Bckthr's Fantasy World: Starting a new Franchise

[getonbckthr]

What if Bud Selig gave you an oppertunity to start your own franchise. You can locate in any city not already with a team and pick the name. You can select 1 player and 1 manager from any team in the league.
Who would the player be?
The manager?
The Location?
Team name?
The stadium? (as detailed as you want).
.....For me I would go this route:
Player- Hanley Ramirez
Manager- Mike Scoscia
Team Name- Smokies
Location- Knoxville (close to border on Tenn-NC)
Stadium- Hitters warehouse. Dimensions similar to the Cell only with taller walls. Backdrop to the outfield similar to Pittsburgh and Wrigley except no apartments or downtown but instead a view of the mountains. Rest of seating basic stadium set up.

[103 screwball]

Hawaii
Breakers
Brandon Webb
Tony LaRussa
Have Diamond Head volcano as the backdrop.
Tropical theme with high waterfalls in left and right field behind the foul poles. The waterfalls feed swimming pools for the ladies in bikinis drinking tropical drinks and cooling off between innings. Battleship guns fire and shake the ground when the home team hits a HR and an artificial volcano erupts fireworks in center when the Breakers win. Hitter neutral park. Home stands and road trips last a minimum of 2 weeks to ease travel. Away teams always have a travel day off before the trip to Hawaii.
Baseball in paradise.:cool:

[Noir]

Player: Dan Haren
Manager: Ron Washington
Location: Harlem
Team Name: Renaissance
Ballpark:
Dimensions: LF-335, LCF-405, CF-455, RCF-405, RF-335
Fences: 6 in the gaps, 20 ft in CF and 8' elsewhere, a modern interpretation of the Polo Grounds

[Bucky F. Dent]

The Manager - Mike Scioscia
The Player - Clay Kershaw
The Location - Charleston, S.C.
The Team Name - The Palmettos
The Stadium - Seaspray Park. Just like Pac Bell, except on the other coast.

[BadBobbyJenks]

Who would the player be? Chase Utley
The manager? Ozzie Guillen
The Location? Las Vegas, Nevada
Team name? Charlie Hustles
The stadium?

Well it would definitely have to have a concourse you could walk on in the outfield:cool:

Edit: Of course it would have to be a retractable stadium too for the summer.

I would go with 405 in center and 340 down the lines. Slots machines that go off during homeruns on the scoreboard.

[TDog]

Who would the player be? Chase Utley
The manager? Ozzie Guillen
The Location? Las Vegas, Nevada
Team name? Charlie Hustles
The stadium?

Well it would definitely have to have a concourse you could walk on in the outfield:cool:

I would go with 405 in center and 340 down the lines. Slots machines that go off during homeruns on the scoreboard.

Just about the worst place one could put a major league team would be Las Vegas, so this indeed would qualify as fantasy.

[soltrain21]

Hawaii
Breakers
Brandon Webb
Tony LaRussa
Have Diamond Head volcano as the backdrop.
Tropical theme with high waterfalls in left and right field behind the foul poles. The waterfalls feed swimming pools for the ladies in bikinis drinking tropical drinks and cooling off between innings. Battleship guns fire and shake the ground when the home team hits a HR and an artificial volcano erupts fireworks in center when the Breakers win. Hitter neutral park. Home stands and road trips last a minimum of 2 weeks to ease travel. Away teams always have a travel day off before the trip to Hawaii.
Baseball in paradise.:cool:


Wasn't the fake NFL team in the show "Coach" called the Breakers?

[DumpJerry]

Just about the worst place one could put a major league team would be Las Vegas, so this indeed would qualify as fantasy.
FYI, MLB has said that Vegas will never get a franchise. Something about too close to gambling.

If there is a short list of locations, I'm sure Charlotte is on it. That would be nice, maybe then the White Sox would have their AAA team close to Chicago so we can see them Tigers and Red Sox fans have their AAA teams nearby, they are pretty lucky.

Some people feel New York City can handle a third team, they've done it before. I'm not convinced, however.

Portland, Oregon might be able to support a franchise.

[DSpivack]

Portland (Oregon) Beavers

Managed by Trey Hillman.

Starring Felix Hernandez.

The Beaver Dam would be on the Willamette River near downtown Portland with a view of Mt Hood in the distance past centerfield. Just 330 down the lines, but 385 in the gaps and 420 to CF.

