Blue Jays purchase SkyDome

[3chordcharlie]

Update:

The owners of the skydome (Rogers Communications) are pouring millions of dollars into refitting the building with better video screens, much improved artificial turf, and assorted other upgrades.

They are also increasing the payroll budget to $70 million a year, which I hope means baseball in Toronto will soon be worth watching again!

linky/Update

linky

This is still an awesome building, but various 'forces' originally saddled the building with massive debt, as construction costs spiralled under mismanagement and last-minute design changes.

The province of Ontario made the rather blunderous error of selling off the building after writing down its entire construction debt; essentially they sold a profit-making building (since it became debt-free)at a fire-sale price. I don't know how the Dome is doing these days - baseball in Canada never recovered from the triple-threat debacle of (1) the BlueJays dismantling a world championship team in 1994 and replacing it with a bunch of hacks, (2) the strike the same year, which (3) robbed the 1994 Montreal Expos of the chance to compete as favorites to win the World Series that year (possibly the greatest team ever assembled; Pedro wasn't even the best Martinez in Montreal, let alone the best pitcher).

Now, it's being sold again.

 

[K1052]

Much of the building cost was financed through taxpayer money.

Now that's what I call a Hot Deal.

 

[RabidMongoose]

robbed the 1994 Montreal Expos of the chance to compete as favorites to win the World Series that year (possibly the greatest team ever assembled; Pedro wasn't even the best Martinez in Montreal, let alone the best pitcher).

Possibly the greatest team ever assembled? Is that a joke?

Who was the best Martinez of the 1994 Expos?

 

[3chordcharlie]

Originally posted by: RabidMongoose

robbed the 1994 Montreal Expos of the chance to compete as favorites to win the World Series that year (possibly the greatest team ever assembled; Pedro wasn't even the best Martinez in Montreal, let alone the best pitcher).

Possibly the greatest team ever assembled? Is that a joke?

Who was the best Martinez of the 1994 Expos?

Oops - I was going to say Dennis, but it turns out he left after the 1993 season (my bad!) - I'm not a big fan of the (former) Expos - but that team was absolutely ridiculous.

Here is the roster, with stats (remember the season ended at ~115 games or so out of 162) team stats Remember that a .250 batting average was a sign of a pretty reasonable hitter 10 years ago (now I'd say it's mor like .260 or .265).

The only thing you could maybe criticize was the lack of a legitimate slugger; but this was an era where 40 home runs was an amazing season performance, and 30 was enough to lead many teams. Walker and Alou were both on pace for just over/under 30, and over 100 RBIs each. An outfield consisting of Alou, Walker, and Grissom!

I'd say the Yankees with Rocket/Mussina/Pettite, the Cubs with Maddux/Wood/Prior, this year's Red sox, and the Braves (Smoltz/Avery/Glavine/Maddux) could lay claim to an equal (Yankees) or better (the other three) pitching staff, given the lack of Dennis Martinez. Given that mistake, I'm willing to back off and call them the best team in the last 20 years, instead of the last 50 😉

Either way, even if we assume my 'greatest team' claims are nothing but hyperbole; the team was definitely the favorite that year, and montreal fans have never forgiven baseball for striking at that time.

 

[3chordcharlie]

Originally posted by: K1052

Much of the building cost was financed through taxpayer money.

Now that's what I call a Hot Deal.

Although the building is pretty cool, and a good design, it was badly mismanaged from a financial standpoint (there was no need for it to cost as much as it did).

Given the income from concerts/conventions/etc, and the fact that $25million is only a little more than the Jays paid arlos Delgado this year, this could really help their finances, maybe enoguh that they can afford to contend in the AL east again.

 

[Stunt]

Wow, just wow, the land that thing sits on is worth $25mill
I wanted the thing to be sold...but man...after debt and for such a low price...
Go McGuinty :thumbsup:

 

[3chordcharlie]

Originally posted by: Stunt
Wow, just wow, the land that thing sits on is worth $25mill
I wanted the thing to be sold...but man...after debt and for such a low price...
Go McGuinty :thumbsup:

McGuinty didn't sell it - I can't remember if it was Rae or Harris that divested the government of the Dome, but it was a bad deal then; this time it has nothing to do with the government though.

 

[Stunt]

Originally posted by: 3chordcharlie

Originally posted by: Stunt
Wow, just wow, the land that thing sits on is worth $25mill
I wanted the thing to be sold...but man...after debt and for such a low price...
Go McGuinty :thumbsup:

McGuinty didn't sell it - I can't remember if it was Rae or Harris that divested the government of the Dome, but it was a bad deal then; this time it has nothing to do with the government though.

