Another Ultimately Fruitless Plea For An MLB Team In Portland
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Monday, September 28, 2015
Perry Rosenbaum of GoLocalPDX partner site Oregon Sports News
West Coast baseball gets far less love and attention than East Coast baseball. This has moved past the realm of opinion and is squarely rooted in fact. Never mind that a West Coast team has won three of the last five World Series; teams closer to the Atlantic Ocean receive more air time on ESPN, MLB Network and the Internet than those closer to the Pacific.
As a result, most cities on this side of the country are dismissed as viable options when Major League Baseball starts teasing its fanbase with the concept of expansion. City names like Charlotte, New Orleans and Montreal are all bandied about as places that could soon have their own MLB team. One town that gets mentioned often (and dismissed quickly) is Portland. Even though it brings many of the same cultural and travel issues as Seattle, a Major League Baseball team could be the last thing Portland needs to finally be respected as a modern metropolis.
First of all, Portland is a hub of activity. People flock from all over the Pacific Northwest and elsewhere on a frequent basis to experience all that the place has to offer. Like the Mariners and other West Coast teams, the town’s relative proximity to Asia makes it appealing to the increasingly rabid baseball fans in Japan and beyond. Of course, there’s always the local fans to worry about (and coax into coming to games/buying team-issued merchandise…)
In that same vein, Portland has already proven it can sustain and support teams in other sports, as the Trail Blazers can attest. The town has had multiple Minor League Baseball teams in the past, most notably the Mavericks, who are the subject of a terrific Netflix documentary entitled The Battered Bastards of Baseball. Clearly, the demand and desire for a team is still there. If they can find a prospective owner who could fund a stadium rather than putting the burden on the taxpayers, all the better.
Of course, you can’t just add one team to 30 and call it an expansion. It’s likely that one of the aforementioned eastern cities (or a completely different place not mentioned here) will also get a team, bringing the grand total to 32. Some restructuring would become necessary, but I can’t imagine even the most stringent baseball fan would argue with two divisions in either league with eight teams each. As far as the playoff structure in that scenario: The top three teams in each division make the playoffs, with the first place team receiving a bye before facing the winner of the second place-third place matchup. From there, the winner in each division faces the winner of the adjacent one before facing their counterparts in the other league in the World Series. Everybody wins. You know, except for the 31 teams every year that don’t.
Nothing about this idea is novel or authentic. That being said, Portland needs to be high on the list once the baseball gods decide to add more fodder to the cannons. Hell, the bad athletic blood with Seattle is already built in, no need to shoe-horn a rivalry like Astros-Rangers. Maybe then, sports in the PNW will get a little more respect.
Related Slideshow: Oregon’s Most Devastating Sports Injuries
Here is GoLocalPDX's list of Oregon's most devastating injuries that have occured within the past 10 years.
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Greg Oden
Sept. 2007 — Micro fracture surgery on right knee
Dec. 2009 — Fractured left patella
Nov. 2010 — Micro fracture surgery on left knee
Dec. 2011 — Arthroscopic surgery on right knee
Unfortunately, Trail Blazer fans everywhere already know how drafting Greg Oden over Kevin Durant worked out for their team. After being be the #1 selection in the 2007 NBA Draft, Oden was never able to play a full season due to ongoing knee injuries. The team eventually waived him in March of 2012.
Photo via Wikipedia (image cropped)
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Dennis Dixon
Nov. 2007 — Torn left ACL
During the 2007 season Dixon had the Oregon Ducks as the #2 team in the country. That was until he suffered a torn ACL against Arizona State and attempted to play on it the following week against Arizona. After Dixon went down for the season the Ducks lost their remaining two regular season games. Fortunately, they were able to end their season on a high note with a victory over South Florida in the 2007 Sun Bowl.
Photo via Wikipedia (image cropped)
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Brandon Roy
Sept. 2008 — Cartilage removed from left knee
April 2010 — Meniscus tear in right knee
Jan. 2011 — Arthroscopic surgery on both knees
Brandon Roy is perhaps one of the most beloved Trail Blazers in the history of the franchise. After being drafted in 2006, and leading the team out of the "Jail-Blazer" era, he had to make the tough decision to retire at the young age of 28. His degenerative knees prevented Rip City from seeing their superstar ever play to his full potential.
Photo via Wikipedia (image cropped)
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Jacquizz Rodgers
Nov. 2008 — Grade II separation of the acromioclavicular joint
During the second to last game in 2008 Jacquizz Rodgers suffered a separated shoulder that ended his season. Unfortunately, this meant that he wasn't able to play in the Civil War, which was perhaps the biggest game of the year for the Beavers. If the Beavers had been able to defeat the Ducks they would've been able to book their tickets to play in the Rose Bowl. Instead, they went to the Sun Bowl where they defeated the Pittsburgh Panthers.
