Coffeehouse Schmuck wrote:

This is very nearly entirely wrong.[1] The Atlantic League doesn't
need anyone's permission to put a team wherever it wants. That's why
it's called an independent league. It is not part of Minor League
Baseball and is not subject to the National Agreement. It is precisely
like if you and eight of your closest friends decided to play ball
games and charge spectators admission. If you can find a place to play
and teams to play against, and if you can persuade people to pay for
the privilege of watching, you don't need organized baseball's
permission to do this. This is the model of the old semi-pros. This
is why you see many independent league teams in suburbs of major
cities.

My understanding, from people who seem to know what they are talking
about, is that within Minor League Baseball territorial rights are
defined by county lines. This is a silly way of doing things, since
county sizes vary wildly from state to state, but just because it is
silly doesn't mean it is the compromise the Powers That Be came up
with. Major League Baseball territories are more or less ad hoc. It
is a historical accident that the Giants hold the rights to San Jose,
giving them the power to block the A's from moving there.

Richard R. Hershberger

[1] The part about Aberdeen is more or less right. My understanding is
that Cal only committed to one visit a year, but I'm not going to the
matresses over that.

WildWeasel wrote:

Yes about the ownership. This is why there were no territorial rights
issues. Allentown is within the territories of the Reading Phillies,
the big Phillies, and the Trenton Thunder. The big Phillies were in
favor of the deal all along: it puts their AAA affiliate just up the
road and one trusts they won't lose attendence with the hordes going to
Allentown instead. Reading and Trenton both might have this concern,
but the co-owners stand to gain more than they will lose.

For whatever it is worth, I have no qualms about the region's ability
to support these various teams. The Lehigh valley is a sizeable
market, and I doubt that they have been schlepping out to either
Reading or Trenton all that much.

Richard R. Hershberger

"Topo Gigio" <andrewmossop@1asealsystems.co.uk> wrote in message
news:Z2%Og.576$GO2.275@trnddc01...

I'll tell you why North New Jersey needs a MLB team. New York City sucks. I
was going to the game last night as I wanted to see the Mets win the NL Eats
Championship.



All was fine until I came to the Lincoln tunnel, they hade orange traffic
cones in unusual places, after I got through the tunnel more traffic cones
blocking my entrance to the Port Authority parking garage. Ass wipes from
all over the world were coming to the UN so NYC it its infinite wisdom had
only one entrance open to the Port Authority, one entrance for all busses
and cars. There were hundreds of busses blocking Mid-town waiting to get
into the one entrance on 40th street.



I did not get to see the game; I got to sit in traffic. If the ass wipes
would have announced that NYC will be a shit hole for a week I would have
taken a train. With the new rail line going to the Meadow Lands it will be
infinitely easer for people that live in NJ to get there. It is now easer to
get there then to Queens.



Guess why the Yankees out draw the Mets? Cross the GWB and there you are.
The Yankees by distance are really North New Jersey's home team.

In article <n7qdnd_q8b24rpLYnZ2dnUVZ_rCdnZ2d@comcast.com>,
"sfb" <sfb@spam.net> wrote:


The fact that in places far from any teams, people don't want to pay to
watch them on television is hardly evidence that in a place close to a
team, people wouldn't want to watch it.

in article 78IPg.1197$HZ5.18@trndny08, Drew at drucifer@worldnet.att.net
wrote on 9/18/06 9:57 PM:


But this argument is about a MAJOR LEAGUE team (i.e. The Marlins) moving to
NJ, not a minor league team. The highest minor league level that should be
in this market should be AA. AAA would only work if there was only one MLB
team here.

"Topo Gigio" <andrewmossop@1asealsystems.co.uk> wrote in message
news:Z2%Og.576$GO2.275@trnddc01...

The only way New York City keeps teams is to shovel money at them. To get
the Nets the city will shell out $2 billion dollars.
*The city has already approved $100 million for the proposal but the $200
million city and state total is just the tip of the iceberg. The developer
claims the project would cost the public $1.1 billion while a study done by
project opponents, Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn (DDDB), shows that the
total public cost could reach $2 billion or more.*
*One City Councilmember didn't vote to force taxpayers to pay for ballparks
they aren't even sure they even want, for multimillionaire team owners.
New Yankee and Mets stadium deals passed the City Council today by votes of
46-3 and 48-1 respectively, with the only member to vote against both the
black radical from Brooklyn, Charles Barron.*
http://www.nolandgrab.org/archives/...ng_of_stadiums/

Let's take look at the feasibility of the Marlins moving to the Meadowlands.
First a stadium is going to be built, look at the plans.
http://img244.imageshack.us/img244/2333/510dc4.jpg
Fox Sports Net does not have a Baseball team to broadcast, a TV contract is
a lock. Let's look at some facts.

Seven cities express interest in Marlins. We already know the Portland
stadium group, a Puerto Rico businessman and representatives from NEW
JERSEY'S MEADOWLANDS have contacted the Marlins; we're guessing the other
four cities are Las Vegas (a virtual lock), San Jose, Monterrey and
Charlotte.
http://www.ballparkdigest.com/news/...tm#seven_cities

Topo Gigio wrote:


Did we learn nothing from the Expos charade? Washington was the only
decent open market for them. Any discussions MLB had with other cities
was simply to turn the screws on DC to get it to pay for a new stadium.
Now there are no decent open markets. North Jersey and San Jose
aren't open markets. They are in other MLB teams' territories. Puerto
Rico and Monterrey are just a little bit of humor added to the
discussion. Portland, Vegas, and Charlotte are the best of the lot,
but any of them would be marginal at best. The Marlins may have
managed to wear out their welcome in Florida to the point that moving
makes sense, but that says more about Marlins ownership than it does
about the cities in question.