Page 16, january "7 . 1979 -North Shore-News~.

Baseball by the’80's?

Major league baseball in this area by the early _
1980s? Now that the PNE has been given the go-
ahead to try to raise the money to build its
projected $160 million Multiplex, there is much

talk to this effect.

Frigid January is still with
us, the sap hasn't yet begun
to rise in the Louisville

Slugger, the PNE hasn’t yet-

located the first dollar for its
grand plan, but. we are
inundated with visions of the
Yankees and the Red Sox
and the Dodgers paying us
regular visits.

Toronto Blue Jays general
manager Peter Bavasi, in
town last weekend for the
B.C. Amateur Baseball
Association's biennial clinic,
touted this area a_as_ future
major league territory. So
did Bobby Bragan, assistant
to baseball commissioner
Bowie Kuhn. \

Owner Harry Ornest }
the Pacific Coast Loaghe

Vancouver Canadians was at °

city hall (12th and Cambie
1a0del) on Monday, painting
glowing word pictutes for
Jack Volrich, mayor of
Flatlands-Across - the - Inlet.

THINKING BASEBALL

. 4
And hours later Volrich

was enthusing over the
possibility, plus the
desirability of Multiplex

being so designed that - if it
{

he
materializes

4

-— it can ac-
commodate baseball as weil
as football and soccer.

One thing he did specify:
he's all in favor of,this, only
if it doesn’t hike the cost of
the PNE concept. Volrich is
learning. His on-the-one-
hands and his on-the-other-
hands are so neatly lined up,
he has certainly qualified
himself for graduation into
provincial or federal politics.

On the other side there is
the PNE board, ied ty Erwin

‘Swangard, mover and shaker

by appointment to Erwin
Swangard. His idea for re-
doing the entire western half
of the PNE grounds and
putting it under one -roof

brooks no input from .
-baseball.
He maintains-he has found -

out to his satisfaction that
Vancouver's chances of

‘landing major league ball are

about as remote as an end to

the unemployinent problem.

KEEP IT LOW

So why spend, he asks,
another $15 million to push
the Multiplex roof high
enough to accommodate a

_ you might

~ Times.

non-existent major league
possibility? He has another
concern, too, | to
create a structure people in
the Hastings East residential
area are willing to live with.

Multiplex features a
saddle-shaped roof that will
tower no more that six
storeys above the Hastings
and Renfrew level of the
PNE grounds

Baseball’s needs are such,

that a revamped structure

would have to be 20 storeys |
_high,

like the Seattle.
Kingdome. He has a tough
enough sell as it is against
local citizen opposition. A
Kingdome-height structure
might invite barricades and
shotguns.

One of the constants

‘Tunning through all -the

foregoing -is that everyore

‘ has an axe- to grind and

basically :is putting-forth his
case. Objectivity. is not the
object of the exercise. .

Given this background,
find Leonard
Koppett’s speculation a little
interesting. Koppett writes
sport for the New York
His particular ex-
pertise is in baseball, a game
he covers and which he has
written two or three books.

In a recent issue of the
Sporting News, he points out

INVENTORY REDUCTION

We are still overstocked with merchandise and
must reduce before inventory ene on January 31.

_TEAPOTS

Royal Standard “Mandarin” .
Par "
Price & Kensington * ‘asstd”

More than 50 types t to choose trom

Booths “Real Old Willow”.
Ridgewood’ Heritage”.
Price & Kensington. .

. 40% Off
_. 30% Off
.. 50% Off

. 30% Ott

50% Oft

DINNERWARE

Paragon “Dogwood”

Paragon “Forget-me- not”

Paragon “Elizabeth Rose”

Royal Doulton “Forest Gien”

"3690 Caplinno | Rd. NV. 988-5169

that. while expansion is not
on baseball's agenda, market
forces will make expansion
inevitable in another five
years or so.

. He sees this despite the

_ fact the game has never been
more popular, with at--

tendance increasing from 30
million to 41 million in the
last three years and TV
income at an alltime high.

He reasons that the up-

ward trend cann’t continue.
In the next three years it will
taper off. A labor struggle
with the players is expected
in 1980. The clubs believe
they can make the players
retreat, especially in t
brand new expense area '
free agentry.

Just another example, he
claims, of the owners in-
dulging in self-deception.
The new players’ agreement
will cost them more, not
less. This will mean‘a search
for more dollar income. The
first place to look is network
television; the first example
to follow is pro football's
three-division setup in each
conference, producing six
winners and a host of wild
cards, This in turn produces
more playoff games, more
meat for television and more
T.V. revenue.

‘

Open the door to more
teams (each of them paying

ae

ea TER.

market
areas for TV to plumb and
yet- another boost in TV™
revenue. ae

Bear with me, for Van-
couver comes _ into his
speculation very shortly. He
foresees baseball moving
from 26 to 30. teams; 15 in
each of the National and
American leagues,  sub-
divided into divisions of five.

So, in his opinion, where

does baseball go find “the
new cities? Here's where.

Team 27 in Florida, either ~
Miami or Tampa. Team 28

in New Orleans, where the
80,000 seat Superdome sits.
there, waiting.

For team 29 he skips over
such American cities as
Phoenix, Buffalo, Portland
and Indianapolis and writes:

“What about Vancouver?
It has some surprising assets.
There are natural ties to
Montreal and Toronto,
giving Canada coast-to-coast
interest; a nearby rivalry
with Seattle; a West Coast

location to balance regional -

divisions if the A’s
Oakland;
economic future as trade
with the Far East increases.
A domed stadium there,
under discussio, might turn a
‘sleeper’ into No. 29”.

leave

IT’S GOT TO GO!!!

$10 million or more to join),
- producing more

and a dazzling?’

T's just one man’ 's opinion
but: he’s - one of the - best:
informed . in the gam
outside « ‘the “establishme
itself... -

’ However,” it’s. continge
on a domed stadium that
hold. baseball. Meanw
don’t ‘hold. . your _ breath.
waiting for any kind of
domed .stadium --- with’ or’
without baseball. to get off
the ground. More on tha
Sunday's edition, 7 :

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