have a set home.

 

The A's are just going to be a traveling circus ripped right out of the 50's, which is even more pathetic. The Los Angeles Buccaneers of baseball, everybody.

 

The A's playing in Summerlin.....will the MLBPA sign off on it?  There's no doubt that they will sign off on the A's playing in Oracle Park for a few years, but I have doubts that they will sign off on playing in a minor league park.  Going to a minor league park for the A's would have to require a visit from upper management of the MLBPA before they sign off on it.  

[LMU]

1 hour ago, Ridleylash said:

What a :censored:ing joke lmao. People can dunk on the Coyotes, but at least they have a set home.

 

The A's are just going to be a traveling circus ripped right out of the 50's, which is even more pathetic. The Los Angeles Buccaneers of baseball, everybody.

At least the A's will be a traveling circus with working plumbing in their clubhouse and at least a 78% reduction in opossums in the walls.

[GDAWG]

1 hour ago, TrueYankee26 said:

Before October 2017, Las Vegas, Nevada had only UNLV.

 

Since then the Golden Knights, Aces, Raiders, now A's will be in Las Vegas with probably more coming soon. Fenway Sports Group with LeBron as a partner wants to own an NBA team and that team may come into existence in a few years in Nevada

 

Also, Las Vegas isn't likely out of the running for an MLS team when MLS decides to expand to 32.  

[MJWalker45]

2 hours ago, Ridleylash said:

What a :censored:ing joke lmao. People can dunk on the Coyotes, but at least they have a set home.

 

The A's are just going to be a traveling circus ripped right out of the 50's, which is even more pathetic. The Los Angeles Buccaneers of baseball, everybody.

 

1 hour ago, LMU said:

At least the A's will be a traveling circus with working plumbing in their clubhouse and at least a 78% reduction in opossums in the walls.

Maybe they can just travel with the Savanna Bananas since they're trying to hit every MLB ballpark next year.