As a fan from Ottawa, I'd be at at least 6-8 games a year and there's plenty of fans here that'd travel the 2 hours to see a whole bunch of teams as well.
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MLB Expansion concept
- Thread starter EdReedFan20
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As a fan from Ottawa, I'd be at at least 6-8 games a year and there's plenty of fans here that'd travel the 2 hours to see a whole bunch of teams as well.
I just don't want to see Yankee and Red Sox fans at the trop (or future downtown Tampa stadium) anymore unless it's interleague.
If Tampa Bay moves to downtown Tampa they will draw much better than everyone you listed including Montreal.
TarpitCarnivore
Member
This worked for NY because the Islanders were far enough out on LI to have their own fanbase and not be mixed with Rangers. Now that they're in Brooklyn it's been a bit shaky.
Devils fanbase has been fairweather since the beginning/
A third baseball team in NJ would just make no sense. Southern NJ is Phillies territory, Central/North is a mix of Mets and Yankees fans.
enanogrande
Member
I Love how some people are advocating for the contraction of the Marlins, a team run into the ground by Jeffrey Loria, while asking for a return of the Expos.
Because of course, Montreal deserves a team. We all know they were doing great until they were run into the ground by Jeffrey Loria.
Because of course, Montreal deserves a team. We all know they were doing great until they were run into the ground by Jeffrey Loria.
nillapuddin
Member
I want to believe that because baseball at an amateur level is huge in FL, and trop is in a shit location
But they would find a way to get there if they really cared.
But lots of population, income, tv ratings posted in this thread disagree with you
TheSecondSpitter
Member
You think Mets and Phillies fans are a better class of fan?
I'm a Mets fan but I know the shortcomings of my team's fanbase.
I can definitely envisage this especially if they are in the AL East.
CosmicQueso
Member
This... this is an excellent point.
TheSecondSpitter
Member
If Loria pulled the trigger, Selig gave him the gun.
Miggytronz
Member
Aren't the Expos basically the Nationals? So?
XiaNaphryz
LATIN, MATRIPEDICABUS, DO YOU SPEAK IT
While in Oahu on vacation a few weeks back, I was flipping through local channels and caught a local high school baseball game being broadcast. The quality was better than a lot of minor league games I've seen on TV - HD feed, decent on-screen graphics, multiple cameras that had all the standard angles you'd see on any MLB broadcast, PbP and color commentators...I was rather impressed, lol.
EdReedFan20
Member
The Washington Nationals are as much the Montreal Expos as the Baltimore Orioles are the St. Louis Browns, the Oakland Athletics are the Philadelphia/Kansas City Athletics, the Atlanta Braves are the Boston/Milwaukee Braves, the Minnesota Twins are the Washington Senators (1st version), Texas Rangers are the Washington Senators (2nd version), and so on and so forth. I don't think any players from the move to DC still remain with the team. In fact I don't know if there is anyone involved with the move (including front office) that remain with DC.
TheSecondSpitter
Member
No, the Expos played in Montreal. The Nats play in DC.
Hope that clears up any confusion.
Unlike the other franchises you listed, the Nats have erased all their Expos records, unretired numbers, etc.
EdReedFan20
Member
So, sort of like a Ravens situation... sort of. When the Browns moved to Baltimore (I find it funny both Baltimore teams were once called The Browns), none of the records moved with the team and when the Browns resumed three years later in 1999, they were treated as a deactivated team that was reactivated (with their old records remaining with the team). If Montreal gets a new baseball team, I think MLB should do the same for them.
TheSecondSpitter
Member
CFL, soccer, concerts and the 2017 Artistic Gymnastic World Championships (lololololololol!)
To be honest, it is in a shitty location. They need a stadium closer to Downtown.
The plan was to build a new stadium next to the Bell Centre where the Habs play. It would have been perfect.
EdReedFan20
Member
Indeed they are!
TheSecondSpitter
Member
EdReedFan20
Member
It was based on Jacob's Field. So it would have looked something like this:
Didn't old Yankee Stadium have something similar, but even further back?
TheSecondSpitter
Member
Yes. The photograph of Jacobs Field is somewhat of an optical illusion. It' doesn't go back much more than Camden Yards, if truth be told.
JohnTinker
Limbaugh Parrot
The Rays have got to get out of St Pete. If they were allowed to build in downtown Tampa, they wouldn't have nearly the same attendance woes they do now.
ShaggsMagoo
Member
You guys are going about this the wrong way. We need less divisions, not more. And by less, I mean just one. Here is whats should (but never will) be done. Get rid of the divisions, get rid of the separate leagues, get rid of the unholy blight on God's greatest game that is the Designated Hitter, get rid of the playoffs.
Play a 174 game schedule, every team plays every other team six times, a three game series at home and a three game series away. The team with the best record is the champion.
No more of teams sneaking into the playoffs with a barely over .500 record and then getting hot and winning a championship bullshit. No more having the three best teams in the game playing in the same division and having to cannibalize each other to have the winner lose to the damn Mets. No more of that utter sacrilege that is the Designated Hitter.
TV Execs will be mad, but fuck them. Let's take our game back America!
Play a 174 game schedule, every team plays every other team six times, a three game series at home and a three game series away. The team with the best record is the champion.
No more of teams sneaking into the playoffs with a barely over .500 record and then getting hot and winning a championship bullshit. No more having the three best teams in the game playing in the same division and having to cannibalize each other to have the winner lose to the damn Mets. No more of that utter sacrilege that is the Designated Hitter.
TV Execs will be mad, but fuck them. Let's take our game back America!
