Albert Pujols, you just won the NL MVP. What are you going to do now?
by Brendanukkah on Nov 19, 2008 10:39 AM EST
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Why, he's going to invest in an ownership group that is bidding to bring an expansion MLS franchise to St. Louis, of course!
Cardinals first baseman Albert Pujols, the National League most valuable player and a native of the Dominican Republic, is backing the St. Louis bid for an MLS expansion club.
"I am very proud and excited to join the effort to bring Major League Soccer to the St. Louis area," he said in a press release issued this afternoon. "This means a lot to me and my family, as we all love soccer and we believe in MLS. Plus, this is something that will be great for our community, especially our youth. I strongly encourage St. Louis business leaders and sports fans to join me in this effort. St. Louis is an unbelievable sports town and we'll be a great city for Major League Soccer."
(courtesy of the Washington Post's Soccer Insider)
This is kind of unexpected, particularly because Dominicans usually care less about soccer than Americans do. The MLS is putting a new team in Seattle next year, a new team in Philadelphia in 2010, and are currently accepting bids for two more franchises, bringing the total number of teams in the league to 18. St. Louis has a strong amateur soccer following and would be a great place for a team, only they propose to build a stadium on the Illinois side of the river in one of the scummiest areas of the country. Lord only knows why MLS didn't just relocate the Kansas City franchise to St. Louis, but there you go.
There's an interesting trend of athletes from other sports backing the MLS. Oscar de la Hoya is a part owner of the Houston Dynamo, and Steve Nash is backing a bid for an expansion team in Vancouver (which would create a nice rivalry with both Seattle and Toronto FC). Soccer powerhouse Barcelona has put in a bid for a franchise in Miami that would presumably operate in a manner similar to Chivas USA. It's hard to imagine MLS saying no to Barcelona, but Miami fans tend to be very... noncommittal. And considering that soccer isn't very popular with Cubans either... The really intriguing thing would be if MLS did accept Barcelona's proposal and built a stadium in Miami. What would the Marlins think? There's a very good chance that the current economic climate has scuttled any real chance for them to build a new stadium, but if a (cheaper) soccer stadium were to go up before a new baseball stadium, would that be the final straw that caused the Marlins to pack up their two world championships and move?
Also, don't forget to watch the Columbus Crew take on the New York Red Bulls in the MLS Cup, Sunday at 3:30 on ABC. Or you can watch the USA take on Guatemala in World Cup Qualifying (USA has already clinched advancement to the next round) tonight at 8:00 on ESPN Classic.
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Miami secured financing for the new baseball stadium
Their obstacle now is a nettlesome owner of downtown property.
How big are soccer stadia? It would make a lot of sense for them to combine a soccer/baseball facility in downtown Miami.
Oh, and good for Pujols for committing something to the area.
by ken on Nov 19, 2008 11:19 AM EST reply actions 0 recs
Good to know about the Marlins stadium.
I thought they were farther away than that. It looks to be kind of modest. $525 million for 38,000 capacity.
As far as soccer stadia go, they’re smaller and cheaper than baseball stadiums, obviously. The largest field is the Home Depot Center in LA. It cost $150 million and seats 27,000. The most recently built stadium is the Rio Tinto Stadium in Salt Lake City, and that cost $115 million and seats 20,000 (and is really nice!). The New York Red Bulls are currently constructing a stadium for $150-200 million that will seat over 25,000 and get them out of Giants Stadium. To sort of show how soccer stadiums have advanced, Columbus Crew Stadium – the first soccer specific stadium – cost $28.5 million in 1999 and seats over 22,500.
As far as the Marlins and a Miami MLS team sharing a facility, I can only say that it’s a bad idea. I watched DC United play at RFK Stadium for two years while sharing the ground with the Nationals. You think soccer pitches look bad with football lines on them? Well when they have to re-sod the foul lines, infield, and pitchers mound, it’s even worse. The third base line right about a foot in front of one of the goal lines, causing the ball to take all kinds of weird hops at the worst possible moment. The pitch has gotten infinitely better – really a world class field – since Nationals Park opened.
Kansas City is currently playing in a minor league baseball stadium as they build a new facility.
by Brendanukkah on Nov 19, 2008 11:38 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs
the marlins should be contracted
baseball in florida is for spring!
by Daedalus on Nov 19, 2008 2:29 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
And October
Since the Reds last played a playoff game, the Marlins have won two World Series, and the Rays went to another one. Sure, the fan support is pretty bad, but the teams get results, and anyway, Cinci’s in no place to point fingers when it comes to low attendance.
by Brendanukkah on Nov 19, 2008 2:35 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
correction: the Marlins have bought two World Series
what’s the point of having a winning team if no one goes? no one goes even when they’re winning. cincy is always in the middle of the pack when it comes to attendance.
i’ll never forget that game against the nationals in miami when there were 200 people. i watched that. you could hear what individuals in the stands were saying.
by Daedalus on Nov 20, 2008 1:50 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs
How did the Marlins buy the 2003 World Series?
They had two regulars who hadn’t been with the organization for a least a year or two – Ivan Rodriguez and Juan Pierre. Granted they had to sell off a bunch of the team after the championship, but that happens when you don’t draw fans. I blame that on Wayne Huizenga. He basically killed baseball in South Florida after 1997. From 1993 to 1997, the Marlins finished 5th, 6th, 8th, 10th, and 5th in attendance, despite only having one winning team (1997). Since then they’ve finished better than 15th in attendance twice (1998 – 13th, and 2004 – 14th). How can you expect fans who got treated like that to have passion for their organization?
