Expansion Cities?

[S.Sox]

Guys/Gals,

All problems aside ( every business has them!!!!!!!!!), does anyone have any insight on the possible expansion cities for the GBL ???

I have heard cities like Marysville, Redding, Vacaville, and even cities in Oregon. I would love to see the new citites come along..

Any word Commish or flyersgm?????

I was really wondering thought about the players available, you know with the new Indy leagues popping up everywhere!!

I know its early, what the heck!

Just a new thought,

S.Sox

[Silver Sox Fan]

No answer from me other than to restate that they have been close to putting one in Grand Junction, CO for a while--not sure where that is.

I'd love to see two more up in the north to create a northern division. It would allow the league to cut down on travel expenses and will allow Mark Parent and Les Lancaster to not get so burned out playing each other (as both have stated in their respective city newspapers).

Vacaville would be great if they could get it...pre-exisiting stadium, great location near shopping, eating, and freeway. Maybe they could dump some money into fixing up stadiums in Marysville (Yuba Sutter Gold Sox old digs) or even look at southern OR (Medford area) though not sure how big OR is on minor league baseball.

Anyway, here's hoping for a forward expansion (to 8 teams) rather than the net six teams we've had since the end of the 1st season.

[Pounder]

I was going to mention that Medford has a stadium. Well...

...it had Miles Field. That's now a Wal Mart, apparently.

It now has Harry & David Field in the Medford Sports Park. Problem... probably 500 seats right now. http://archive.mailtribune.com/archive/2005/0728/local/stories/02local.htm

(NOTE: Article is two years old)

If it gets bigger, does NWL swoop in? They have a weak spot in the Tri-Cities.

Bend has been in the indy business before... their stadium needs improvement, too.

Frankly, I'm not sure where the GBL could go in the Northwest with a sufficient stadium without leaping to Washington, and even then there's issues.

[S.Sox]

Let me tell you Redding is a awesome recreation place, it would be fantastic for road trips!!!

S.Sox

[S.Sox]

I was in Sacramento today to pick up my 14 yr. old son, he was at the Dusty Baker baseball camp.
I was talking to other parents about baseball in the Sac. area. They feel they are deprived, even though they have the AAA Rivercats. These parents lived out in Citrus heights and Rocklin which they say are too far to get to a Rivercats game.
I mentioned the Sox games we go to and talked about the GBL. They were interested, apparently they put butts in the seats of N. Sac baseball fields for Junior College and Babe Ruth games. They are known to support thier teams, look at the sorry Sac Kings this past year... thier attendance was awesome....Hmmm...

The Sac. area seems primed for a GBL team from what I saw...

S.Sox

[RW22]

I dont think the Sacto would support a GBL team....the Rivercats pretty much are the game (baseball) in town; and the Kings have their fair share of fights coming up with the Arena issues. I do think that Rocklin and even maybe SLO would be good fits. That said, the GBL would have to market the crap out of those cities to make it viable. Its one sticking point that every team seems to be hamstrung with---a marketing budget.
I dont think that Redding is a dead issue, and although I have not talked to Dave directly on this issue--my guess is that he just did not have enough information to pass on to the city to make it worth their while to show up. Expansion has to be smart, and I would rather stay at 6 teams and play in an ill formatted schedule than lose it all because someone makes a huge logistical mistake...

:-)