Fansided

Baseball: 7 potential MLB expansion cities and team ideas

By Ryan Morik

VERO BEACH, FL - FEBRUARY 1981: Gary Carter #8 of the Montreal Expos during a spring training game against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Dodgertown in Vero Beach, Florida. (Photo by Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Getty Images)
VERO BEACH, FL - FEBRUARY 1981: Gary Carter #8 of the Montreal Expos during a spring training game against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Dodgertown in Vero Beach, Florida. (Photo by Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Getty Images) /
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PORTLAND, OR – MARCH 31: The marquee at Providence Park states closure during the coronavirus pandemic on March 31, 2020 in Portland, Oregon. To prevent the spread of COVID-19, the state of Oregon, the city of Portland and surrounding counties have all announced stay-at-home orders , which strongly discourage residents from leaving home unless absolutely necessary or essential. ( (Photo by Steve Dykes/Getty Images)
PORTLAND, OR – MARCH 31: The marquee at Providence Park states closure during the coronavirus pandemic on March 31, 2020 in Portland, Oregon. To prevent the spread of COVID-19, the state of Oregon, the city of Portland and surrounding counties have all announced stay-at-home orders , which strongly discourage residents from leaving home unless absolutely necessary or essential. ( (Photo by Steve Dykes/Getty Images) /

Portland

Nickname: Hood

Closest team, Seattle Mariners (174 miles)

First off, this is Portland, Oregon. Not Maine.

Second of all, here’s a geography lesson for you, and the reason why this name makes sense, before you think it’s stupid.

Portland is home to Mount Hood, the sixth-most dangerous volcano in the United States, according to Gizmodo. The Portland Volcanos is long, corny, and clumsy. The Portland Explosions sounds like a U-11 travel soccer team, The Lava, I don’t know. So, I went with the Hood. The marketing department could probably come up with some cool slogans with that too. “This is our hood?”

Anyway, bet you didn’t know that Portland is actually the 25th-most populated city in America. But it’s the home of just one big-four professional sports team: the Trail Blazers. The Blazers were terrible before the NBA season was postponed — they were 29-37, and 3.5 games back of a playoff spot. However, they still filled up to more than capacity this season. They averaged 19,633 fans in a 19,393-seat arena.

Portland’s love for their teams is also obvious in the city’s two soccer teams, as the Portland Timbers of MLS boast an impressive sellout streak and Portland Thorns of NWSL set a league attendance record.

Portland can use one more big-four sport. I mean, do they even know what baseball is?

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