[FedEx227]

FYI, MLB has said that Vegas will never get a franchise. Something about too close to gambling.

If there is a short list of locations, I'm sure Charlotte is on it. That would be nice, maybe then the White Sox would have their AAA team close to Chicago so we can see them Tigers and Red Sox fans have their AAA teams nearby, they are pretty lucky.

Some people feel New York City can handle a third team, they've done it before. I'm not convinced, however.

Portland, Oregon might be able to support a franchise.

I really don't think these days New York could support 3 teams. Not a chance.

[Lefty34]

Player: A-Rod
Manager: Billy Beane (would you expect any less from me?)
Location: Manteno, IL
Team: The Beans
Stadium: Stuart's Coffee Coliseum (Baseball: Good; Beans Baseball: Really Really Good)

[DumpJerry]

I really don't think these days New York could support 3 teams. Not a chance.
I agree. My buddy swears up and down that they can support FOUR teams. He points out all the NHL teams they have. I tell him a NHL needs to draw only about 16,000 for a sellout and have fewer dates. A baseball team, especially a new one, would need to average 25,000-30,000 daily for 81 dates. Big difference.

Also, I think ESPN would oppose it because it means they would have to open up another channel for the additional coverage because the entire country would want to know every detail about the new New York team.

[Lefty34]

Also, I think ESPN would oppose it because it means they would have to open up another channel for the additional coverage because the entire country would want to know every detail about the new New York team.

Personally, I'm just fine with knowing when the overrated Jeter thinks something nasty about the "choke-artist" A-rod. That, and every time Curt Schilling writes an email with even a semi-nostalgic ring to it.

EDIT: I know Schilling doesn't play for a New York team but....come on...

[Craig Grebeck]

New Orleans
Justin Upton
Bobby Cox
Traders

[102605]

Who would the player be? - Yu Darvish
The manager? - Fernando Venezuela
The Location? - Mexico City
Team name? - Killer Bees
The stadium? (as detailed as you want).

125,000+ seat MEGASTADIUM in the heart of one of the most overpopulated cities in the world. Think loud. 19.4 million people loud.

CHURROS, CHURROS, and more CHURROS for sale in the stands. Cerveza galore.

http://www.airninja.com/articles/population-metros/mexico-city.jpg

[Domeshot17]

Who would the player be? Johan Santana
The manager? Tony LaRussa
The Location? Las Vegas
Team name? Aces

[chisoxfanatic]

The manager? Carlton Fisk (decided to go with someone who isn't a manager in MLB)
Player? Scott Kazmir
The Location? Omaha
Team name? Reservationists
The stadium? Perfectly symmetrical, fountains in CF, "catwalk" connecting the extremes of the UD, city skyline in backdrop, field visable from area beyond the OF seats, LF HR porch, triple-tiered club restaurant

[Mohoney]

Player: Either Chase Utley or David Wright
Manager: Jeff Torborg
City: Louisville
Nickname: Sluggers

[pmck003]

City - Havana Cuba
Name - Coconuts
Player - Ryan Braun
Manager - Bobby Cox
Stadium - "The Cabana (in Havana)"; 32,000 with deeper walls than average

[whitesox901]

Player: Brandon Webb
Manager: Joe Girardi
Location: Mexico City
Team: Flame
Stadium: Foro Sol

[Frater Perdurabo]

The manager: Carlton Fisk
The Location: Chicago
Team name: Skyline
The stadium: Situated approximately where Adler Planetarium sits, with home plate in the SE corner. Beyond the OF is a spectacular view of LSD, Grant/Millennium Parks, and downtown. A pedestrian eco-bridge (http://www.whitesoxinteractive.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=102331) connects the RF corner entrance to Wacker Drive.

A retractable roof made of nanophase (transparent) aluminum slides over the stadium from the south to provide protection from rain, but even when the roof is closed the stadium would not be fully enclosed; it still would have open air views beyond the OF. The supports that hold up the nanophase aluminum roof and movement rails also double as light towers.

40,000 seats on three decks, all between the foul poles (no OF seating means nothing obstructs the view of the skyline).

