Allez les Expos?

[Guest Mets � Willets Point]

The New York Times reports that Montreal has baseball fever.

Personally, I'd love to have a team in Montreal again, although I think that neither moving one of the current teams nor expanding again would necessarily be good for baseball on the whole.

Although, if they do expand to 32 teams I think that would be a great opportunity to realign MLB into four regional leagues of eight teams each.

[Ceetar]

I don't really believe that Montreal has baseball fever beyond a small subset.

Strongly favor a team in NWish Jersey though.

[Guest d'Kong76]

I think we can rattle off 25 regions more deserving of an
MLB team than NW New Jersey.

[Edgy MD]

[*:9m1zl4eh]Connecticut[/*:m:9m1zl4eh]
[*:9m1zl4eh]Norfolk/Virginia Beach[/*:m:9m1zl4eh]
[*:9m1zl4eh]Buffalo[/*:m:9m1zl4eh]
[*:9m1zl4eh]Vancouver[/*:m:9m1zl4eh]
[*:9m1zl4eh]San Juan[/*:m:9m1zl4eh]
[*:9m1zl4eh]Charlotte[/*:m:9m1zl4eh]
[*:9m1zl4eh]Mexico City[/*:m:9m1zl4eh]
[*:9m1zl4eh]Monterrey[/*:m:9m1zl4eh]
[*:9m1zl4eh]Honolulu[/*:m:9m1zl4eh]
[*:9m1zl4eh]New Orleans[/*:m:9m1zl4eh]
[*:9m1zl4eh]Um...[/*:m:9m1zl4eh]
[*:9m1zl4eh]Er...[/*:m:9m1zl4eh]
[*:9m1zl4eh]Indianapolis?[/*:m:9m1zl4eh]
[*:9m1zl4eh]Dallas?[/*:m:9m1zl4eh]
[*:9m1zl4eh]...[/*:m:9m1zl4eh][/list:o:9m1zl4eh]

[Guest Mets � Willets Point]

Portland, San Antonio, Santo Domingo.

Havana, if relations with Cuba continue to improve.

[Edgy MD]

The Sacramento Goldies!

The Austin Freaks!

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

antitrust exemption won;t allow a team in New Jersey even though it probably would work as a thing. Certainly couldn't hurt keeping Mets feet to the fire.

I am in favor of Tampa losing their team; they don't support it and they were stupid to have built that ugly stadium in the first place. Would like to have another reason to visit Montreal.

[Benjamin Grimm]

1. Connecticut
2. Norfolk/Virginia Beach
3. Buffalo
4. Vancouver
5. San Juan
6. Charlotte
7. Mexico City
8. Monterrey
9. Honolulu
10. New Orleans
11. Um...
12. Er...
13. Indianapolis?
14. Dallas?
15. ...

Edgy MD wrote:

Tennessee. San Jose.

[Ceetar]

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: antitrust exemption won;t allow a team in New Jersey even though it probably would work as a thing. Certainly couldn't hurt keeping Mets feet to the fire. I am in favor of Tampa losing their team; they don't support it and they were stupid to have built that ugly stadium in the first place. Would like to have another reason to visit Montreal.

antitrust makes any expansion a tricky conversation in many cases.

[Edgy MD]

Yeah, the real dream for me isn't adding a team here or removing a team there. It's blowing the anti-trust exemption sky-high.

[Ceetar]

Let's blow away the blackout rules first, would save me some money.

[Benjamin Grimm]

I do think Northern New Jersey should have a team, and so should Connecticut. And there should be American League teams in Philadelphia and St. Louis, maybe not in the city but in the outer suburbs. (If the Athletics leave Oakland I'd love to see them go to King of Prussia, Pennsylvania.)

[Vic Sage]

As the child of Brooklyn Dodger fans, i'm never in favor of a team abandoning a fan base so an owner can make more money elsewhere.

Basically, owners own a "franchise"; that is, the right to operate a team in a specific location, under the umbrella of league guidelines and regulations. The way a radio/cable/tv company has the right to operate a channel on a certain band/frequency/channel of public airwaves, or a public utility has the right to run its power lines/pipe lines in a certain region. If an owner doesn't like having a team in the city he's in, he should be required to sell the team to another owner in that locale. If there is no buyer, he can only sell his franchise back to the league (at a discounted rate), who can then sell the team (i.e., its existing contracts and properties) to an owner in whatever city they deem has the best ability to support a MLB franchise (but, without requiring the city to pay for a billionaire's ballpark!) -- it may be the original city, or some other that has put together a solid proposal for MLB to consider.

I'd love to see another team in Montreal, but not at the expense of Tampa, unless the TB owner sells the franchise back to the league and the league deems that Tampa has been unable or unwilling to support a franchise and Montreal has a superior proposal. I don't want to see a TB owner carpetbag his way to big profits at that community's expense.

As long as MLB has an anti-trust exemption, i'd like to see them use their power to benefit the greatest number of fans and communities, not just individual billionaires. If their just going to employ their exemption for their own enrichment, then screw them and repeal the exemption, and let them compete in an open market.

