Interested In Columbus?

by columbusOHcubsfan on May 7, 2008 9:38 PM EDT

The AAA Columbus Clippers are constructing a beautiful new ball park in the arena district named Huntington Park in 2009 . We signed a two-year deal to be the AAA team for the Washington Nationals that will end after the 2008 season.

My question to you Indians fans is if you think that the Indians are interested in moving out of Buffalo and locating your AAA club here in Columbus with the Clippers. I think that would be great and I heard you guys would be interested. I would like to hear about what everyone knows. It just sounds like it would make more sense for you guys to have a club closer to home.

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Boooo Cubs.

by Stinky McDingus on May 7, 2008 9:58 PM EDT reply reply 0 recs

ok

by columbusOHcubsfan on May 8, 2008 3:26 PM EDT up reply reply 0 recs

There have been a few articles in the Cleveland & Buffalo press that its a done deal, just not announced yet.

by JK in CBus on May 7, 2008 10:29 PM EDT reply reply 0 recs

thank you

that’s one of the only straight responses on here

by columbusOHcubsfan on May 8, 2008 3:27 PM EDT up reply reply 0 recs

It’s not really that much closer, of course.

by dgcambridge on May 7, 2008 10:36 PM EDT reply reply 0 recs

It most certainly is in practical terms, if not mileage.

by Voltaire on May 7, 2008 10:47 PM EDT up reply reply 0 recs

I assume you mean culturally, not just road conditions. I’ve been gone from Ohio awhile, so I’ll take your word for it.

by dgcambridge on May 7, 2008 11:00 PM EDT up reply reply 0 recs

Yes, exactly. I would never even think about going to Buffalo for the day, but Columbus I’d do in a heartbeat if I had enough to keep me busy.

by Voltaire on May 7, 2008 11:35 PM EDT up reply reply 0 recs

I’m pretty sure you can find enough to keep you busy there.

by hans on May 8, 2008 12:03 AM EDT up reply reply 0 recs

Yeah, if you’ve got a half hour to kill you can check out the Columbus Art Museum – the whole art museum.

"the most vehement Yankee-hating guy I know" - Jay

by mauichuck on May 8, 2008 8:00 AM EDT up reply reply 0 recs

Ba-dump-bump

Free Andy Marte!

Pronk Needs You

by woodsmeister on May 8, 2008 9:06 AM EDT up reply reply 0 recs

Been there, done that. Think I stretched it into an hour.

by Voltaire on May 8, 2008 11:48 AM EDT up reply reply 0 recs

Columbus Symphony goes silent. What somebody steal their kazoos?

"the most vehement Yankee-hating guy I know" - Jay

by mauichuck on May 9, 2008 8:59 AM EDT up reply reply 0 recs

Okay, Chuck. You hate Columbus. Everybody gets it. Columbus is not a geniuine big city with culture like Cleveland. You won’t find much disagreement about that.

I happen to sing with the Columbus Symphony Chorus. This particular story is painful.

Free Andy Marte!

Pronk Needs You

by woodsmeister on May 9, 2008 10:12 AM EDT up reply reply 0 recs

Sorry, I didn’t mean to hit so close to home.

"the most vehement Yankee-hating guy I know" - Jay

by mauichuck on May 9, 2008 10:21 AM EDT up reply reply 0 recs

I used to commute from Rochester to Cleveland every weekend. Buffalo is 3 hours if you’re ignoring those funny signs with the 65’s on them. Longer if you pay attention or there’s construction (never). You also have to go through the bad weather capital of America (Erie, PA)—no offense to the fine citizens of that city. So, I think Columbus (at about a 2-hour drive) is definitely closer even in mileage terms.

by peter m on May 8, 2008 8:24 AM EDT up reply reply 0 recs

I’m pumped about this, the stadium is about a 20 minute walk from me. Now if i can only convince my friends that Andy Gonzalez is the next big thing i won’t have to go alone.

¡Free Chan Perry!

by TheVanillaGorilla on May 8, 2008 7:38 AM EDT reply reply 0 recs

I would be delighted.