The OF concourse is a public pedestrian area where passersby can see the game through the OF fence because the OF walls are 10 feet high and made of chain link nanophase aluminum (with padding), dimensions are 340 to the corners, 380 in the gaps, 410 to straight away CF. Only truly clobbered homers make it into the water. Scoreboard built into the RF wall; the HDTV LCD video display built into the CF batters' eye turns off during play. Long LED boards stretch around the face of the second and third decks to keep track of balls, strikes and outs, etc.

When a Skyline player homers, water jets (like those that fire over the Chicago River) fire into the harbor, fireworks launch over the harbor, and lasers fire into the sky.

[doublem23]

http://www.fanunity.com/montreal-expos/images/montreal-expos.jpg

And for the first year or so, in games against the Nationals, we'd go out of our way to make sure someone got hurt.

[TDog]

... 40,000 seats on three decks, all between the foul poles (no OF seating means nothing obstructs the view of the skyline). ...

Because what's going on outside of the ballpark is more interesting that what's going on inside the ballpark?

[chisoxfanatic]

40,000 seats on three decks, all between the foul poles (no OF seating means nothing obstructs the view of the skyline).

Then NOBODY could "throw it back." Great!

But, it couldn't be in Chicago, though.

[gogosox16]

I would start a franchise in Cuba and put together all the 50 year olds who say there only 30 to come here and win the world series:tongue:

[chisoxfanatic]

I would start a franchise in Cuba and put together all the 50 year olds who say there only 30 to come here and win the world series:tongue:

You would get instant funding from The Windsock if you tricked him into thinking you were buying the CubS instead of a new team in CubA! :D:

[gogosox16]

You would get instant funding from The Windsock if you tricked him into thinking you were buying the CubS instead of a new team in CubA! :D:
Haha get an A that somehow looks like its an S and I'm set....The only thing I would have trouble with having a team from Cuba is that my players might possibly try to sneak away to live here and leave me shorthanded on my bench. Heck I'll call up Toby Hall and Uribe to help my team beat everyone.:tongue:

[chisoxfanatic]

Haha get an A that somehow looks like its an S and I'm set....The only thing I would have trouble with having a team from Cuba is that my players might possibly try to sneak away to live hear and leave me shorthanded on my bench. Heck I'll call up Toby Hall and Uribe to help my team beat everyone.:tongue:


:kmarte:contreras::vizcaino::elduque:

"You called?!"

[gogosox16]

:kmarte:contreras::vizcaino::elduque:

"You called?!"

I'm set. World series champion Cuba _______!!!!!!!!

[Frater Perdurabo]

Because what's going on outside of the ballpark is more interesting that what's going on inside the ballpark?


Between innings: Downtown Chicago skyline or Chevy Pride Crew T-shirt gun. You decide. :tongue:

[ondafarm]

. . . Also, I think ESPN would oppose it because it means they would have to open up another channel for the additional coverage because the entire country would want to know every detail about the new New York team.

Alas, poor ESPN, if they covered baseball in a national fashion they'd have much better ratings.

[Malgar 12]

I really don't think these days New York could support 3 teams. Not a chance.

Are you kidding? The only reason there aren't three teams there now is because of the anti-trust exemption.

[PennStater98r]

Player: Johan Santana
Manager: Ozzie Guillen
City: Indianapolis
Nickname: Jones (The Indiana Jones)

[DSpivack]

Alas, poor ESPN, if they covered baseball in a national fashion they'd have much better ratings.

ESPN has a ratings problem?

[White City]

The Cuba team, and it will happen eventually once the regime fails there, should be called:

The Cuba Libres (beginning in 2025)
Manager: Jose Contreras
Player: Mark Buehrle, Jr.
Stadium: Who cares, as long as it is close to the beach and the new tourism district

[asboog]

San Antonio is the biggest city in the US (population wise) that doesn't have a mlb team. This would also allow them to be placed in either league in the Central/Western division based on geographic location.

San Antonio Rebels
Manager: Joe Girardi
Player: Josh Hamilton
Stadium: Retractable roof. 340 left 390 Left Center 410 Center 385 Right center 335 right. I would also incorporate the Alamo in some way in the design (not the actual Alamo but use of abode facade or mimic the architecture.

[BadBobbyJenks]

San Antonio is the biggest city in the US (population wise) that doesn't have a mlb team. This would also allow them to be placed in either league in the Central/Western division based on geographic location.