Edited August 20, 2015 by Guest

[Edgy MD]

I'm certainly of the belief that they will and do use their exemption for their own benefit. And that they hurt baseball fans and damage the culture of the game every day with it.

[batmagadanleadoff]

1. Connecticut
2. Norfolk/Virginia Beach
3. Buffalo
4. Vancouver
5. San Juan
6. Charlotte
7. Mexico City
8. Monterrey
9. Honolulu
10. New Orleans
11. Um...
12. Er...
13. Indianapolis?
14. Dallas?
15. ...

Baseball has a Dallas team. The Texas Rangers, stadiumed in Arlington, TX, play in the Dallas/Fort Worth market.





If baseball ever returns to Montreal, I'd hope that the new team is named the Expos and that they wear the original Expos uni. But best remaining market? That's easy. And it'll never happen.


Brooklyn.


TRIVIA: Buffalo, #3 on your list, is the only city/metropolitan area that was designated to host baseball in the proposed Continental League of the early '60s that, to date, never got an MLB franchise.

[Edgy MD]

I know where the Texas Rangers play, but thanks for the map. Brooklyn has a team too, in the same spirit.

I tend to believe that the Dallas/FW/Arlington region has the surfeit of monetary and population growth to support a second team with the Dallas name on the jerseys.

Interesting Dallas fact: Nobody really agrees about why the place is called "Dallas."

[Benjamin Grimm]

I always assumed it was named after Steve Dallas, of Bloom County.

[MFS62]

1. Connecticut
2. Norfolk/Virginia Beach
3. Buffalo
4. Vancouver
5. San Juan
6. Charlotte
7. Mexico City
8. Monterrey
9. Honolulu
10. New Orleans
11. Um...
12. Er...
13. Indianapolis?
14. Dallas?
15. ...

Edgy MD wrote:

And every city that now has an American League team. That shit they play, without pitchers hitting or strategy, isn't really baseball.

Oh, and screw Montreal. home runs should not be measures in meters.

Later

[Edgy MD]

I certainly disagree. The metric system was one of the distinct charms about the team, along with Youppi! and French folk songs on the organ.

[Ceetar]

MFS62 wrote: Oh, and screw Montreal. home runs should not be measures in meters. Later

I think all home runs should be measured in meters.

I like the idea of a sub-100 meter home run. Only 2 or 3 this year so far, all at Fenway Park. Last year just two, one at Fenway and one at Tropicana.

[MFS62]

Edgy MD wrote: I certainly disagree. The metric system was one of the distinct charms about the team, ...

I know. Its is one of the things about which my Canadian baseball fan friends and I kid each other.
I once stumped one of them by sending him an email that said, "OK, so you measure gas in liters, temperature in Celsius and home runs in metres. (That's the way he spells it) I saw the box score for last night's Blue Jays game. It said the attendance was 18,674. How many people is that in American numbers"?

He gave up.

Later

[Frayed Knot]

[fimg=300:3tlx6ow4]http://cdn.baseballamerica.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/www.randomhouse.com_-197x300.jpeg[/fimg:3tlx6ow4]

[Guest d'Kong76]

Between the Mets and Yanks and the minor league/independent teams
the Greater NY are is saturated enough with no room for more.

Ceetar wrote: I think all home runs should be measured in meters.

I think we should change your name from Optimistic Mets Fan
to Contrary Mets Fan.

[Edgy MD]

I think, really, there's room for about six teams in the New York City region. London has five Premier League football clubs (I think), and dozens more in the lesser divisions.

Greater New York should be flooded with teams. Trust me that it would be awesome. I would never lie to you. No, not about this.

[Guest d'Kong76]

It's fine the way it is. Baseball is dying, just ask SJR!

[Guest Mets � Willets Point]

Edgy MD wrote: I certainly disagree. The metric system was one of the distinct charms about the team, along with Youppi! and French folk songs on the organ.

I also enjoyed seeing the lanceur surrender a coup de circuit. Actually the announcer at Stade Olympique did a great job of saying everything in French & then English, quickly but not sacrificing clarity.

Edgy MD wrote: I think, really, there's room for about six teams in the New York City region. London has five Premier League football clubs (I think), and dozens more in the lesser divisions. Greater New York should be flooded with teams. Trust me that it would be awesome. I would never lie to you. No, not about this.

I believe London has 14 clubs in the top four divisions (the Premier League and Football League), and has had as many as 7 in the Premier League at the same time.

[Guest d'Kong76]

Soccer clubs are like churches over there, baseball isn't that way here.

[Ceetar]

d'Kong76 wrote: Ceetar wrote: I think all home runs should be measured in meters. I think we should change your name from Optimistic Mets Fan to Contrary Mets Fan.

Metric over US any day. Let sanity reign.

[Guest d'Kong76]

They tried that when I was a kid, didn't last very long.

[Guest Mets � Willets Point]

d'Kong76 wrote: Soccer clubs are like churches over there, baseball isn't that way here.

Kind of a chicken and an egg thing though since we've always had a franchise system with territorial rights. We'll never know what might have happened in the US with a club system.