FelixOrion
Poet Centuriate
Ehhhhhh, idk. Yeah the Puerto Rican economy is shit atm, but there's a much smaller barrier to entry to expand there as its technically a domestic expansion.
bonesmccoy
Banned
Compared to Montreal though? As bad as the stadium issue is there, it has the corporate presence, population and gdp to support a team.
The Rays have one of the highest TV ratings in baseball. Tampa Bay is the largest media market in Florida. St Pete already let the Rays look at sites in Tampa and it would be dumb for MLB to move a team from the 12th biggest market in the U.S.
Doesn't have a population with enough money to support it. They couldn't even keep minor league hockey and basketball teams to stay.
I've heard that driving to games in St Pete are horrible.
As someone that goes to a lot of Rays games it's true. Rays games are usually at 7 so it's around the time traffic is still horrible and people are getting out of work. Plus the area around the trop is so shady. The Lightning do so well in downtown Tampa so I don't see the Rays not doing well either.
Are the Marlins located in downtown Miami now?
The Marlins need to return to teal, black, and silver. Their new logo and branding suuuuuucks.
Not exactly in downtown Miami it's still a little ways from it. I agree about the old colors they were much better. They should of just changed the F to an M and called it a day.
KuwabaraTheMan
Banned
This is from last year
This map supports the idea that the Hampton Roads region in Virginia could support a major league team.
No regional loyalty to the Orioles or Nationals. Good sized population in the area and could tap into Richmond and North Carolina as well. Given the complete lack of any professional sports teams in the state of Virginia at all, and nothing within a few hours drive for people in the Hampton Roads area, I think there would be a definite fervor if a team was established.
EdReedFan20
Member
Actually, since 2012, baseball has been pretty fairly balanced. I posted this a while back:
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1120104
KuwabaraTheMan
Banned
That's not really true. MLB has a lot of parity right now.
In the AL, pretty much only the Twins are without any hope of reaching the playoffs. In the NL, things are a bit more lobsided, but half the teams at least still have a chance to be playing in the postseason.
bonesmccoy
Banned
That's a playoff structure problem more than anything else. Purists will disagree, but MLB needs to figure out a way to include more teams in the post-season. There are simply too many other entertainment options around now to expect fans to remain interested in a (yet another) futile season.
I would argue (without generating my inner-baseball purist self) that the post-season is already the perfect length. It lasts one month, which is shorter than the other three post-seasons. Adding more teams would push the world series to mid-November, which is ridiculous.
EdReedFan20
Member
Not necessarily. If they expand to 32 teams, and drop the wild cards, it would still be the same number of playoff teams (pre-wild card play-in game). I think the set-up would be the top 2 teams in each league would get home-field advantage. So, it'd be the 4th seed at the 1st seed and the 3rd seed at the 2nd seed. Whatever highest seed is remaining has home field advantage. At the World Series, the team with the better record gets home field advantage (even if both are 1st seed). This also means the All-Star game winner means nothing again.
RoslindaleOne
Member
They could shorten the season and end it halfway into September.
manzoman96
Member
*to myself* there's no way 2011 was the last time the Phillies made the playoffs
*checks google* oh my gosh it's true. It's been that long... ;_;
Godzilla's Left Toe
Member
With the cluster fucks that are the Oakland and Tampa Bay stadium situation i don't see Expansion until 2030. and lol at the Idea of a 3rd New York team the Yankees and Mets will never let it happen.
No it doesn't. There was no political will to save the Expos or to provide a solid baseball only stadium that pretty much every team in the league has. Forced to use the Stade du Olympique was a compromise.
Only recently with the Blue Jays success have Torontonians realized they need to support the team better and with the departure of the Argos they finally have an all dirt infield instead of 4 patches of dirt and turf.
I think Vancouver would be more appealing than Montreal not only because a lot of BC baseball players are going to the majors, but a lot of canadian little league teams are coming from BC, and it would allow the Blue Jays to thrive in the East. It would never happen though as economically it makes more sense for more teams in the US. A Las Vegas team with a retractable roof and air conditioned field would probably be a great expansion for the MLB.
The city of Tampa wants to build the Rays a new stadium. They already have land picked out on where they would like to build it. The next step now is to see what kind of costs this stadium have and who is going to foot the bill.
As far as Oakland goes they don't seem to show any urgency to build the As or the Raiders new stadiums and look like they are going to lose both teams to other cities.
That I am fine with. I just don't want to see the playoff field expand to where half the teams make the playoffs. As for the All-Star game outcome mattering, I don't see that changing any time soon. As much as hate to admit it, it does help the All-Star game remain at a high level.
I'm fine with shortening the regular season. Basically, I just don't want the World Series to bleed into November. Weather becomes worse as the season goes on. I would prefer the World Series to happen in the middle of October like the old days.
Lazy vs Crazy
Member
I think Hartford could support an NL team. Market is already split between the Yankees and Sox. It would give New England another team to follow.
Crazymoogle
Member
So the government should build a stadium for the team? That's ridiculous. They were broke back then and still had to pay off the Big O. The bottom line, though, is that Loria bled the team to death and then passed on the corpse to MLB, who even then tried to have the team eliminated entirely. When your owner and MLB make a concerted effort to erase your best season and tear apart the lineup, goodwill is hard to find.
Anyway, the problem for both Montreal and Vancouver would not just be finding a ballpark, but securing an owner with the pockets to handle today's game. Thats all MLB really wants.
EdReedFan20
Member
I often wonder if the Expos would still be around if the 94/95 strike didn't happen. They clearly were on their way to the playoffs in 94. Had they gone all the way, they might've gotten some more stars to sign with them and gone on a multi-season run.
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