Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community - View Single Post

pan6467 · 09-04-2004, 06:12 PM

I look back as an Indians fan growing up in the 70's and 80's and see a lot of similarities with other cities.

Tampa has some decent players and in a few years may actually be a good team. Unlike the D-Backs and the Marlins (who had owners spend fortunes to win then ripped the team apart because they couldn't afford the players) Tampa and Colorado are running the same as any other expansion franchise has in its first decade. Poor attendence, poor teams. Toronto and Seattle were my youths expansion teams and they sucked until the late 80's. Seattle kept plugging away and then got some great drafts (JR. A-ROD, Johnson...) but they were almost always right around Cleveland in attendence. Toronto got lucky and in the early 90's got Gordon ash as their GM and he led them to a WS by way of FA, trades and drafts.

I wish baseball would just give cities like Montreal, Tampa, Miami, Minneapolis, a chance to keep their teams. Find them good owners that have city ties and market them better. Although, Montreal has had many chances for the past 10 years at least they were a farm team (much like the Indians were in my youth).

I think, also, with Montreal it is a political thing the Quebec has a predominant population that wants to seperate from Canada and there may be bigger problems in that political arena soon. And there may honestly not be an owner in Montreal that can keep them there. But Tampa, and most of all Minneapolis deserve teams and can be big markets if they could find an owner that would allow them to truly compete. Miami is iffy they have had a team the past 2 years and seems they just can't get attendence up, but then again it wasn't too long ago Huizenga burnt the city badly... so .....

I just think before you move a team or contract you need to seriously find a good owner and see what will happen first. MLB waited for Cleveland to do that in the mid 80's when the O'Neill family wanted to sell and thank God we had Jacobs come in and save the team.

09-04-2004, 06:12 PM	#14 (permalink)
pan6467 Lennonite Priest Location: Mansfield, Ohio USA	I look back as an Indians fan growing up in the 70's and 80's and see a lot of similarities with other cities. Tampa has some decent players and in a few years may actually be a good team. Unlike the D-Backs and the Marlins (who had owners spend fortunes to win then ripped the team apart because they couldn't afford the players) Tampa and Colorado are running the same as any other expansion franchise has in its first decade. Poor attendence, poor teams. Toronto and Seattle were my youths expansion teams and they sucked until the late 80's. Seattle kept plugging away and then got some great drafts (JR. A-ROD, Johnson...) but they were almost always right around Cleveland in attendence. Toronto got lucky and in the early 90's got Gordon ash as their GM and he led them to a WS by way of FA, trades and drafts. I wish baseball would just give cities like Montreal, Tampa, Miami, Minneapolis, a chance to keep their teams. Find them good owners that have city ties and market them better. Although, Montreal has had many chances for the past 10 years at least they were a farm team (much like the Indians were in my youth). I think, also, with Montreal it is a political thing the Quebec has a predominant population that wants to seperate from Canada and there may be bigger problems in that political arena soon. And there may honestly not be an owner in Montreal that can keep them there. But Tampa, and most of all Minneapolis deserve teams and can be big markets if they could find an owner that would allow them to truly compete. Miami is iffy they have had a team the past 2 years and seems they just can't get attendence up, but then again it wasn't too long ago Huizenga burnt the city badly... so ..... I just think before you move a team or contract you need to seriously find a good owner and see what will happen first. MLB waited for Cleveland to do that in the mid 80's when the O'Neill family wanted to sell and thank God we had Jacobs come in and save the team. __________________ I just love people who use the excuse "I use/do this because I LOVE the feeling/joy/happiness it brings me" and expect you to be ok with that as you watch them destroy their life blindly following. My response is, "I like to put forks in an eletrical socket, just LOVE that feeling, can't ever get enough of it, so will you let me put this copper fork in that electric socket?"