My car, however, would not be.

Disclaimer: this post doesn't mean what you think it means.

by AngG on May 8, 2008 9:22 AM EDT reply reply 0 recs

You should consider it a done deal. It just makes far too much sense for everyone involved for it not to happen. The Clippers are worth far more to the Indians and STO than to any other franchise.

by Jay on May 8, 2008 9:58 AM EDT reply reply 0 recs

do we have to still call them the clippers?

by Brick. on May 8, 2008 10:41 AM EDT up reply reply 0 recs

yea that’s the worst name.

by columbusOHcubsfan on May 8, 2008 3:25 PM EDT up reply reply 0 recs

Believe it or not, the Clippers name precedes them being a Yankees affiliate. Surprising because Clippers sounds like a natural for affiliation with the Yankees (i.e., DiMaggio as the Yankee Clipper).

Their first two years back in 1977-78 they were a Pirates affiliate. Miguel Dilone (remember him?) played for the Clippers in 1977 as a Pirates farmhand, as did Dale Berra, Mike Easler and Ed Whitson. Other prior incarnations of baseball in Columbus were the Buckeyes, the Red Birds, the Jets, and the 1899 Columbus Senators of the newly formed American League, who moved to Cleveland and became the Cleveland Indians.

Free Andy Marte!

Pronk Needs You

by woodsmeister on May 8, 2008 4:16 PM EDT up reply reply 0 recs

These are all the affiliations I could find on Columbus (am sure there are a few missing):

Major League – American Assocuiation – Columbus Buckeyes 1883-1884
Major League – American Assocuiation – Columbus Solons 1889-1891

Minor League – International Association – Columbus Buckeyes 1887
Minor League – Tri-State League – Columbus Senators 1888
Minor League – Western League – Columbus Reds 1892
Minor League – Western League – Columbus Buckeyes 1896
Minor League – Western League – Columbus Senators 1897-99
Minor League – Interstate League – Columbus Senators 1899-1901
Minor League – Interstate League – Columbus Cubs 1913
Minor League – American Association (B) – Columbus Senators 1903-30
Minor League – American Association (AA) – Columbus Senators 1931-1939 (Cardinals)
Minor League – American Association (AA 40-45, AAA 46-54) – Columbus Red Birds 1940-1954 (Cardinals 40-54)
Minor League – International League – Columbus Clippers 1977 – present (77-78 Pirates, 79-06 Yankees, 07-08 Nationals)

Negro Leagues – Columbus Blue Birds – 1933 (merged with Akron Tyrites and eventually with the Cleveland Giants all in 1933)

It seems that the Senators team from the Western League [precursor to AmericanLeague] (which finished it’s season in Grand Rapids in 1899) is the one that got dubbed the Cleveland Blues in 1900 for the American League when it was still considered a minor league.

by talonk on May 8, 2008 5:59 PM EDT up reply reply 0 recs

You missed the Columbus Jets, which were in Columbus from 1955 to 1970, I believe a Pirates affiliate all that time.

Free Andy Marte!

Pronk Needs You

by woodsmeister on May 8, 2008 9:19 PM EDT up reply reply 0 recs

Dang, I tried to locate them all. The Jets were part of th International League.

The Jets were formally the Ottawa A’s. The Jets were an A’s affiliate in 55-56, and the Pirates from 57-70. The Pirates moved them to Charleston in 71. Strange how the Pirates ended up back in 77 with the Clippers.

by talonk on May 9, 2008 10:22 AM EDT up reply reply 0 recs

The Pirates affiliate ended up in Columbus primarily, I believe, because Dan Galbreath owned the Pirates at the time.

Free Andy Marte!

Pronk Needs You

by woodsmeister on May 9, 2008 10:27 AM EDT up reply reply 0 recs

yep

we’ve had some great players here in columbus. recently we had the yankees farm team so we had Cano, Soriano, DJ, Bernie Williams, Ted Lilly, Melky Cabrera. Lately we havent had the biggest names.

by columbusOHcubsfan on May 8, 2008 8:10 PM EDT up reply reply 0 recs

Yeah, but you haven’t had Jason Stanford—eight seasons in a row.

by Jay on May 8, 2008 8:22 PM EDT up reply reply 0 recs

The Yankee’s Farm System – whatta joke! What is that the free agent market?

