I’m hearing a lot of grumbling from my baseball fan friends who are really disturbed that it appears the city will once again lose the Portland Beavers because PGE Park is going to be modified for soccer and football, with no further configuration for baseball. And of course, no obvious sites for local baseball relocation.

And I’m having to tell them that this time, I’m not on their side.

While I’m not a soccer fan, I understand this city’s romance with the sport. In many ways it is the perfect sport for Portland — all-inclusive, European, Yuppie, rowdy. It’s perfectly Portland, actually. And it’s an easy sport to garner fan support because there just aren’t many games. Perfect for a “mid-major” city like this one.

But the bottom line for me is real simple: Is PGE Park as a baseball venue worth fighting for? The easy answer is: No way. I was there as a little kid for the very first baseball game there, in 1956. It was poor then and it’s still not a good spot for baseball.

Yes, a lot of great players have played there. But if anybody ought to be nostalgic about the joint it’s me. I practically grew up in that place, as a batboy for the Beavers and later a clubhouse boy, pressbox boy, PA announcer, scoreboard operator, official scorer and even a director of group sales. Later, I covered the team for many seasons, starting when it returned to Portland in 1978. I do not think there are many people on the planet who have watched more games there than I have.

But I’m not feeling much of a connection there. It was always a very cold-feeling stadium and never a “ballpark.” Ever. It’s pretty much an inadequate place for baseball, from having too many seats to having way too many poor seats. The concourse is too small, the restrooms too scarce and the seats are difficult to get to. And when you get more than about 7,000 people in there, it’s a very uncomfortable place to be.

I long for a day when the citizens of Portland can have a real ballpark. Not a football stadium pretending to be ballpark, like PGE Park, which is still a venue better served as a greyhound race track than a ballpark.

But oh yeah, we don’t want to spend money in this town to build even a minor-league park. Mostly that’s because a great many people here don’t know how nice those cool new minor-league ballparks are — and what they would do to spark interest in the team.

And hey, we just remodeled old PGE Park a while back, didn’t we? Well, yes — but it was an overall catastrophe, for sure. And we have to admit that and move on. It was poorly designed and not well-thought-out — a project I will always believe should never have been chosen in the city’s request-for-proposal process — but that’s another topic for another day.

Yes, we did fund a poor stadium remodel. But it’s not as if this city has been investing a whole lot of coin in sports venues over the years. Sports fans, you’re living in a city that has NEVER, and I’m including old Vaughn Street Ballpark, funded the construction of a new baseball stadium. It has NEVER funded the building of a new football stadium.

EVER. I mean, is there another city in the world of at least moderate size that can say that? Yes, we funded Memorial Coliseum for peanuts, about half a century ago. That’s pretty much it for all of sports. And of course, the collective ego in this city dictates that a lot of people here think we’ve taken the right path in that regard — and the entire rest of the world is wrong. Yeah, sure.

In the last few years, Seattle has spent more than a billion bucks on football and baseball venues and while you heard a ton of grumbling about it at the time, you’re not hearing it now. People up there are ecstatic with what the Mariners and Seahawks and their venues have done for Seattle.

But that’s the difference between a big-league city and a bush-league town. And so don’t come at me asking to save PGE Park for baseball. I’m not down with that. We’ve lost the Beavers before — twice. And maybe being without them again will finally spark an interest in building a new ballpark. If it doesn’t, well, that’s fine by me.

I mean, really — this is Portland. And it’s about time we started holding out for something better than just the constant attempts to turn a cow’s ear into a silk purse.

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Tags: Baseball, Dwight Jaynes, MLS, PGE Park, Portland, Vaughn Street Ballpark

All I really know for sure is that the landlord apparently changed the locks on all the doors because the lounge was behind in its rent payments. This was the site of “Talkin’ Ball” on Comcast Sportsnet and we had to move the last show over to the Blazers’ studio in the Rose Garden, which is a great locale.

I’m not sure where we’re going to be doing future shows but rest assured we will be continuing that series, although there are no shows scheduled after the next two games.