Probably the conservative one...😉 Rae did a lot more buying than selling...that's for sure 🙂

 

[RabidMongoose]

Originally posted by: 3chordcharlie
Oops - I was going to say Dennis, but it turns out he left after the 1993 season (my bad!) - I'm not a big fan of the (former) Expos - but that team was absolutely ridiculous.

It was a good team, but I definitely would not call it the 'best team ever assembled'.

Here is the roster, with stats (remember the season ended at ~115 games or so out of 162) team stats Remember that a .250 batting average was a sign of a pretty reasonable hitter 10 years ago (now I'd say it's mor like .260 or .265).

While batting average taken by itself is almost meaningless, a .250 AVG was below average in 1994. The average in 1994 in the NL was .267 - higher than what it was this past season.

The only thing you could maybe criticize was the lack of a legitimate slugger; but this was an era where 40 home runs was an amazing season performance, and 30 was enough to lead many teams. Walker and Alou were both on pace for just over/under 30, and over 100 RBIs each. An outfield consisting of Alou, Walker, and Grissom!

Well it was a good team, so it's not as if there is a ton to be critical towards...However, I wouldn't put it anywhere near the top as the best team of all time.

I'd say the Yankees with Rocket/Mussina/Pettite, the Cubs with Maddux/Wood/Prior, this year's Red sox, and the Braves (Smoltz/Avery/Glavine/Maddux) could lay claim to an equal (Yankees) or better (the other three) pitching staff, given the lack of Dennis Martinez. Given that mistake, I'm willing to back off and call them the best team in the last 20 years, instead of the last 50 😉

I wouldn't even call them the best team of the decade, much less the last 20 years.

But hey, if you want to call them that, then go ahead. 😉

 

[3chordcharlie]

Originally posted by: Stunt

Originally posted by: 3chordcharlie

Originally posted by: Stunt
Wow, just wow, the land that thing sits on is worth $25mill
I wanted the thing to be sold...but man...after debt and for such a low price...
Go McGuinty :thumbsup:

McGuinty didn't sell it - I can't remember if it was Rae or Harris that divested the government of the Dome, but it was a bad deal then; this time it has nothing to do with the government though.

Probably the conservative one...😉 Rae did a lot more buying than selling...that's for sure 🙂

If by 'Rae' you mean 'Peterson' 😛

Don't forget Rae authorized the 407, which goes against nearly every NDP principle you can think of (but not giving it away to a private monopoly), instituted Rae days that public servants railed against (but which saved their jobs until Harris came along and slashed them into oblivion). Given the sweet-deal the original purchaser walked away with though, I would assume it was indeed one of Harris' golfing buddies.

 

[Sysbuilder05]

Damn,that crap happens in Canada too?? Poor ass taxpayers get to foot the bill for the dome,even if you don't like or can't afford to go to a game. Bids were sky high because of limitless pockets of taxpayers causing it to later go bankrupt,then the ball team buys it for litteraly nothing if the ground itself is worth as much as they paid for the entire complex. Jesus....

Last time I heard of taxpayers getting screwed that bad was when they built a stadium for Bush and his buddies in Arlington. They all cashed out a couple of years later (Bush made almost $700,000) and went merrily on their way.

 

[digitalsm]

Originally posted by: Sysbuilder05
Damn,that crap happens in Canada too?? Poor ass taxpayers get to foot the bill for the dome,even if you don't like or can't afford to go to a game. Bids were sky high because of limitless pockets of taxpayers causing it to later go bankrupt,then the ball team buys it for litteraly nothing if the ground itself is worth as much as they paid for the entire complex. Jesus....

Last time I heard of taxpayers getting screwed that bad was when they built a stadium for Bush and his buddies in Arlington. They all cashed out a couple of years later (Bush made almost $700,000) and went merrily on their way.

But see, the taxpayers screwed themselves.

They were given a very detailed plan of how they would be bent over, lubed, and screwed, but they still passed the measure. And apparently they aren't to bright as they just approved the tax increases for the Cowboys stadium this past election.

 

[3chordcharlie]

Update:

The owners of the skydome (Rogers Communications) are pouring millions of dollars into refitting the building with better video screens, much improved artificial turf, and assorted other upgrades.

They are also increasing the payroll budget to $70 million a year, which I hope means baseball in Toronto will soon be worth watching again!

linky/Update

 

[conjur]

"Rogers Centre", eh?

 

[3chordcharlie]

Originally posted by: conjur
"Rogers Centre", eh?

Yeah, that's pretty creative...