It's been no secret over the last decade-plus that the Oakland Athletics and Tampa Bay Rays have been desperately trying to improve their current ballpark situations. I had written last August about how it seemed like the proposal for a new ballpark in Tampa was finally moving forward while the A's were losing steam in their search for a site. Less than a year later, it seems like those positions have completely flipped. Due to a lack of a concrete financing model, the Rays abandoned their Ybor City proposal and let this 3-year window to explore ballpark options in the Tampa area expire at the end of 2018, which has effectively locked them into the remainder of their lease at the Trop through 2027. Another grueling 9 seasons at a ballpark that recently announced they will no longer be selling upper deck seats due to lack of demand, which has lowered their ballpark capacity to about 25,000 (which they will still never fill). Besides financing, serious doubts have been expressed by the Rays ownership if there is even a fanbase to sustain a franchise in the area longterm (in other news: water is wet).
On the other hand, the A's have cleared a few governmental hurdles in the last few weeks, gaining local and state approvals to acquire the controversial Howard Terminal site to conduct an environmental study that could take up to 3 years. The earliest possible opening if everything goes perfectly would be 2023, but if history is any indication, this will take much longer than that. Some new pretty renderings by the ballpark's latest architect - BIG - have gotten the local area's hopes up yet again (see rendering above from firm's website).
But it's not just Oakland and Tampa that have made rumblings of new ballpark proposals. Cities that have long been considered options for moving a franchise or even creating an expansion team have had exciting press releases in the past few weeks. A Montreal group led by Canadian investor Stephen Bronfman was granted permission to develop plans for a site in the Peel Basin area of town, near the port downtown. A Portland, Oregon group including Russell Wilson, Nike executive Craig Cheek, and the owner of the Trail Blazers has already raised over a billion dollars to privately finance a stadium and surrounding neighborhood with some sexy renderings. The Mayor of Nashville, although non-committal on municipal financing, even threw his hat into the ring saying he would be open to an MLB team. Commissioner Manfred has openly stated many times that he will not consider a move or an expansion until Oakland and Tampa Bay have exhausted all options, but things are heating up behind the scenes as other cities are sensing blood in the water.
The Texas Rangers will be opening up their new ballpark next year (and Erik and I will surely be going), which will be the first new ballpark in the majors since Atlanta's SunTrust Park in 2017. If not Oakland, Tampa, or any of the other cities mentioned above, what city/team will be getting a new ballpark next? The Angels are the frontrunner in my opinion. They have the clearest path and the most money going forward. They opted out of their long-term lease last year and are now on a year-to-year lease in order to discuss another major renovation of Angel Stadium, or explore a new ballpark either on the same site or in Long Beach. Angel Stadium is the 4th oldest ballpark in the majors, and unlike Fenway, Dodger Stadium, and now Wrigley following its renovations, Angel Stadium has not aged particularly well. With Mike Trout now locked up long term, I would not be surprised if he was playing in a new home stadium by the end of his contract. The Diamondbacks were in litigation with Maricopa County over possible renovations the team feels were owed by the county and stadium district, and are using that as leverage to possibly leave their home since the team's inception in 1998, Chase Field. I think there is also always the faint possibility the Royals follow the downtown ballpark trend and build a new stadium. The Braves have broken the mold and created a new model of how a park on the outskirts of the city can survive with a successful live/work community surrounding it, and with how gorgeous and iconic Kauffman Stadium is, especially given the recent renovation, I see them going more of the Braves' route instead and building up the area.
Needless to say, the next decade or so will be interesting for Erik and I on the new ballpark front and we will be keeping a close eye on all the developing situations. It's not outside the realm of possibilities that we could be visiting 5 or 6 new MLB stadiums by our 50th birthdays.
STANDINGS AND UPCOMING SERIES AS OF 5/24/19:
Brewers 29-22, -1.5; 3 v. Phillies, 2 @ Twins, 4 @ Pirates
Twins 33-16, +8.0; 3 v. White Sox, 2 v. Brewers, 4 @ Rays
2019 GAMES ATTENDED:
Erik - 0
Peter - 6
touch with baseball when his childhood heroes Robin Yount, Paul Molitor, and Jim Gantner retired but the Great Home Run Chase of 1998 reignited his passion. As a student at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Erik became involved with the campus chapter of Habitat for Humanity. With this group Erik traveled to Portland, OR and Baltimore, MD to work on construction projects and help the group raise $25,000 to partially sponsor a house in Milwaukee. Also at UWM, Erik met Peter Nagel. The two attended their first Brewers game together during Opening Weekend 2003. Despite their failure to ignite the coals at their first tailgate, the two had a blast and were soon making weekly trips to the ballpark. Erik has gone on to several colleges and changed careers several times, and has moved all the way out to New Hampshire, but has always stayed true to his baseball roots by holding part-time stadium usher jobs. To this day he looks back fondly on his incredible cross-country journey.