I would ask that you keep your comments civil in regard to The Agency.  This was NOT a national chain. A lot of very nice Portlanders spent a good deal of money to try bring this town a place they thought was needed. A lot of very nice people worked there, too.

My sympathies and best wishes go out to them.

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Tags: Comcast Sportsnet, Dwight Jaynes, Portland, Talkin' Ball, The Agency

Here’s your link to the website. The plan also includes “a bright future for Memorial Coliseum.” That promise right there might be enough to make the project difficult to pull off.

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Tags: Dwight Jaynes, JumpTown, Portland, Rose Quarter, Trail Blazers

Merritt Paulson is trying to get a ballpark. He’s trying to see if some community in this area is willing to build a real baseball stadium in a public-private partnership. You realize, perhaps, that the ONLY stadium or arena of any size that this area’s ever built with public funds is Memorial Coliseum — which was done about a half century ago.

The Rose Garden, PGE Park (Multnomah Stadium when it was built), Vaughn Street Ballpark — all were done privately. My point is, we’re kind of due, aren’t we, to do some sort of arena or ballpark?

Anyway, Paulson, who had no connections here, moved into the area when he bought the Portland Beavers and Timbers and is in love with owning pro sports franchises. He’s been villified, made fun of and derided because he’s asked the public to help fund a ballpark that IT will own.

He’s willing to pour millions of his own money into this operation. Millions. And for anyone who thinks he’s got a great chance of even earning all that money back, well, you’re nuts. I just don’t think it pencils out. The fact is, he’s a wealthy guy who loves owning and operating a sports franchise.

Just like Paul Allen.

But Paul’s taken a lot of hits over the years, too. Yet the contributions the Trail Blazers have made to this community are too many to count. Seriously, with all of our job and economic problems here, the constant rain and the idiocy of some of our politicians, it’s the only thing a lot of people find themselves feeling good about when they pick up the morning paper.

And you know what? Paul has lost tens hundreds of millions on the Trail Blazers. Can you imagine? It’s never been a profitable operation. The people of Portland owe him a standing ovation every time he walks to his seat in that arena. Has he made mistakes? Of course, and we’ve always called him out on them. But on balance, Paul Allen has been GREAT for the city of Portland.

Traditionally, we’ve not had wealthy people who live in our area step up to own franchises. The closest I can come is Harry Glickman, but he wasn’t rich enough to own the team — he just was farsighted and creative enough to put a group together that had enough financial clout to buy a team in the NBA.

I think Merritt Paulson is trying very hard to be great for the Portland area, too. Certainly, to anyone who believes he’s here to make his fortune is sadly mistaken. If they think that ballpark in Beaverton is going to benefit only Paulson, they’re seriously deluded.

That ballpark will be a gathering place and a focal point for Beaverton that the city has never had. An identity and a soul. Just wait. What really bothers me is the whole political side to this. Some people don’t like Paulson’s father, Hank, the former secretary of the treasury, so they don’t like his kid. I mean, man, the guy was a REPUBLICAN — which is pretty much always a crime around these parts. And man, he’s from the EAST COAST! How terrible.

All I’m saying is that we ought to be thankful that people like Paul Allen and Merritt Paulson have chosen Portland as the home for their teams. Nobody around here is wealthy enough or willing enough to do it.

And we’re better off for what they’ve done.

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Tags: arenas, ballparks, Beaverton, Dwight Jaynes, Merritt Paulson, Paul Allen, Portland

My lifelong friend, Mike Clopton, and I stood on a street corner across the street from the left-field entrance to Safeco Field Thursday afternoon, getting ready to duck into a quiet little place called “Jimmy’s” where we’d watch Ian Furness do his talk show live on KJR.

The Mariners were playing a rare 3:40 game and I hesitated before ducking into the joint. On one side of me was Safeco Field, a glimmering baseball oasis on a perfect sunny afternoon. On the other side was a meeting hall and theater, attached to Qwest Field, where the Seahawks play — another most impressive structure.

