39 replies to this topic

[RShack]

It was $55M not $45M. But that was if they stayed in the region.

 

I realize that this is mostly academic... but, what the hell, it'll take my mind off the scoreboard... the article said...

 

Specifically, if the Rays leave for another stadium in Tampa Bay, it would have to pay the city a penalty based on how many years remain on the existing Tropicana deal, beginning with $4 million per season until December 2018. It would decrease to $3 million per year from 2019-22 and $2 million from 2023-26.

 

When I do that on my fingers and toes for 2016-2026, I get 11 years at $32M.

 

Anyway, so far we've got the following numbers...

 

$32M:  What the MFY's paid ARod for hitting 16 homers in 2011.

$45M;  What the MFY's are paying Beltran for 3 years.

$55M:  What the Royals paid Gil Meche(!!) for 5 years... but he quit after 4... so... What the Dodgers paid Darren Dreifort(!!!) for 9 W's.

 

At this point, it's really six or seven years. It will take some time to actually build a stadium.

 

What about using this place while they're building a new one?

 

[DJ MC]

I realize that this is mostly academic... but, what the hell, it'll take my mind off the scoreboard... the article said...

 

Specifically, if the Rays leave for another stadium in Tampa Bay, it would have to pay the city a penalty based on how many years remain on the existing Tropicana deal, beginning with $4 million per season until December 2018. It would decrease to $3 million per year from 2019-22 and $2 million from 2023-26.

 

When I do that on my fingers and toes for 2016-2026, I get 11 years at $32M.

 

Anyway, so far we've got the following numbers...

 

$32M:  What the MFY's paid ARod for hitting 16 homers in 2011.

$45M;  What the MFY's are paying Beltran for 3 years.

$55M:  What the Royals paid Gil Meche(!!) for 5 years... but he quit after 4... so... What the Dodgers paid Darren Dreifort(!!!) for 9 W's.

 

 

What about using this place while they're building a new one?

 

 

That's what'll happen until Molson Field is built. But they at least need to get a plan in place first. That could take a while.

[Matt_P]

What about using this place while they're building a new one?

 

I don't see the Rays breaking their lease to play in Olympic Stadium. Although, if the Marlins kick in some cash then maybe they'd do it. The Marlins and Rays share a TV territory. If the Rays move to Montreal then that's great for the Marlins.

[DJ MC]

I don't see the Rays breaking their lease to play in Olympic Stadium. Although, if the Marlins kick in some cash then maybe they'd do it. The Marlins and Rays share a TV territory. If the Rays move to Montreal then that's great for the Marlins.

 

I hope this happens, just so we can see what the citizens of Miami do when they find out Loria is paying his own money to get another team into a new stadium.

[NewMarketSean]

So if baseball does go back to Montreal, can they be named the Expos? And if so, what happens to franchise records that the Nats absorbed? Or could that all be worked out?

[Pedro Cerrano]

So if baseball does go back to Montreal, can they be named the Expos? And if so, what happens to franchise records that the Nats absorbed? Or could that all be worked out?

[Pedro Cerrano]

Btw one of my favorite hats I've ever owned was my fitted expos hat. Just fit so perfectly. Wore it all the time in college. Banged a bunch of chicks in Byrd Stadium wearing it.

Once the Nats came I made the mistake of wearing it to an Os/Nats game.

Yea. That hat got retired.

[DJ MC]

So if baseball does go back to Montreal, can they be named the Expos? And if so, what happens to franchise records that the Nats absorbed? Or could that all be worked out?

 

The closest situation to that in baseball history is, appropriately, the Washington Senators. When the original team left for Minnesota, the new team was allowed to use the name, but all of the franchise history stayed with the franchise.

 

I would be surprised if MLB didn't plan ahead (oh, what am I saying: I would be surprised if they DID ) and have a deal with the Nationals to allow for a new Montreal franchise named the Expos if that is what the new franchise wanted.

 

Honestly, I think they could go with something else (I'm partial to Voyagers) and have the name be just as good.

[Pedro Cerrano]

The Montreal Frenchmen.

[RShack]

Well, if you go by Montreal baseball history, they should be called the Royals... although Canada's probably not big on monarchy names any more...

 

And of course, the KC Royals should be called either the Blues (MiL tradition) or the Monarchs (Negro leagues)... but alas, after he was awarded the franchise, Kaufman singlehandedly named them the Royals after a dang horse show...

[DJ MC]

Well, if you go by Montreal baseball history, they should be called the Royals... although Canada's probably not big on monarchy names any more...

 

And of course, the KC Royals should be called either the Blues (MiL tradition) or the Monarchs (Negro leagues)... but alas, after he was awarded the franchise, Kaufman singlehandedly named them the Royals after a dang horse show...

