Is Portland a Baseball City?

By Josh (9 Inning Know It All):

With the building of the new stadium in Hillsboro, OR, a suburb of Portland, OR, the question is brought up as to whether or not Portland is a baseball city.  Will the people of Portland actually come out and support a team, or has the NBA and MLS consumed all of the sports fans in the Portland area?

Triple-A Baseball In Portland the Negatives

Let’s face the facts, Portland had a Triple-A team and wasn’t able to keep it.  Major league players and top prospects stepped foot in Portland on a regular bases during the Triple-A season and yet I remember going to games where there were no fans at all.

During one game when I was getting autographs, I called over Sean O’Sullivan, who was playing for the Salt Lake Bees a Los Angeles Angels affiliate, for an autograph, and when he got to me he stopped and looked up into the stands and asked me if this was usual.  I hadn’t bothered to look up into the stands once I got down to the dugout to ask for autographs, so I turned around and checked to see what he was asking about.  To my surprise there were more workers at the game than fans.  O’Sullivan stepped up to a higher step and for about a minute we counted workers and fans to see just how many there were.  There were 75 total people, counting workers and fans, 20 minutes before game time.

It was moments like this that made me realize that the Beavers were a doomed team in Portland.

Triple-A Baseball in Portland the Positives

There were a lot of positives with Portland Beavers baseball as well.  In 2009 I was lucky to be a part of the Triple-A all-star game and home run derby that took place in Portland.  The home run derby alone made the experience amazing as Kevin Taylor, a senior in high school at the time, dazzled the crowd with home runs that not only cleared the right field fence but threatened to bust holes in the neighboring buildings because of how hard the balls were hit.

The Triple-A players weren’t about to be out done by a high school player.  Chad Huffman and Shelley Duncan would go on to hit towering shots of their own and would face off against each other in the championship.  Huffman, a Portland Beaver at the time, would bring the home town crowd to their feet as he laid claim to the 2009 Triple-A Home Run Derby Championship.

The following night in the Triple-A All-Star game, I was even more thrilled to watch future major leaguers like Austin Jackson, Drew Stubbs, Eric Young Jr. and others show off their talents.  There was also an additional bit of pride in this game for me as Rick Sweet, born and raised in Longview WA where I was also born and raised, coached the International League All-Star Team.

That was one of my favorite two days of baseball that I have ever been a part of.

Triple-A Baseball in Portland the Reality

Now let me be very honest about Beavers baseball in Portland.  The team was doomed to fail for one reason; they were affiliated with the San Diego Padres.  The Padres have trouble drawing interest in San Diego, so how in the world was a team affiliated with the Padres going to create enough buzz to draw in the Portland fan base?

Portland Baseball History

Most people don’t know that professional baseball started in 1903 in Portland.  Portland was one of the original teams in the Pacific Coast League.  The Pacific Coast league was the only professional baseball west of St. Louis at the time so a lot of great ball players went through the league.  Players like Lou Piniella, Satchel Paige, Hall of Famer Stan Coveleski, Jim Thorpe, and countless others.

Of the six original cities of the Pacific Coast League only Portland did not have professional baseball this summer.  San Francisco, Oakland, Los Angeles and Seattle all have major league teams, while Sacramento has a Triple-A baseball team.

My Thoughts

Is Portland a baseball city? I don’t completely think that it is, but it doesn’t need to be a ‘baseball city’ in order for baseball to be successful here.  As I mentioned a few weeks ago in my Baseball in the Northwest blog, there is enough of a fan base to support a professional baseball team.

I have no doubt that the new Hillsboro team should be able to draw upon a great Northwest fan base and be a successful organization.  However, for Portland this team should be a starting point for building to a larger goal.

The city of Portland should strive to one day be host to a major league baseball team.  With only the Seattle Mariners in the northwest a team in Portland, especially an American League team, would create a great deal of excitement for baseball fans.  Portland and Seattle would create a natural rivalry which has been seen in the NBA with the Blazers and Sonics, and now with the MLS teams the Timbers and the Sounders.

For me the logical choice to move to Portland has always been the Oakland A’s.  They have become the little brother to the San Francisco Giants and their attempts to move to a better location in the Bay area have been blocked by territory restrictions.

I am super excited to have baseball back in the Portland area but a short season Single-A team is not the biggest size organization that Portland can have.  A major league team would fit in perfectly with the Blazers and Timbers.