San Antonio Rebels
Manager: Joe Girardi
Player: Josh Hamilton
Stadium: Retractable roof. 340 left 390 Left Center 410 Center 385 Right center 335 right. I would also incorporate the Alamo in some way in the design (not the actual Alamo but use of abode facade or mimic the architecture.

San Antonio fans are garbage.

[Frater Perdurabo]

San Antonio fans are garbage.

Why would you say that?

[doublem23]

San Antonio is the biggest city in the US (population wise) that doesn't have a mlb team. This would also allow them to be placed in either league in the Central/Western division based on geographic location.

San Antonio Rebels
Manager: Joe Girardi
Player: Josh Hamilton
Stadium: Retractable roof. 340 left 390 Left Center 410 Center 385 Right center 335 right. I would also incorporate the Alamo in some way in the design (not the actual Alamo but use of abode facade or mimic the architecture.

San Antonio has a large population, but nobody else lives there... By raw population, San Antonio is over twice as large as Boston, IIRC, but that doesn't mean we should be shipping the Sawx out there... Well, maybe we should, but not because of population size. :cool:

[guillen4life13]

City: San Juan de Puerto Rico
Name: Huracánes
Mgr: Sandy Alomar, Jr. (a PR native)
Player: Hanley Ramirez, Edinson Volquez or Josh Hamilton (I'd be happy with any of these guys).

Stadium:
Dimensions: LF: 375 CF: 425 RF: 390
Capacity: 50,000

As far as stadium design, I'd try and incorporate a classical Spanish facade sort of like the Aragon Ballroom.

[DSpivack]

San Antonio is the biggest city in the US (population wise) that doesn't have a mlb team. This would also allow them to be placed in either league in the Central/Western division based on geographic location.

San Antonio Rebels
Manager: Joe Girardi
Player: Josh Hamilton
Stadium: Retractable roof. 340 left 390 Left Center 410 Center 385 Right center 335 right. I would also incorporate the Alamo in some way in the design (not the actual Alamo but use of abode facade or mimic the architecture.

Considering the city only, not the metropolitan area.

[Frater Perdurabo]

Considering the city only, not the metropolitan area.

Right. San Antonio has aggressively annexed land and has relatively few suburbs.

I've heard it said that San Antonio is the nation's "largest small town." Having visited there several times, there's truth in that statement.

[Scottiehaswheels]

City: Indianapolis
Name: Racers?
Coach: myself- this is fantasy afterall.
Pitcher: Edison Volquez
Batter: Jay Bruce
Stadium- Fleet Field
Hitting Coach-Greg Walker

[It's Dankerific]

City: Portland - why? because I'm moving there soon and the #1 drawback to Portland is No MLB baseball
Team name: Green Sox - getting ESPN pissed about another Sawx team will help build awareness. Also, we'll be a totally sustainable, environmentally neutral team.
Player: We'll have to keep salaries low at first, so we'll get BA as our All-Star CF
Manager: as previously posted, I'll put myself here. I'm tired of watching other people's dumb decisions, i'd rather see mine!
Bench Coach: Ron Kittle. He fits the hard working mentality of the team. Also, he has previous managerial experience. Also, maybe he can get the food network back to the MLB. We'd also give him the choice to be the announcer, if he prefers.
hitting coach: Robin Ventura - no prettier swing did I ever see. (not old enough to have seen Ted Williams, and he always praised Robin's)
pitching coach: Don Cooper -he's just the best
stadium: modernized replica of Old Comiskey. Probably need a rain roof up there in portland, retractable of course.
Promotions: since we'll be in the PT, we'll give the first soft drink/beer for free when the cubbies lose their game that day.

[asboog]

San Antonio fans are garbage.
What is the point of this comment. You have something against the people of San Antonio?

Considering the city only, not the metropolitan area.

yes i am aware of that. Is the area growing? I don't know. It was just a thought.

San Antonio has a large population, but nobody else lives there... By raw population, San Antonio is over twice as large as Boston, IIRC, but that doesn't mean we should be shipping the Sawx out there... Well, maybe we should, but not because of population size. :cool:

The population is only an added benefit of course it isn't the main reason to send a team there.

[BadBobbyJenks]

[quote=asboog;1931387]What is the point of this comment. You have something against the people of San Antonio?


I have nothing against the city, but go to a Spurs game and you will agree with me.