 

The Expos were named after a World's Fair that happened two years before the team started up.

[RShack]

The Expos were named after a World's Fair that happened two years before the team started up.

 

Yeah, I know...

 

I think it's generally a bad idea to name teams after temporal events... that's why the Houston team is stuck calling itself the Astros... it's 100% because LBJ got Houston the Manned Spacecraft Center... to celebrate, they renamed the team (and named the dome) after the astronauts... same thing with the Expos... they named them after a 6-month World's Fair that had happened 2 years before the team played...

 

One of the good lasting things is the island they created out in the river to put it on... Notre Dame Island... it's now a park where Montreal's F1 track is... it's one of the better tracks in the World Championship... you can take the subway to get to it... and once you're there, you're in a park on the water with a great view of the skyline... as race tracks go, it's hard to beat...

[DJ MC]

To be fair to the Astros, they could have ended up in a situation like the Bullets where they would have kept their name for 35 years and decided they needed to change it because of social pressures.

[NewMarketSean]

They absolutely must be named the Expos. Same logos, hats, uniforms, everything.

[RShack]

To be fair to the Astros, they could have ended up in a situation like the Bullets where they would have kept their name for 35 years and decided they needed to change it because of social pressures.

 

If they had a time machine, they might have known that... but they didn't... no way to even imagine that back then....

[DJ MC]

If they had a time machine, they might have known that... but they didn't... no way to even imagine that back then....

 

I know. I'm just saying that they dodged a bullet (no pun intended).

[DuffMan]

Yeah, I know...

 

I think it's generally a bad idea to name teams after temporal events... that's why the Houston team is stuck calling itself the Astros... it's 100% because LBJ got Houston the Manned Spacecraft Center... to celebrate, they renamed the team (and named the dome) after the astronauts... same thing with the Expos... they named them after a 6-month World's Fair that had happened 2 years before the team played...

 

One of the good lasting things is the island they created out in the river to put it on... Notre Dame Island... it's now a park where Montreal's F1 track is... it's one of the better tracks in the World Championship... you can take the subway to get to it... and once you're there, you're in a park on the water with a great view of the skyline... as race tracks go, it's hard to beat...

The camera shots from that race are always some of the best of the season.

[NewMarketSean]

I didn't see the track, but I went to the island when I was there in 2006...beautiful park, and the views of the skyline are great.

 

My wife is there now, and I had a chance to go with her, but I didn't since we just got back from Croatia. Wish I had gone, love the city...and watching the Jays game there would have been fun. My wife was at a sports bar with some people from work and she said it was pretty crazy.

[RShack]

One of the good lasting things is the island they created out in the river to put it on... Notre Dame Island... it's now a park where Montreal's F1 track is... it's one of the better tracks in the World Championship... you can take the subway to get to it... and once you're there, you're in a park on the water with a great view of the skyline... as race tracks go, it's hard to beat...

 

If you ever go to the F1 race there, or even just watch it on TV, there are 2 notable places on the track...

 

* The hairpin at Turn 11:   As you can see, this is where the cars do the most turning, very sharply, from high speed, of any turn... F1 cars have so much grip that for three years in a row, they ripped the asphalt off the road in Turn 11... (think about that for a sec)... by the end of the race, the cars would have to take a different, less-optimal line through that turn because the place where they wanted to go, well, it was now just a raggedy pothole.  So, they'd re-pave it for the next year's race... and the same thing would happen.  (I dunno what they finally did to fix it, but it seems like the asphalt is better at staying in place lately..)

 

* Just past Turns 14 and 15, on the same side of the track as the little red arrow,  is the "Wall of Champions"... cars come flying down the road from the hairpin @ Turn 11, reach speeds of 200mph, then have to brake like crazy so they can zig-zag thru the 14-15 chicane... at which point it's time to get on the gas again to hustle on down to turns 1, 2, and 3.   The best way to do that is to (a) get on the gas as soon as you can while you're still in the middle of Turn 14, and (b ) use all the road you've got coming out of Turn 15.  

 

Well, one thing the diagram doesn't show you is that when you "use all the road you've got" coming out of Turn 15, you're up against a very large concrete wall that is *right next* to the track... when they are in a particular hurry, the best drivers take that corner such that they come within an inch or less of that wall (I am not making this up).   It's called the Wall of Champions because of all the times a brand-name driver was intending to come within about a half-inch of that wall... but missed by an inch or three.. (ooops)... it turns out worse than when a pitcher misses by an inch or three...

[NewMarketSean]

Reading up on the subject. Some interesting articles:

From this year...

 

http://www.cbc.ca/sp...eturn-1.4050072

 

Article about the new Expos stadium that was never built...

 

https://www.theguard...ium-never-built