Minor League "Single A" Baseball: To Vancouver, WA?

[Nate Dogg]

Read up.

It looks like the baseball void in the Portland, OR area will be filled for either the 2012 or 2013 season when the Yakima Bears move to Vancouver, WA. A stadium is being planned for Clark County to open as early as June 2012, but given the aggressive schedule to make that happen, the move may have to wait until the 2013 season.

I thought that there was a very high likelihood that a scenario like this would play out since the Portland area is the largest market without a professional baseball team. After the Portland Beavers left at the end of the 2010 season for Tucson, AZ, there were no plans to bring baseball back to the area, but you had to know it was only a matter of time before an announcement like this would be made.

I also think that there is a good chance that in about ten years, the Pacific Coast League will bring AAA baseball back to Portland. This could play out like the events in the 1990′s when the Beavers left after the 1993 season for Salt Lake City, UT and the Northwest League team in Bend, OR moved to Portland in 1995. Then in 2001, the Pacific Coast League team in Albuquerque moved to Portland and the Northwest League team moved to the Tri-City area of Washington.

Take a look at some of my historical tables to see how the game of musical chairs has played out in the past.

http://minorleaguesource.com/blog/2011/05/14/yakima-bears-moving-to-vancouver-wa/
Wikipedia has similar info.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yakima_Bears

 

[julius]

ooh boy, AAA baseball back in Portland within 10 years. Yay.

 

[Natebishop3]

ooh boy, AAA baseball back in Portland within 10 years. Yay.

I've already started a countdown clock!

 

[BLAZER PROPHET]

I'd rather have an A or AA team. The AA teams are usually where the top prospects are.

Maybe the parking and ticket sales can be used to build the I-5 bridge from hell.

 

[BoBoBREWSKI]

I live in Vancouver and will not be happy if tax $$ goes towards building a stadium that will draw 1000 fans a game.

 

[Mediocre Man]

Portland should be embarrassed at their professional sports outlook. A city that size should have at least 2. Jobs and tax dollars aside, it adds entertainment to a city and helps increase tourism

 

[tlongII]

Portland should be embarrassed at their professional sports outlook. A city that size should have at least 2. Jobs and tax dollars aside, it adds entertainment to a city and helps increase tourism

You don't count the Timbers?

 

[Wheels]

hate all you want... but they have 2 professional sports teams.. and have for some time *ducks and runs*

 

[Wheels]

Tlong wins

 

[Mediocre Man]

You don't count the Timbers?

No, I don't. I realize there are many people that think soccer is a major sport, but I am not one of them. I also don't include Major league Lacross or the WNBA. I realize soccer is becomming more popular, so for the sake of argument, if you want to include it then Portland should have 3

 

[PapaG]

No, I don't. I realize there are many people that think soccer is a major sport, but I am not one of them. I also don't include Major league Lacross or the WNBA. I realize soccer is becomming more popular, so for the sake of argument, if you want to include it then Portland should have 3

I've enjoyed watching the Timbers on TV, even last night when they again blew a lead and lost 2 points in the process. That said, MLS is certainly not a major sport in the US. It barely draws in terms of a TV audience, the best players in the world don't play in the MLS (unlike MLB/NHL/NBA/NFL), and although it has a rabid fanbase, nobody cares about the sport outside of cities with teams. The frickin' All-Star game is the best of the MLS players against Manchester United, for chrissakes.

 

[MickZagger]

I live in Vancouver and will not be happy if tax $$ goes towards building a stadium that will draw 1000 fans a game.

Propstra Stadium can already hold 1,000 peeps.

 

[Wheels]

No, I don't. I realize there are many people that think soccer is a major sport, but I am not one of them. I also don't include Major league Lacross or the WNBA. I realize soccer is becomming more popular, so for the sake of argument, if you want to include it then Portland should have 3

moreso than it being a major sport. I'm a huge Soccer and Timbers fan, and I dont think its a major sport here yet... but you said Portland should have 2 professional sports teams. Timbers have been professional. Whether or not its a major sport is different.