Cincinnati hasn’t been middle of the pack in attendance for a long time. The Reds have been 10th or higher in the NL for attendance in each of the last 11 seasons except for 2003 when the new park opened and they finished 8th in NL. Even in 1999, they finished 11th in the NL in attendance. It’s obviously not as bad as in Florida, but as ‘nukkah said, Reds fans shouldn’t be criticizing other team’s attendance.
Why have I been blogging for so long? It's certainly not because of the paycheck. Because I could be making a lot more money as a doctor or a professional athlete.
by Slyde on Nov 20, 2008 9:48 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs
I thought that is what Arizona was?
There are fewer and fewer Florida spring teams every couple of years.
"Patterson, Keppinger, Bako.... Cream of the Suck" -Slyde
by snohio on Nov 19, 2008 3:50 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
I expected this to be a story about his reaction...
Kind of like Glen “Big Baby” Davis’s reaction when the Celtics won the NBA finals.
"My wife ain't never ran and got me no pheasant." - Fistbands
by BK on Nov 19, 2008 12:03 PM EST reply actions 0 recs
"Big Baby Gotta Say Somethin'!"
What a picture of domestic tranquility... Hemlock on the hearth and my wife feeding the piranha.
by Man Mountain on Nov 19, 2008 12:36 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
Sauget, Illinois
Fertilizer plants and strip clubs, woo-hoo!
by bengalred on Nov 19, 2008 2:17 PM EST reply actions 0 recs
Kansas City has a team because Lamar Hunt is the godfather of US soccer
and I feel like that makes the Wizards the Reds of soccer…long on history, short on results.
To keep it topical, I always feel like Pujols’ statements are the most canned events ever. He’s actually just a baseball-playing robot, right?
...because there's already someone posing as Jacob Brumfield
by Cy Schourek on Nov 19, 2008 6:58 PM EST reply actions 0 recs
And what about
“I’m waiting for this Bitch” on the commercial.
"There's a party in my tummy, so yummy, so yummy!" ----Yo Gabba Gabba
by Pops Daniels on Nov 20, 2008 10:37 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs
That one's new to me
To add to the pile on, Pujols reportedly threw the scout that signed him under the bus a few years back.
by ken on Nov 20, 2008 10:58 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs
Just goes to show that robots are always look for ways to overtake their masters
Why have I been blogging for so long? It's certainly not because of the paycheck. Because I could be making a lot more money as a doctor or a professional athlete.
by Slyde on Nov 20, 2008 11:23 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs
I have robot insurance.
"Yes, and it's so important in this sport that the athletes be able to train in the same location." -Cynthia Potter, NBC Synchronized Diving Analyst
by 3 Fast 3 Furious on Nov 20, 2008 11:30 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs
Yeah, ChristianClips.com is the only site that came up on my Google search
that I could view at work to make sure it worked.
"Yes, and it's so important in this sport that the athletes be able to train in the same location." -Cynthia Potter, NBC Synchronized Diving Analyst
by 3 Fast 3 Furious on Nov 20, 2008 11:31 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs
Because, naturally, buying robot insurance is a very Christian thing to do.
"My wife ain't never ran and got me no pheasant." - Fistbands
by BK on Nov 20, 2008 12:01 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
Yes,
because when robots, men and dinosaurs roamed the Earth together shit got complicated for man. Just ask Jack Van Impe. Throw in some aliens and you have a recipe for some seriously increased premiums.
"There's a party in my tummy, so yummy, so yummy!" ----Yo Gabba Gabba
by Pops Daniels on Nov 20, 2008 12:40 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
Lets get a RR group together and go for a visit to Jesusland
See Linda Blair was alive with the Dinos!!!
The best argument against democracy is a five-minute conversation with the average voter.
Sir Winston Churchill
by Madville on Nov 21, 2008 1:47 AM EST reply actions 0 recs
common ground
Think of me what you will...I gotta little space to fill
by chandrathan on Nov 21, 2008 4:21 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
I'd love to
But it costs $25. Much as I’d love to learn about how Tyrannosaurus rex’s teeth were to eat coconuts, I don’t want to give $25 to a bunch of creationists for the privilege.
I am thinking of doing a trip like this next summer. Stopping off to watch a few baseball games on the way, of course.
All Things Bubba: Because how can you not love a baseball player named Bubba?
by BubbaFan on Nov 21, 2008 6:26 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
So you'd rather see some dinky hills in Arizona rather that go to Jesusland
Better take Him on the trip w/you
The best argument against democracy is a five-minute conversation with the average voter.
Sir Winston Churchill
by Madville on Nov 21, 2008 8:10 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
It's not Arizona, doofus
It’s the Midwest. Ohio. Kentucky. Indiana.
All Things Bubba: Because how can you not love a baseball player named Bubba?
by BubbaFan on Nov 21, 2008 8:21 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
Hey, Only my older sister who lives in a double wide in Alabama is allowed to call me doofus!
My Father grew up not to terribly far from the Hopewell mounds. The dairy that we sold our cow’s milk to was The Hopewell Dairy. So there…
The best argument against democracy is a five-minute conversation with the average voter.
Sir Winston Churchill
by Madville on Nov 21, 2008 10:26 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
Serpent Mound is pretty cool
I made a model of it for a school project in middle school. A little further south is my hometown where our Little League fields were built on ancient Indian burial grounds. There’s still a good number of mounds beyond the outfields, but most were cleared to make room for infields and tennis courts.
by Red Menace on Nov 21, 2008 9:58 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
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