Well. About that 2022 Cleveland roadtrip?
So. There's that.
What's going to happen?
Atlantic City?
Baltimore?
The new Huntington Cleveland Convention Center downtown?
A roadtrip will be happening in some way as long as there is baseball-- bank on that. We just don't yet know where it will be going. Or when exactly.
Smart money right now is either the Huntington Center in Cleveland to keep from having to make a huge change or Atlantic City to make up for the loss of this year's show. I'd set Baltimore third, and almost guarantee there's no other location. The last time the National was in a place other than Chicago, Cleveland, Atlantic City, or Baltimore was 2006 in Anaheim. Last one before that: 2000, also in Anaheim. And before that: the lowest-attended National of all-time, the 1999 Atlanta show.
To make the most of this on a baseball 'graphing perspective, I need it to stay east of the Mississippi, and honestly the further east the better. In Cleveland, that's potential access to the Indians, Pirates, Lake County, Akron, Toledo, Columbus, and Erie all within about two hours; plus Mahoning Valley if we want to try a short-season (we don't, and frankly they may not exist by 2022). Atlantic City gives us the Phillies, Mets, Yankees, Trenton, Lakewood, Lehigh Valley, and Wilmington, plus Staten Island and Brooklyn (meh; I hear Brooklyn's ballpark is nice at least). Baltimore gives us the Orioles, Nationals, Phillies, Trenton, Wilmington, Bowie, Frederick, Fredericksburg, Hagerstown, Delmarva, Harrisburg, and Reading, plus Aberdeen (short-season, blech). Anaheim would give us the Angels, Dodgers, Lancaster, Rancho Cucamonga, San Bernardino, and Lake Elsinore; but the teams in between here and there are FAR more limited than they would be going back east.
The National also has its hands a bit tied in terms of venues though. From speaking someone familiar with their selection procedures, they need 250K+ contiguous square feet of space, limited union restrictions on setup and takedown, willingness to book two-plus years ahead and not bump it off for something more lucrative, solid presence of hotels and/or public transportation nearby, and a major airport within a short distance. So for everyone asking "DOOD Y U NO PUT IN [insert city here]," that's probably why: they don't meet at least one part of these criteria.
So hopefully Huntington's 225K feet of space is enough and that they have an opening. If not, then it looks like our travel is going to shift to another city.
Well, damn.
I'll have an update on the TTMing soon. Been posting video of them all, but lazy about doing it here.
No comments:
Post a Comment