The streets were alive with happy people. Families, business people ducking out on work, singles, senior citizens — people who seemed giddy about what their afternoon promised them. Even the scalpers had smiles on their faces.

What a town, man. Yes, Seattle lost its NBA team. Cry no tears — with the NFL and major-league baseball, it’s barely noticed.

When I was a kid, Seattle and Portland were heated rivals in just about every way. They had the Rainiers in the Pacific Coast League fighting our Beavers and the Totems in the Western Hockey League always losing to our Buckaroos. Those were the days.

But then the Kingdome went up and Seattle became a big-league city. While we were focusing on keeping it weird, they were concentrating on pennant races and dreaming of Super Bowls. They haven’t won a World Series or Super Bowl yet, but they are allowed to think about it every year. They paid the price of admission — in erecting beautiful public facilities that, yes, probably cost too much money.

But I hear no complaints as I stand on that corner. You never hear any around here. I see excited people headed to the ballpark to watch what turned into a honey of a game. As Mike and I alternated between great seats behind home plate, an inning in the press box and about four innings in the owner’s suite (Thanks to an all-time great guy, Randy Adamack), I couldn’t help but reflect.

Right there within a block of each other, twice as many sports facilities as the city of Portland has built since that coin toss when the little settlement on the Willamette became “Portland” rather than “Boston.”

It’s a shame we quit being Seattle’s rival. It’s a shame we didn’t dare to dream big. What fun we could have had in this town.

But I will say one thing for us. We’ve got Memorial Coliseum on the National Register of Historic Places. Those idiots up there in Seattle, who probably could have done the same thing with the Kingdome had they been smart enough, decided instead to implode it to make way for a gorgeous, state-of-the-art football stadium.

Fools. Don’t they know you’re supposed to keep old, disgusting, worn-out dumps like the Kingdome around and sink even more dough into them? I mean, that could have been an athletic club or a velodrome, right?

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Tags: Dwight Jaynes, Mike Clopton, Portland, Qwest Field, Randy Adamack, Safeco Field, Seattle

People have been asking me, what with the Phoenix franchise in such a mess, why isn’t somebody trying to buy that team and move it to Portland?

Well first, the economic times wouldn’t dictate any more big-league teams heading to Portland. No corporate support here right now. But second, the NHL has a HUGE investment in keeping that team right where it is — in its fancy new arena out in the middle of nowhere. I don’t think the league wants Portland or any other city trying to get that franchise.

That’s why the league is even willing to buy the team for a year or so, just to buy time to find an owner willing to keep the team where it is. You see, any league wants to push the myth out there that when the taxpayers fund a new arena, it not only gets them a team — it ensures they keep that team there for the long term.

Moving that hockey team now, just after the construction of a new arena, would look bad all over the league and perhaps discourage other communities from building fancy new arenas.

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Tags: Dwight Jaynes, NHL, Phoenix Coyotes, Portland

Our “beloved” mayor Sam Adams has the names of the fine folks named today to the committee, along with a few ridiculous statements, right here. I wonder how many on the committee have actually visited the “beloved” building in recent years? Seriously. Do they know what a dump that bulding is? Or how much it’s going to cost to save it?

They’re going to find out, I hope, very soon.

In his statement, Adams says:

. . . the Rose Quarter and the Memorial Coliseum are beloved community assets, with an even brighter future.

I really cannot tell you how much it irks me to hear the coliseum described as a “beloved” community asset — which it isn’t really in any possible way (it’s not beloved and it’s not an asset) — and to say it might have anything close to a “bright” future is downright absurd.

Ah, this is my “beloved” city of Portland.

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Tags: Dwight Jaynes, Mayor Sam Adams, Memorial Coliseum, Portland

Our politicians have always been well behind on this issue. The people of Portland would love to have a casino centrally located where they can go a couple of times a month to watch big-time entertainment and dump a whole lot of money onto some table, never to be seen again.

