My thoughts have been with the AAA All Star game this week and more specifically, the game played last summer in Portland.
Portland is home of San Diego’s affiliate Beavers.
A brief history of the Portland Beavers as published on their website:
2001-06
The dream of bringing Triple-A Baseball back to Portland was realized in 2000 when the Albuquerque Dukes were purchased, and in the winter of 2000-01, it was announced that the Pacific Coast League would return to Portland in 2001 and the team would again be called the Beavers.(Like us in 2008!)
The ballpark – now renamed PGE Park – drew rave reviews for bringing back an old-time baseball atmosphere. The stadium underwent its most substantial transformation in its rich history, with 32 luxury suites, a gargantuan hand-operated scoreboard in left-center field, dark green seats, and a number of seismic and cosmetic upgrades as part of a $38.5 million renovation, completed in record time.
(Coca Cola Park cost around $50 million)
With last-minute details forcing the Beavers to play their first eight “home” games in Pasco, Wash., home of their sister team, the Tri-City Dust Devils, a Class A team formerly operated as the Portland Rockies in the time that there was no Triple-A Baseball in the city. The Beavers christened PGE Park on April 30, 2001, with more than 18,000 fans flooding through the gates to witness the polished stadium and all of its additions.
And almost 440,000 fans came through the gates in 2001, breaking the team’s single-season attendance record that had stood since 1947.
(Record breaking first year!)
The Beavers struck a four-year affiliation with the Padres when Triple-A returned to Portland, with such standout prospects as Sean Burroughs, Khalil Greene, Jason Bay, Xavier Nady, Dennis Tankersley, Tagg Bozied and Freddy Guzman making substantial contributions to the team over its first four years with a San Diego connection. The Beavers remained competitive over their first three campaigns before breaking through with one of the best seasons in the team’s 89-year history. A 45-16 record over the team’s final 61 games netted the Beavers the best record in Triple-A Baseball at 84-60 and a trip to the playoffs, where Portland was a first-round casualty to Sacramento.
(Best season after 4 years.. do we see hope for 2011?)
A new ownership group – Portland Baseball Investment Group – was introduced prior to the 2005 season. The transfer process was complete early in the 2006 campaign, and the group realized a second straight year of substantial business and attendance growth, with the club drawing more than 400,000 fans in 2006.
Despite a 68-76 record on the field in 2006, the Beavers boasted a number of individual achievements. Familiar slugger Jon Knott paced the PCL in home runs (32) and RBIs (113), while the team realized its first-ever perfect game when Ryan Meaux, Aquilino Lopez and Cla Meredith teamed up on a seven-inning gem in the second game of a doubleheader at Sacramento on June 9.
Some familiar names mixed in there… some familiar circumstances.
Last year the AAA All Star game was held in Portland.
This year the AAA All Star game will be held here in the Lehigh Valley.
I found this chart on the web. I would post credit, but none was listed..
Look at the first 3 years. Great attendance.
Look at the 4th year. When the team actually made the playoffs, attendance plummeted.
The number recovered the next season and rode steadily just over 5,000 fans a game through 2008.
In 2010 Portland has the worst attendance, per game average, in all of AAA baseball at 2,577 a game. Only 51,545 paid attendance in 20 home game openings. Compare that to Coca Cola park in 2010 leading AAA baseball with an average of 8,596.. 163,341 paid attendance over 19 openings.
Baseball is superstitious.
Business can be trended.
Will the Lehigh Valley follow this trend? I hope not and I don’t think we will. Granted, attendance will fall at some point. I just don’t see it happening any time soon… but food for thought.
noisenation.mlblogs.com 