Photo via Wikipedia (image cropped)
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James Rodgers
Oct. 2009 — Torn left ACL
After participating in only 4 games during the 2009 season Rodgers went down with a torn ACL while playing against #9 Arizona. This couldn't have come at a worse time for Rodgers considering he was expected to have a breakout season. Rodgers, who was a senior at the time, was able to end his career at Oregon State as the career leader in all-purpose yards.
Photo via Wikipedia (image cropped)
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Joel Pryzbilla
Dec. 2009 — Ruptured right patella tendon and dislocated patella
In December of 2009 the Trail Blazers' backup center, Joel Pryzbilla, was lost for the season with a ruptured and dislocated patella. This was a huge blow to the Trailblazers' frontcourt because they had already lost Oden for the season a few weeks before. Pryzbilla was also the team's defensive anchor who provided an inside presence. "The Vanilla Gorilla" was sorely missed for the rest of the year.
Photo via Wikipedia (image cropepd)
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LaMichael James
Oct. 2011 — Dislocated right elbow
The 2011 season couldn't have started any better for LaMichael James. After the first game James became Oregon's career rushing leader, surpassing Derek Loville. During the second game he rushed for over 200 yards against Missouri State. Unfortunately, James' year was slowed by a dislocated elbow suffered against Cal. Luckily for Duck fans he was able to return to end the season.
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Nate Costa
Nov. 2010 —Torn Right ACL
After suffering a multitude of knee injuries throughout his career at Oregon Costa was forced to officially retire from football after tearing his ACL for the third time in agame against Washington. Although Costa's career was hobbled by injuries many of his teammates looked to him as their leader. Oregon's coaching staff referred to Costa as the "heart and soul" of the 2010 team that won the Rose Bowl.
Photo via Addictedtoquack (image cropped)
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Sean Mannion
Oct. 2012 — Torn Left Meniscus
During the beginning of the 2012-2013 season, Sean Mannion was enjoying one of his best as a Beaver. Unfortunately, he tore his left meniscus against Washington State that resulted in him missing around half the season. With Mannion leading the way the Beavers had the Pac-12's fourth rated offense, averaging 459.5 yeards per game. With Mannion sidelined Cody Vaz became the starting quarterback
Photo via Wikipedia (image cropped)
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Marcus Mariota
Oct. 2013 — Partial MCL Tear
Marcus Mariota is widely regarded as one of the greatest Oregon Duck quarterbacks to ever play at Autzen. Unfortunately a knee injury hobbled his sophomore season. After Mariota suffered a partial MCL tear against UCLA he conintued to play the remainder of the season. With Mariota's knee not allowing him to be as mobile as he was accustomed to teams were able to take advantage. In the weeks following the injury the Ducks suffered losses to Stanford and Arizona. Duck fans everywhere would like to know what that season woud've loked like if Mariota had stayed healthy.
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CJ McCollum
Oct. 2013 — Broken fifth Metatarsal In Left Foot
After being taken 10th overall during the 2013 NBA Draft the shooting guard out of Lehigh wasn't able to start his career the way many had hoped. After breaking the fifth metatarsal bone in his left foot the rookie wasn't able to take the court until January of 2014. Before the injury McCollum was in consideration for playing time behind Lillard.
Photo via Wikipedia (image cropped)
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Alex Morgan
Oct. 2013 — Stress reaction in talus bone
During the 2013 season Morgan suffered an injury that doctors misdiagnosed as a mildly sprained ankle. After a few additional tests were performed it turned out that Morgan had suffered a far more serious injury. She actually suffered a stress reaction in the talus bone that put her immediate future with Team USA in question. After rehabbing for 7 months Morgan was able to make a full recovery.
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Bralon Addison
April 2014 — Torn left ACL
After exceeding expectations as a freshman and sophomore at the University of Oregon Addison was expecting big things from his junior year. Unfortunately, Addison suffered a torn ACL during last year's spring practice that kept him sidelined the entire year. Without Addison in the lineup the receiving core never lived up to their full potential. If he had been able to play this season the National Championship may have wielded a different outcome.
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Ifo Ekpre-Olomu
Dec. 2014 — Torn ACL
In preparation for the first ever college football playoffs Ekpre-Olomu ended up tearing his ACL during a routine practice. This was a huge blow to the Ducks considering Ekpre-Olomu was one of the team's better defenders. He was also one of the best corners in the country who many analysists expected to be selected as high as the first round of the 2015 NFL Draft.
Photo via Wikipedia (image cropped)
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Wesley Matthews
March 2015 — Torn left achilles
Just 2 months before Matthews suffered a torn achilles he had become the Trailblazers' all-time leader in 3-point field goals made. It looked as though the Trailblazers were poised to make a deep playoff run. Things took a drastic turn when Matthews was lost for the season. With the team in a 0-2 hole against the Memphis Grizzlies it doesn't look as though they will be making it to the second round of the playoffs this year.
Photo via Wikipedia (image cropped)
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