March 1st, 2017
It had been two months since Major League Baseball had officially welcomed the 31st and 32nd clubs to the league, and the buzz had not died down around the new additions.
In the NL East, the return of an old friend:
the Montreal Expos.
Sure, this was like the "Cleveland Browns" replacing the football franchise that became the Baltimore Ravens, but there was finally baseball back in Montreal, and this time, with an owner willing to spend slightly more than a few bucks in the form of billionaire Juan Olivera.
Olivera had promised to build the stadium using only private funds, and so the city of Montreal fast tracked construction of the stadium down in Peel Basin, with the cost of the stadium remaining undisclosed.
However, the big surprise was the addition in the AL West:
the Portland Timbers. Talks of adding a franchise in Portland developed very quickly. There were rumblings in the early parts of 2016 that the big man himself Phil Knight finally wanted his own professional sports franchise, and seeing as though Portland already had basketball and Oregon has 2 college football programs, he decided that baseball was the way to go.
By March of 2016, Knight and his investment group had found a site just up the road from the Moda Center, home of the Trailblazers, in the Rose Quarter along the banks of the Williamette River for a brand new stadium.
There would be the home of 41,645 seat, open air stadium for an expansion team, at a projected cost of $875 million. After negotiations with the city of Portland, the investment group secured $200 million to go toward the construction of the stadium, with another $150 million coming from Major League Baseball, and the remaining $525 million coming from Knight and his group of investors. Construction began at the end of March 2016 and was completed by January 2017.
The city would soon have its baseball team, but its team needed a name. Instead of trying to come up with something original, Knight decided to simply buy the rights to the name and logo of the Timbers Soccer Club and share the name. The owner of the original Timbers, Merritt Paulson, said that having the soccer and baseball teams share the name would "bring the city closer together and allow fans of both teams to maybe save some money on merch."
So now Portland had a team, a name for the team, and a stadium.
But who was gonna run the show?
March 3rd, 2017
Phil Knight sat in his office with a baseball in hand, and his cellphone up to his ear.
Everything was finally coming together for Knight, on schedule and as he envisioned.
He knew the risk involved was significant but he was determined to make this franchise as successful as teams like the Yankees of old. But he needed someone to come in and run the team. Sure, he had money, but he wasn't going to give the team a blank check. After all he had just spent $500 million of his own money on a stadium! No no, Phil Knight wanted someone with the ability to make the most of the resources available to them, regardless of the amount.
And Phil Knight knew exactly who wanted.
"Hello Billy? It's Phil Knight. Let's talk."
Phil's guy was Billy Beane.
Not only did Beane know how to squeeze every last bit of value from what he was given, but Knight knew a name like Billy Beane would create a lot of interest and publicity for the team and potentially draw people in.
"Well good morning Phil, can't say I was expecting a call from the head of Nike."
"Oh you're not getting a call from Nike Phil Knight. You're getting a call from Owner of the Portland Timbers Phil Knight."
Billy was intrigued.
"Is that so?"
"Listen Billy, I have everything in place here in Portland to bring baseball. We have a stadium, sponsors, support, everything. But I need someone to run the show."
"And so you want me."
"Exactly."
Knight knew that Beane was quick on his feet, but man was Billy ahead of the game.
"Look Phil, I'm flattered, but I like my position with the A's. It's my home, how could I ever leave here?"
"I understand Billy, but think of the opportunity! A brand new team to sculpt however you want from scratch, a stadium that is state of the art..."
"Phil if I cared about stadiums, I'd have jumped ship already."
"Look Billy, if you come here to Portland and help me start this team, you will have complete control over everything, and I mean everything. You won't have to come to me for approval on anything, you can hire your own team, budget the money however you see fit. It'll be your team to run, completely, and without my input."
A moment of silence followed that felt like an eternity.
"I'll see you in Portland, Phil."