"the most vehement Yankee-hating guy I know" - Jay

by mauichuck on May 9, 2008 7:41 AM EDT up reply reply 0 recs

Let’s hear it for an Ed Whitson sighting!

by Ohiokie on May 10, 2008 7:47 AM EDT up reply reply 0 recs

I have a friend who works for the Clippers who has told me this is essentially a done deal.

by mikebrownz26 on May 8, 2008 10:32 AM EDT reply reply 0 recs

that's great

by columbusOHcubsfan on May 8, 2008 3:28 PM EDT up reply reply 0 recs

In the interest in complete accuracy:

Progressive Field (2401 Ontario Street, Cleveland) to

- Dunn Tire Park (275 Washington St, Buffalo): 193 miles

- Copper Stadium (1155 W. Mound St, Columbus): 144 miles

by N/A on May 8, 2008 11:08 AM EDT reply reply 0 recs

Actually, from the new stadium downtown, it should be another 2 or 3 miles less than that.

Free Andy Marte!

Pronk Needs You

by woodsmeister on May 8, 2008 11:17 AM EDT up reply reply 0 recs

It is a solid 55-60 minutes shorter drive, that’s the bottom line.

Of lesser concern, it’s a full 90 minutes shorter from Akron.

by Jay on May 8, 2008 12:39 PM EDT up reply reply 0 recs

Well, I sure there are a lot of factors that go into it: stadium and facility, owners, community, market. I can’t imagine that cutting the commute from 3 hours to 2 hours is the driving force here.

by dgcambridge on May 8, 2008 12:48 PM EDT up reply reply 0 recs

Sorry, I only meant that it’s the bottom line in terms of the distance issues. Mileage doesn’t matter, travel time does.

The opportunity to establish a marketing beach-head for the Indians in central Ohio, combined with the potential win-win of Clippers on STO, is the real driving force here.

by Jay on May 8, 2008 1:57 PM EDT up reply reply 0 recs

Not Copper Stadium – Cooper Stadium – down by the projects on Mound St. near the freeway.

"the most vehement Yankee-hating guy I know" - Jay

by mauichuck on May 9, 2008 4:43 PM EDT up reply reply 0 recs

Perhaps STO will decide to pick up some of the Clipper games.

by elsandito on May 9, 2008 6:39 PM EDT reply reply 0 recs

That is part of the idea, yes.

by Jay on May 10, 2008 2:08 AM EDT up reply reply 0 recs

I don’t doubt that this is the case, but if STO is that interested in minor league baseball, why do they essentially ignore the Aeros, Captains, and Scrappers? I assume they could do games in Eastlake and Akron without forking over the cash for a satellite uplink. That’s a pretty substantial chunk of change they’d have to spend to get Clippers games instead of the Northeast Ohio minor league teams.

I guess it would make some sense if STO partnered with the current TV home of the Clippers, the Columbus Sports Network – nobody watches CSN anyway so the folks in Columbus would be eager to get the exposure, CSN owns its own production truck so they wouldn’t have to rent one, and it’s programming that’s being produced anyway. Win-win. I’m still not entirely convinced STO is all that interested in minor league ball as anything more than an occasional Hal Gurnee’s Network Time Killer, but it makes a bit of sense if they do it the right way.

by thejamootz on May 10, 2008 6:11 PM EDT up reply reply 0 recs

Columbus Clippers

The Tribe is going to Columbus. The Mets are moving from Norfolk to Buffalo. Washington is moving from Columbus to Norfolk. It all makes geographic sense. This all started when the Yankees started all of this when they moved from Columbus to Lehigh Valley. These moves will be beneficial to the International League.

by hunior89 on May 10, 2008 1:28 AM EDT reply reply 0 recs