The Portland White Sox?

[fathom]

I know we've seen a few suggestions of Sox relocation the last week. Is this actually something that has any possibility of happening in the next 2 decades, or is just merely an overreaction to crappy attendance in games 2 and 3?

[cabiness42]

I know we've seen a few suggestions of Sox relocation the last week. Is this actually something that has any possibility of happening in the next 2 decades, or is just merely an overreaction to crappy attendance in games 2 and 3?

 

It's overreaction to attendance. I don't know if the Sox would consider a suburban site over the current one for their next stadium, but there's no way they leave the area.

[southsider2k5]

It's overreaction to attendance. I don't know if the Sox would consider a suburban site over the current one for their next stadium, but there's no way they leave the area.

 

I would LOVE to see them in the south loop with the stadium opening to the Chicago skyline.

[cabiness42]

I would LOVE to see them in the south loop with the stadium opening to the Chicago skyline.

 

How about a stadium in Michigan City with the stadium opening to the Chicago skyline??

 

[southsider2k5]

How about a stadium in Michigan City with the stadium opening to the Chicago skyline??

 

lol. I'd turn into Woo Woo, and be homeless, but at all of the games.

[greg775]

I would LOVE to see them in the south loop with the stadium opening to the Chicago skyline.

 

They really blew it last time in not leaving the 35th and Shields location. Time to get out of that neighborhood and move someplace else.

[The Mighty Mite]

They really blew it last time in not leaving the 35th and Shields location. Time to get out of that neighborhood and move someplace else.

They tried like hell to leave 35th and Shields but got turned down by Addison, the deal the state gave them included staying at 35th and Shields. I for one will always believe that the best move was to the burbs.

Edited April 7, 2014 by The Mighty Mite

[NorthSideSox72]

They tried like hell to leave 35th and Shields but got turned down by Addison, the deal the state gave them included staying at 35th and Shields. I for one will always believe that the best move was to the burbs.

 

Welcome to the board!

 

The ideal thing was always the south loop, for lots of reasons, but it didn't happen. Far better than any suburban location. Your weeknight games have a huge crowd of downtowners right there, and transit from all over the suburbs is way easier than for 35th and Shields.

 

I'm not totally convinced the suburbs would be a significant improvement over the current location, but could be talked into it. If you do the suburbs, you need to be near transit somehow, like a Metra station.

 

[oldsox]

I always thought they should have built a domed, state of the art stadium near Soldier Field. City owned plenty of land there. Could have been done. It would have been great for the city.

[NorthSideSox72]

I always thought they should have built a domed, state of the art stadium near Soldier Field. City owned plenty of land there. Could have been done. It would have been great for the city.

That's another thing. Ideally, in a place like Chicago, you need a stadium along the lines of Miller Park or Safeco, with a retractable roof that can be variably open air. Of course, that also makes it far more expensive.

 

 

[The Mighty Mite]

Welcome to the board!

 

The ideal thing was always the south loop, for lots of reasons, but it didn't happen. Far better than any suburban location. Your weeknight games have a huge crowd of downtowners right there, and transit from all over the suburbs is way easier than for 35th and Shields.

 

I'm not totally convinced the suburbs would be a significant improvement over the current location, but could be talked into it. If you do the suburbs, you need to be near transit somehow, like a Metra station.

 

Thanks for the welcome. Have been on another board since 2006 and thought it was time for a change. I guess ones point of view on the location would be where they live. Before we moved to Florida over 20 years ago we lived in the Wheaton area about 15 minutes from the Addison site. I was planning on some kind of season ticket plan but we all know what happened.

Edited April 7, 2014 by The Mighty Mite

[Dick Allen]

I always thought they should have built a domed, state of the art stadium near Soldier Field. City owned plenty of land there. Could have been done. It would have been great for the city.

Soldier Field area would be horrific for a baseball team playing 81 home games. A traffic nighmare on LSD every night. Not really easy public transportation access either. It's OK for the Bears because it is mainly on Sundays and 10% of the amount of games.

 

The South Loop at Roosevelt was the spot. Could have had the downtown workers after work, a riverwalk, open to the skyline, close to public transportation.

Edited April 7, 2014 by Dick Allen

[southsider2k5]

I always thought they should have built a domed, state of the art stadium near Soldier Field. City owned plenty of land there. Could have been done. It would have been great for the city.

 

Even now they have all of the land they bought trying to attract the Olympics just south of McCormick place.

[TheTruth05]

Soldier Field area would be horrific for a baseball team playing 81 home games. A traffic nighmare on LSD every night. Not really easy public transportation access either. It's OK for the Bears because it is mainly on Sundays and 10% of the amount of games.

 

The South Loop at Roosevelt was the spot. Could have had the downtown workers after work, a riverwalk, open to the skyline, close to public transportation.

 

Everything is right there, Even today Roosevelt has been fixed pretty cleanly and is thriving. Maybe they can move the stadium piece by piece over to South Loop.

