This week, I saw a rather familiar story. The Portland Tribune wrote a story on the City Council “unanimously” agreeing to “formally support” bringing an MLB team to the area. The mayor of Portland even claimed that this resolution showed that the city was “very serious” about getting a team.
Now, I am not denying that they may be closer than ever, nor am I making fun of them for doing whatever they can to get an MLB team. But haven’t we seen this before? I swear, Portland has almost had an MLB team for my entire life. Some claim that the city has been trying to get an MLB team for 20+ years now.
When Oregon Live penned an MLB story last year that discussed information on possible locations for a new ballpark, even they admitted how often the subject gets discussed:
“Is the Lloyd Center any more likely to one day host games on a perfect Portland summer day than were Zidell Yards, Terminals 1 and 2, the central post office or the Portland Public Schools headquarters, all locations the group has aggressively pursued in the past?” — OregonLive, 05/23/23
As the Oregon Live story observed last year, those pushing for an MLB team may just throw up their hands in defeat if MLB doesn’t soon give them a team (to be fair, this comment was more pegged at the location of any new ballpark). So, I was curious what the history was of Portland wanting a team for the last 20–30 years. Let’s look at what I could find:
— StadiumPage.com- In 2003, the State of Oregon’s legislature approved a bill that funded a new baseball stadium in Portland. Specifically, it “set aside $150 million in income taxes from players’ salaries to help build a ballpark”. This went nowhere.
- In 2011, the Oregonian reported that Portland’s economic development director had been working with others to “place a 4,000-seat ballpark on a state-owned maintenance facility within the city”. I mean, for starters, 4k? The chances of MLB accepting that small of a ballpark are zero.
- In 2013, the media began to get a bit panicked and crazy: “Portland deserves a pipe dream, even if it turns out to be one. I don’t care if the wild idea is bringing MLB or the NFL or NHL here. The line has to start somewhere”.
- In 2014, Portland apparently had everything ready for an MLB team. They had “backers” that would build a “blueprint for a state-of-the-art baseball-only stadium”. They had support from the local government, which meant that the “land and the infrastructure” was included. The only thing missing? An actual team. That never came.
- In 2018, investors tried and failed to buy land from a public school for their ballpark. Then, the investors looked into about 15 other locations that could be suitable. It confused everyone. Finally, a group of investors bought a piece of property that may or may not need $2 billion in taxpayer money. Before that was even figured out, this plan fell apart.
- In 2019, a group of investors finally gotten hold of a solid piece of property for a potential ballpark. They were also interested in teaming with local Native American groups. One local writer visited the property and could see it all coming together. The writer must still be waiting for it to come out of the shadows.
— Unknown but link givenGive them a team!
2024-11-04