_lefraud_ said:

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Is there an "Arlington" that could make a play for a SA/Austin stadium/franchise?

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Arlington is the 50th largest city in the US with a population of over 400,000.

It is not the smallest city that hosts a MLB team. Anaheim, Cincinnati, St. Louis and St. Petersburg are smaller.

The biggest city between Austin and Sam Antonio is New Braunfels, at only about 120,000.

Arlington had a population of 90,000 in 1970, which was probably around #130 range across the US. They came in at #95 in 1980 with 160,000

So it was more of a question could a city between SA & Austin become Arlington, but as stated by another poster, those two cities are much further apart.

I was a long time San Antonio resident, I would not recommend looking for a city in between. You'd just end up being too far from both cities and making it inconvenient.

Personally if I had to make the choice, I'd pick somewhere in the La Cantera area suburbs (10 mile radius). You're not getting anyone from Austin during the week, but the weekends you probably will. That location also gives easy access to hill country families without forcing them to drive through a downtown area or way around the loop.

Zero chance it happens though.

_lefraud_ said:

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Is there an "Arlington" that could make a play for a SA/Austin stadium/franchise?

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East SA

jja79 said:

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Diamondbacks aren't in the same time zone as Colorado and SLC.

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Actually, they are. Its just that Zona doesn't have DST for some stupid reason so they aren't on the same time -- which is, I guess, what was meant. But Arizona IS in the Mountain Time Zone.

I live in Arizona. We're on Mountain Standard Time year round. Presently SLC and Denver are on Mountain Daylight Savings Time. We're not on the same time zone with them until they fall back to Mountain Standard. It's awesome not changing the clock twice a year.

The stupid reason, as you called it, is so that people that work outside during summer can start at 5AM and be done around noon before it's 115 degrees.

It's not really expansion, but it did lead to expansion...

OTD in 1957, the New York (baseball) Giants played their last game at the Polo Grounds in NYC.

The Giants and Dodgers would move to the West Coast to start the 1958 season. (Leading, in a couple of years, to the expansion NY Mets.)

So here are the 50 largest metro areas in the US. Bolded are metro areas without a MLB team.

If is interesting to note that the smallest markets tend to be old rust belt areas that used to be some of the biggest cities in the country. The potential vetoes are also listed, although not sure San Antonio or Austin is a viable veto.

If MLB is looking for an east/west expansion, Charlotte and Portland make a lot of sense.

1. New York/Newark/Jersey City, NY-NJ MSA - 20,112,448
2. Los Angeles/Long Beach/Anaheim, CA MSA - 12,844,441
3. Chicago/Naperville/Elgin, IL-IN MSA - 9,434,123
4. Dallas/Fort Worth/Arlington, TX MSA - 8,477,157
5. Houston/Pasadena/The Woodlands, TX MSA - 7,904,627
6. Atlanta/Sandy Springs/Roswell, GA MSA - 6,482,182
7. Washington/Arlington/Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV MSA - 6,465,724
8. Miami/Fort Lauderdale/West Palm Beach, FL MSA - 6,391,072
9. Philadelphia/Camden/Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD MSA - 6,329,118
10. Phoenix/Mesa/Chandler, AZ MSA - 5,228,938
11. Boston/Cambridge/Newton, MA-NH MSA - 5,034,221
12. Riverside/San Bernardino/Ontario, CA MSA - 4,769,007
13. San Francisco/Oakland/Fremont, CA MSA - 4,630,041
14. Detroit/Warren/Dearborn, MI MSA - 4,390,913
15. Seattle/Tacoma/Bellevue, WA MSA - 4,161,883
16. Minneapolis/St. Paul/Bloomington, MN-WI MSA - 3,790,295
17. Tampa/St. Petersburg/Clearwater, FL MSA - 3,418,895
18. San Diego/Chula Vista/Carlsbad, CA MSA - 3,282,248
19. Denver/Aurora/Centennial, CO MSA - 3,092,037
20. Orlando/Kissimmee/Sanford, FL MSA - 2,957,672 (Tampa veto)
21. Charlotte/Concord/Gastonia, NC-SC MSA - 2,938,830
22. Baltimore/Columbia/Towson, MD MSA - 2,857,781
23. St. Louis, MO-IL MSA - 2,814,421
24. San Antonio/New Braunfels, TX MSA - 2,813,140 (Rangers/Astros veto)
25. Austin/Round Rock/San Marcos, TX MSA - 2,620,945 (Rangers/Astros veto)
26. Portland/Vancouver/Hillsboro, OR-WA MSA - 2,542,282
27. Sacramento/Roseville/Folsom, CA MSA - 2,477,274
28. Pittsburgh, PA MSA 2,421,992 - 2,457,000
29. Las Vegas/Henderson/North Las Vegas, NV MSA - 2,407,226
30. Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN MSA - 2,312,858
31. Kansas City, MO-KS MSA - 2,270,682
32. Columbus, OH MSA - 2,242,028
33. Indianapolis/Carmel/Greenwood, IN MSA - 2,205,695
34. Nashville-Davidson/Murfreesboro/Franklin, TN MSA - 2,197,416
35. Cleveland, OH MSA - 2,165,775
36. San Jose/Sunnyvale/Santa Clara, CA MSA - 1,984,473 (Giants veto)
37. Virginia Beach/Norfolk/Newport News, VA-NC, MSA - 1,797,213
38. Jacksonville, FL MSA - 1,785,500
39. Providence/Warwick, RI-MA MSA - 1,708,161
40. Raleigh/Cary, NC MSA - 1,595,720
41. Milwaukee/Waukesha, WI MSA - 1,575,010
42. Oklahoma City, OK MSA - 1,512,813
43. Louisville/Jefferson County, KY-IN MSA - 1,402,509
44. Richmond, VA MSA - 1,389,338
45. Memphis, TN-MS-AR MSA - 1,341,412
46. Salt Lake City/Murray, UT MSA - 1,308,377
47. Fresno, CA MSA - 1,203,383
48. Birmingham, AL MSA - 1,197,766
49. Grand Rapids/Wyoming/Kentwood, MI MSA - 1,183,645
50. Hartford/West Hartford/East Hartford, CT MSA - 1,171,426

Pretty sure the Giants have a veto over the San Jose/Sunnyvale/Santa Clara area. Santa Clara (where the 49ers stadium is) wanted to build a stadium for the A's, but the Giants said no.

What's funny is that back when the Giants played at Candlestick and the A's were in the Colosseum, they were closer than SF is to Santa Clara. You could literally see one stadium from the other.

Missed that one. Added.

Interesting that D/FW is the largest market with only one team.

I still believe the MLB needs to contract. Best option for me on that list is Indianapolis. Hoosiers are great people and love their sports. Give it to a city that has an established and well attended AAA team like the Indy Indians. Make some renovations to the current AAA stadium and see how they do. If they continue to draw well, then you can talk about a new stadium.