Hillsboro Hops threatening to leave town?

Remember the ballpark scam Steve Stuart and others tried to run on Clark County years back? The one where EVERYONE was going to have to pay a tax on admission to everything from movie tickets to golf courses to pay for it?

Well, ultimately, people wised up and that deal got killed.

So instead, the team from Yakima moved to Hillsboro; in the process, getting a much bigger/better facility in their sports complex... 4500 hundred capacity compared to Vancouver's planned 3000... for $7 to $10 million less... a facility estimated to cost $13 to $15 million back then.

Hillsboro did what Clark County SHOULD have done.

It's a great facility. It's located in a modern, well-built, well-designed neighborhood facility. It was generally fun to go to and watch these kids play... obscene vender prices notwithstanding.

Years went by... the team did well, the area did well and crowds grew. It was a success...

Until now.

Two years ago, Major League Baseball reorganized the farm system.

Several teams in the system, which essentially eliminated Short-Season Class A baseball, changing it over to full season; were eliminated from the Minor League system. Hillsboro was not one of them.

The problem?

MLB's requirement for Class A regular-length season baseball facilities to field a team. To remain a team in the Minor League (MiLB) system, Hillsboro and several other teams had to sign what amounted to a promissory note, in which they would declare that they would either improve their current facility to the MiLB specifications for Class A or build an entirely new facility that met the new specifications.

Such as:

Clubhouses for both home and visiting teams must be 1,000 square feet or larger. Again, most newer ballparks already feature larger home clubhouses; the issue for many teams will be expanding visitor clubhouses. The clubhouses must also feature improved lockers.

Nutrition is now emphasized for many organizations, some of whom send out their own food-prep staff and don’t rely on team for the post-game buffet. That’s why you see food-prep and dining areas for both home and visiting clubhouses as a new spec. The challenge here will be carving out the space out of existing office and storage space.

Better field lighting. This is an easy sell: installing the next generation of LED lights will both save money on daily usage and improve the player experience. The installation of new LED lights can be done with existing stanchions in some cases. This is not a new trend; newer ballparks feature LED lighting and beginning several years ago teams like the Lowell Spinners installed LED lighting.

Better training facilities for players. That means weight rooms and two pitching/batting tunnels. Many newer ballparks, like Hodgetown, feature indoor batting cages directly on the concourse. In Fort Wayne, the indoor batting cages at Parkview Field are a draw even when there’s not a game going on. Now, these batting cages don’t need to be located directly on the concourse–but for teams with flexible space, they may be a nice upgrade.

Separate spaces for female staffers. Welcome to the modern world, Minor League Baseball.

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These are just the initial requirements.

Well, Hillsboro felt compelled to plan on an entirely new facility... as opposed to modifying the one already built.

A new facility that is budgeted at a paltry $120 million.

And if they don't get one, then they'll do what they do in the big leagues: threaten to move.

As near as I can tell, they expected Hillsboro to cough up $18 million and the State of Oregon's legislature to throw a paltry $20 million on the table.

Now, why they'd expect the legislature to do that is anyone's guess. Hillsboro certainly lacks the legislative muscle of, say, Portland, required to get that kind of check.

But that's neither here nor there:

The Hops are $20 million short of making their commitment.

Now, I freely admit we were season-ticket holders to the Hops. We traveled around the state to watch these guys... until we moved to a place that required a 104-mile round trip to go there and come back (52 miles there, 52 miles back)

Now, we just keep track of them... which is how I stumbled across this article.

Imagine if this facility had, somehow, been built in Vancouver and the Hops stuck an additional multi-million dollar weapon like this to the taxpayer's head.

I don't know why they went this route instead of merely improving the facility they already have.

But I'm reminded of the axiom concerning greed:

Pigs get fat, hogs get slaughtered. And no Class A baseball team is worth a facility costing $120 million.

No matter how much I support them

Lack of funding for new stadium could force the Hops to leave Hillsboro

The MLB requires teams to meet certain facility standards. To do that, the Hops plan to build a new facility. Now, they're scrambling to get the last $20 million.