[doublem23]

The population is only an added benefit of course it isn't the main reason to send a team there.

Well, I know this is fantasy, but I think it's unlikely San Antonio could actually support a baseball team.

Populations of other cities' metro areas in this thread:

Montreal: 3,635,571
Charlotte: 2,491,650
Portland, OR: 2,337,565
San Antonio: 1,942,217
New Orleans: 1,030,363

[Britt Burns]

Austin, Texas
Austin Bats
The stadium is right on Town Lake, perhaps where the Y fields are now. It will be a pitchers park, in the mold of PETCO in San Diego. One of the highlights is that during summer night games the 750,000 bats that live under Town Lake Bridge will fly past the stadium every night at dusk.
I'll take Utley as my player and Ozzie as my manager.

[comet2k]

Mexico City gets my vote because of the huge population and baseball is popular in much of Mexico. Too bad the Nationals name is taken, because it would be a great name for a Mexican team (Nacionales?).

Realistically, I think the three largest U.S. metro areas without teams (Charlotte, Portland and San Antonio) would have a hard time supporting an MLB team after the new wears off.

[DSpivack]

Mexico City gets my vote because of the huge population and baseball is popular in much of Mexico. Too bad the Nationals name is taken, because it would be a great name for a Mexican team (Nacionales?).

Realistically, I think the three largest U.S. metro areas without teams (Charlotte, Portland and San Antonio) would have a hard time supporting an MLB team after the new wears off.

By this measure (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_metropolitan_areas), the three largest metro areas without a team would be Riverside/San Bernardino, CA, Portland OR, and Sacramento, CA. Orlando comes in just ahead of San Antonio, while Las Vegas, San Jose, Columbus, OH, Indianapolis, and Virginia Beach-Norfolk all come ahead of Charlotte.

[kraut83]

By this measure (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_metropolitan_areas), the three largest metro areas without a team would be Riverside/San Bernardino, CA, Portland OR, and Sacramento, CA. Orlando comes in just ahead of San Antonio, while Las Vegas, San Jose, Columbus, OH, Indianapolis, and Virginia Beach-Norfolk all come ahead of Charlotte.

Out of those areas, the Charlotte metro is the fastest growing on a percentage basis. +4.2% from July 06 - July 07. source (http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/population/011671.html)

Charlotte had a great corporate base, but doesn't seem like a great pro sports town. I think they would struggle filling a 40,000 seat park 81 times a year.

[comet2k]

By this measure (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_metropolitan_areas), the three largest metro areas without a team would be Riverside/San Bernardino, CA, Portland OR, and Sacramento, CA. Orlando comes in just ahead of San Antonio, while Las Vegas, San Jose, Columbus, OH, Indianapolis, and Virginia Beach-Norfolk all come ahead of Charlotte.

You're right, but Riverside is less than 70 miles from two established teams and Sacramento is less than 90 miles, so they're not likely locations, and San Jose is even closer. Would MLB put a team in Orlando when there are already two Florida teams struggling? The rest on the list probably couldn't support a team long term.

That's why I'm trying to arrange financing for the Mexico City Toreadors (since Nationals is taken).

[Bucky F. Dent]

By this measure (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_metropolitan_areas), the three largest metro areas without a team would be Riverside/San Bernardino, CA, Portland OR, and Sacramento, CA. Orlando comes in just ahead of San Antonio, while Las Vegas, San Jose, Columbus, OH, Indianapolis, and Virginia Beach-Norfolk all come ahead of Charlotte.


Indy does not come close to selling out its AAA games. No way it would generate the interest to support an MLB francise.

[areilly]

Location: Camden, NJ
Team: Shivs
Manager: A.J. Pierzynski
Player: Vicente Padilla

[DSpivack]

You're right, but Riverside is less than 70 miles from two established teams and Sacramento is less than 90 miles, so they're not likely locations, and San Jose is even closer. Would MLB put a team in Orlando when there are already two Florida teams struggling? The rest on the list probably couldn't support a team long term.

That's why I'm trying to arrange financing for the Mexico City Toreadors (since Nationals is taken).

Yeah, I wasn't necessarily suggesting each of those locales, just thought the demographic numbers interesting.

That said, the A's are moving much closer to San Jose, in Fremont. I assume they will no longer be the Oakland A's once they make their move, but to what would they change their name?