I’ve always been for it. Been for legalized gambling of all sorts, actually. Doesn’t offend me in any way and has always appealed to me as a way to let others pay my taxes for me. Legalize it, tax it and I’m cool with it.

But the big thing — let’s allow that casino but leverage it. Get something big in return. Talk about some life for the Rose Quarter, a plush casino on the waterfront on the old hotel property Paul Allen owns, with a boat dock so you could also get there by water. And for the right to put it there, whoever is the owner of that casino must do the rest of the Rose Quarter up real nice. Level Memorial Coliseum, build that ballpark, put in a few other nice restaurants and clubs.

Oh, never mind. Makes too much sense for Portland to ever even think about.

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Tags: ballpark, Casino, Dwight Jaynes, gambling, Portland, Rose Quarter

Had an opportunity to chat with Terry Porter for quite a while yesterday and was happy to hear that he’s bought a house in a very nice suburb and is “settling” in the Portland area.

“We love it here,” he said. “This is where we want to live. I’m very happy to be back.”

Porter will make a few appearances on behalf of the Trail Blazers but isn’t expecting to do an awful lot this season.

“I just want to get settled, relax and spend time with my family,” he said.

And why not? The Suns still owe him quite a bit of money, there’s no sense of urgency on getting back into any kind of coaching grind and I think, with a daughter just a year away from graduating high school and considering some very exclusive colleges, it’s a great time for dad to be around a little more.

It speaks so much to the impact this city makes on NBA players that a guy like Porter, who has played or coached in places like Miami, San Antonio, Milwaukee and Phoenix would choose this as the place he wants to live.

And our town will be better for all the Terry Porters we can add to the wealth of good people in our area. He is first class all the way.

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Tags: Dwight Jaynes, Portland, Portland Trail Blazers, Terry Porter

One of the things about running a Triple-A baseball team is that you have virtually NO input these days into the kind of team you’re going to end up with. You use players handed to you by a major-league affiliate, which often has no regard for how much talent is there.

You’re a way station. One more stop along the way toward the big leagues. Often, as soon as you get a good player, he’s gone — recalled to the big leagues.

But quality major-league organizations stockpile talent. They have good players in the pipeline. If you’re affiliated with a quality organizations you’re not only going to get good teams frequently, but blue-chip baseball prospects — which is just as important for fan appeal.

In Portland with the Beavers, we see little of either. We’ve had a decent team or two and a few nice prospects. I would say Jason Bay is probably the best player the Padres have shipped through here and San Diego couldn’t wait to trade him.

This year it’s no different. The Beavers stink. They lose home games constantly and feature no promising big-league stars. Still, they’ve been drawing 6,000,-7,000 people per night as the team uses quality promotions, nice weather and well, just the lure of a ballgame, to put fans into their seats.

I worked many years for the Beavers as a kid, in every job from bat boy, to PA announcer, to radio broadcaster, to press box boy, to clubhouse manager to group sales director. And I can tell you the sales philosophy probably hasn’t changed much since those days long ago.

You sell baseball as a family outing. You sell it for what it is — a wholesome, clean thing to do with your family on a warm summer evening or afternoon. You make people feel guilty if they haven’t taken their kids to a ballgame at least once or twice this summer — because, let’s face it, they should feel that way. And then you throw a few gimmicks in — a celebrity softball game, a clown or two, a fireworks show, whatever, just to sweeten the pot.

And that way, when the parent club sends you lemon, you can sell it as lemonade. In the minors, you don’t well winning baseball. You just sell baseball — and bobbleheads, fireworks and the usual dog-and-pony shows. And that works — particularly in nice ballparks.

The Beavers, since hooking up with the Padres, have done a halfway decent job of moving tickets and putting people into an uncomfortable ballpark. But it really would help if once in a while we had some terrific young prospects on a powerful team that wins a lot, wouldn’t it?

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Tags: Dwight Jaynes, minor-league baseball, Portland, Portland Beavers, San Diego Padres