[southsider2k5]

Soldier Field area would be horrific for a baseball team playing 81 home games. A traffic nighmare on LSD every night. Not really easy public transportation access either. It's OK for the Bears because it is mainly on Sundays and 10% of the amount of games.

 

The South Loop at Roosevelt was the spot. Could have had the downtown workers after work, a riverwalk, open to the skyline, close to public transportation.

 

There was tons of old warehouses and other stuff that would have been easy to bulldoze back then.

[chetkincaid]

This article reminds me of the time Peter Gammons was talking about how the White Sox should be contracted. That was in 2004, right before the White Sox kicked his beloved Boston red cubs ass and won the freaking championship.

[2nd_city_saint787]

I always bring it up when talking about relocation....I used to work at River City Condos on Wells, and I think there's a prime location right next to it. Plenty of room for parking and a stadium, they were building an off ramp a block away, and they can indeed open it up with some of the skyline in the background....Plus I made some friends in my time there which would make it a prime location for me to pregame on the skydeck

 

 

If they wanna move it out of state, I'd throw out the hypothetical situation of them moving into the Knights new stadium that looks really, really nice. Looks like the stadium, which currently hold 10k, might be able to expand the stadium by another 25k.

[southsider2k5]

I always bring it up when talking about relocation....I used to work at River City Condos on Wells, and I think there's a prime location right next to it. Plenty of room for parking and a stadium, they were building an off ramp a block away, and they can indeed open it up with some of the skyline in the background....Plus I made some friends in my time there which would make it a prime location for me to pregame on the skydeck

 

 

If they wanna move it out of state, I'd throw out the hypothetical situation of them moving into the Knights new stadium that looks really, really nice. Looks like the stadium, which currently hold 10k, might be able to expand the stadium by another 25k.

 

That would have been a great area too.

[ILMOU]

There was tons of old warehouses and other stuff that would have been easy to bulldoze back then.

Yeah, they definitely blew it. Maybe we get another chance in 15 years? There are a few sites that could work.

[harfman77]

I think re-location becomes a very real possibility once JR dies and the team is sold. That is going to be a heck of a mess anyway as none of the other members in the group seem to know how much of the team they own, you can bet that is going to be a messy court battle when the Reinsdorfs reveal they have secretly acquired 80%(random number) of the team in deals over the years. With the current membership group and the overlap with the Bulls organization, there is little chance that anything happens in the next 4-5 years.

[LittleHurt05]

Soldier Field area would be horrific for a baseball team playing 81 home games. A traffic nighmare on LSD every night. Not really easy public transportation access either. It's OK for the Bears because it is mainly on Sundays and 10% of the amount of games.

 

The South Loop at Roosevelt was the spot. Could have had the downtown workers after work, a riverwalk, open to the skyline, close to public transportation.

 

 

Agreed. The death march to Roosevelt is bad enough two Sundays a month, I can't imagine it for a whole week of Sox games. (Granted, there would be less than half as many people)

[Marty34]

I have a very good friend who was a higher-up in the accounting firm used by a very wealthy Chicagoan to perform the DD necessary to purchase a team. This was close to 10 years ago now and they were interested in every team that came on the market. The story goes that MLB told them that they weren't going to get these teams because MLB was interested in local ownership.

 

My friend believes this buyer is lined up for the Sox.

[greg775]

They tried like hell to leave 35th and Shields but got turned down by Addison, the deal the state gave them included staying at 35th and Shields. I for one will always believe that the best move was to the burbs.

 

I forgot. My bad. Thanx for reminding me.

[NorthSideSox72]

I think re-location becomes a very real possibility once JR dies and the team is sold. That is going to be a heck of a mess anyway as none of the other members in the group seem to know how much of the team they own, you can bet that is going to be a messy court battle when the Reinsdorfs reveal they have secretly acquired 80%(random number) of the team in deals over the years. With the current membership group and the overlap with the Bulls organization, there is little chance that anything happens in the next 4-5 years.

I have a very hard time believing the owners don't know how many shares/dollars they own and their percentage of equity. In fact I'm pretty sure it would be illegal for any equity partnership to exist where leadership was deceiving the owners as to their stake. They know, in some fashion, how much of the equity they own.

 

[Dick Allen]

I have a very hard time believing the owners don't know how many shares/dollars they own and their percentage of equity. In fact I'm pretty sure it would be illegal for any equity partnership to exist where leadership was deceiving the owners as to their stake. They know, in some fashion, how much of the equity they own.

There was an article about White Sox ownership last year where a couple of owners speculated JR's stake somewhere between 10 and 15 %. JR said their guess was significantly understated. When JR goes, the executors of his estate get control of the team.

 

I really don't think it will be ugly at all. Some have wanted out and got out. Some want to stay and let their heirs be owners. The bottom line is JR has made these people a ton of money. A lot of them are with him with the Bulls as well.