Steve Novick Weighs in on Baseball

With the loss of the Portland Beavers, I've made a pledge to never vote for any member of the current City Council again.  Sam Adams said he's not running again.  So, one down.  Randy Leonard's not running either.  Two down.  But what about potential candidates?  How do they feel about what went down with the Beavers?

Recently, I sent Steve Novick, candidate for Randy Leonard's council seat, an email asking him how he felt about the baseball situation and asking what he would do to bring baseball back.  Here's his response.

 I am a baseball guy myself, but am leery of investing public money in any sports-related venture. I can't stand soccer, but can't say I disagree with choosing major league soccer over minor league baseball. So I'd like to have a team here and would want to cooperate with an effort to restore it, but in terms of committing public resources, I"d be reticent.

Not the overwhelming support I wanted, but the guy seems honest and didn't pull punches with someone (me) who was obviously a baseball fanatic, just to get my vote.

I've sent similar emails to Charlie Hales and Eileen Brady.  If they ever respond, I'll post their comments.

Sam Adams Won't Run for Re-election. Hip, Hip, Hooray!

Portland Mayor Sam Adams today announced that he will not run for re-election.  Don't let the door hit you in the butt on your way out, Sam.  And don't worry that we'll forget you.  You'll always be known as the mayor who allowed professional baseball to leave town.

What's Up With Vancouver's Bid For Minor League Baseball

In May, the owners of the Yakima Bears, a short-season Single-A affiliate of the Arizona Diamondbacks, announced interest in relocating to Vancouver, WA.  The proposed move would include remodeling or replacing the stadium at Clark College and ending up with a 3,500 (or so) seat park that would be used both by the Bears and by Clark College.  With lawn seating, capacity could be up to 6,000.  Since that time, some progress has been made.  But like the situation with Portland's Beavers, citizen reaction, at least on the Vancouver Columbian website has been decidedly mixed.

Part of the controversy is the addition of a 5% county-wide entertainment admissions tax to help pay for the stadium.  The tax would be levied on entertainment such as movie tickets, the county fair, motocross events, etc. I believe the tax would not be imposed on events of non-profit organizations, such as the Vancouver Symphony.

There are many articles about the progress of acquiring the Bears.  Here are a few links to get you started.  If you read the comments from readers and compare with what you remember from discussions about the Beavers, you may experience deja vu all over again.

Exclusive Baseball Talks OK'd By County
Nonprofit  Backs Bid to Lure Baseball
Toss a Few Questions at Baseball Discussion
Tuesday's Public Forum on Baseball Cancelled

Saturday at Joe Etzel Field

Saturday was a beautiful day for baseball.  My wife and I took in the 1:00 WCL-Portland game between the Stars and the Dukes at the University of Portland.  Here she is kicking back and waiting for the game to start.

The umpires were just coming out onto the field.  As you can see, not many fans in stands.  A typical weekend day game draws about 20-50 people, most of them parents or relatives of the players.  But don't let the fact that few people attend keep you from coming.  The whole herd mentality thing really bothers me.  If nobody else goes, maybe I shouldn't either.  Maybe there's something wrong with me if I go and no one else does.  Baloney!  It was a beautiful day and a nice game.  Empty seats mean more choices and more room to spread out.  I'll bloviate more about the herd mentality in a later post.

On a sunny day, the best seats are way over on first base side, under a shade tree.  We were the only ones over there for a while.  But by the fourth inning or so, other people decided they were too hot and joined us, and we had our own little cheering section.

I asked one of the Dads how kids get picked for these teams.  He told me their college coaches recommend them, and they get thrown into a pool and drafted by the coaches of the summer teams.  They try to make sure that at least three or four guys from the same college team are on a single summer team, so they've got a few people around that they know.    The regular WCL consists of mostly Division 1 players, but some of the guys in the WCL-Portland can get called up to one of those teams.  When they do, they have to sign a contract and everything.  No pay is involved, but it is a promise, both by team and player, of how long the player will be on the team.

Who won the game?  Does it matter?  Would you care if I told you?  The thing about summer league ball here in PDX, and about minor league professional ball too, is that players and managers care about winning and losing.  We the fans don't have to.  Suffice to say there were sparkling double plays, good pitching for five or six innings, and a few dumb errors and running mistakes.  Not bad for three bucks.  I'll opine more about why  fans of minor league baseball shouldn't care about wins and losses in a later post.  For now, here's some more action, one of the Dukes at bat.

West Coast League - Portland

With the University of Portland's baseball season over, the best option for live baseball in PDX is the  West Coast League - Portland.  Jamie Goldberg of the Oregonian recently published a piece about the West Coast League, but he didn't mention the WCL-Portland.  The league consists of six teams of college kids, mostly freshmen and sophomores, from nearby universities (Linfield, Clackamas CC, Chemeketa, Mt. Hood CC, etc.).  It's a wood-bat league, and games are played at the University of Portland and at Mt. Hood CC.  I've attended several games at UP this year, and I've enjoyed them all.  The play is better than high school ball, but not up UP standards.  It feels like the WCL-Portland is a minor-league version of the regular WCL, which plays its games in towns up and down the west coast.  Still, at least at UP, the scoreboard is running, the concession stand is open, and the PA announcer is at work.  For only three bucks a ticket, it's a deal.  I plan to be there tomorrow for the 1:00PM game.

Introduction

Portland, Oregon is the largest US city without a major league baseball team.  As of this year, it is the largest US city without a Triple-A team.  And it is by far the largest city without professional baseball of any kind.  The Beavers played their last game in Portland on September 6, 2010 to a packed house.

It looks like we won't have to worry about this sign any more.  Or do we?  With this blog, I'll comment on some of the few baseball options left for Portland fans.  And about efforts to bring back baseball to Portland. So stay tuned.  And be kind.  I'm still new at this.