Buffalo native here. Looking back, we can hardly deny Denver getting a team, because of how beloved the Rockies are there, but the real regret was losing out to Miami. We'd have taken better care of our team than those fans do.
Washington’s efforts finished 5 out 6th at the time, DC was viewed as losing 2 teams and the ownership group was led by Corporate real estate head John Aikridge who didn’t have deep pockets. Also former Redskins owner was marketing the Baltimore Orioles as a regional team, taking Baltimore off the road jerseys.
When I was in law school I had a job interview in Buffalo in November 1992. The lunch was at the restaurant at the stadium. One of the people who took me to lunch said they were doing all their business lunches at the stadium in order to generate some interest in expansion. I get the Buffalo region (including the Canadian portion) does have a pretty decent population base and some of the suburbs are nice, but the city itself is clearly in decline.
Buffalo resident and native here. It is a shame that Buffalo did not get a team through expansion or relocation, but the stadium did save Buffalo baseball. They had to get out of War Memorial Stadium (aka the Rockpile, the stadium used in the movie The Natural) with it being a bad location as well as being very outdated. I do think youre right that it would have not succeeded had MLB came to Buffalo permanently. I did get to see the Blue Jays at Sahlen Field for two games in 2021. It still is a nice stadium 35 years later. Love going to see the Bisons every summer.
War Memorial Stadium was a football facility that had a diamond wedged in; not a good baseball venue. As far as the condition of the old Rockpile went, a New York sportswriter said of the place in 1960 when the Bills started; it looked like whatever war it was a memorial to was fought inside it.
4:05 -- This stadium DOES NOT HAVE a "lower bowl." It's the lower DECK!. A "bowl" would go all the way around the stadium without any breaks, like a bowl that you would use for eating, such as a soup bowl. Ergo, a "bowl." This stadium has an upper and lower DECK... NOT a bowl configuration!
American Association had higher capacity stadiums for a Triple A league. Mile High in Denver was a baseball stadium that morphed into a football stadium. Same thing for Cardinal Stadium in Louisville. Rosenblatt Stadium in Omaha got bigger because the College World Series got bigger. Greer Stadium in Nashville had a bleacher section in right field added that got capacity to 16,000. Pete Weber, former Buffalo Bisons and Sabres announcer, has been a Nashville Predators announcer since 1998. Pete talks about the Bisons at War Memorial Rockpile and Pilot Field fondly. He has a soft spot for former Bisons managers Rocky Bridges and Terry Collins.
WOW! Finally showing Sahlen Field. I feel Buffalo - unlike Tampa Bay, Miami, and Oakland, would actually support the team had they gotten one. Besides the Expos and possible expansion teams, the Giants were rumored to be sold and moved there in the early 90s. It fell through mainly because it would take about a year to expand the stadium and no one wanted the Giants playing a year or two as a lame duck franchise in San Francisco....kinda like the Athletics situation now. BTW, the team would have been named the New York Giants of Buffalo. 🖤🖤🧡🧡🖤🖤 There was a plan in the early 70s for a cookie cutter multi-purpose Dome Stadium in Lancaster, NY that would have housed the Bills and an MLB team. It fell through and the Bills got their own stadium in Orchard Park.
Sadly, I remember them building it. Memorial stadium (AKA the old Rockpile… which is where the Natural was filmed) was really falling down. So the Bisons needed a new home park. Mixed with that, MLB expansion. I remember my first time there, you could see the main supports ready for the upper deck to be built… The OF config of today was made in the 90’s because the parent team (Indians) wanted the OF dimensions to match that of their home park, Jacobs Field… The fences were a bit further back (and can be seen in your photos) but not much. The winds off the lake often came in from 1st base dugout to LF fence so yeah, many a baseball could get caught in the wind… though if upgraded to MLB levels with the upper deck, it was felt that would have been rendered moot by the deck shielding things. The city and the Rich’s were after the team that went to Denver (and we were a finalist)… we knew MLB was putting one of those teams (I believe it was the Rays) in Florida come hell or high water. MLB actually thought it was very smart to build it the way they had as even someone like me just out of HS could see the fact that it was ready to be upgraded… it’s not anymore, they’ve taken some major support structures out after a re-no as they pretty much know that it’s been too damn long… Still, as you pointed out the record attendances… it was also noted often that those numbers you put up…BEAT 2-3 or more MLB teams those years if not more… the longest serving name was Dunn Tire Park.. and the current name is Sahlen… one of the best HOT DOG’s you’ll ever find… once you get past Ohio.. I think they are only found in a few places… Wrigley field… and they can be found in some Phoenix area stores…
The ongoing joke with respect to the old War Memorial Stadium, due to its run-down condition, is that whatever war it was supposed to be a "memorial" to, was fought within its confines.
I could see a team working in Buffalo or Niagara area, probably Niagara since you have the stadium possibly straddle the border which would be a cool feature. I know that won't happen, but a Buffalo team I'd love to see.
Nashville is the #1 MLB expansion spot right now according to a lot of ppl. But if Nashville had done what Buffalo did, make their AAA stadium expandable, it would be even more favorable. Instead they have the too small AAA stadium in the way. Same thing with Charlotte and Indianapolis- MLB sized cities stuck with minor league stadiums.
It is really too bad that Buffalo lost out of getting an MLB team multiple times. Buffalo has some great sports fans and I feel that they would have supported their team through thick and thin.
2:08 you accidentally said 90 billion instead of million 😂. Amazing video either way, it’s helped me get through depression in a lot of my tough times lately. Keep it up!
I was a student at UB from 1987-1991. Pilot field was awesome and when I stayed over the summer I would often go to the weekend day games. 1$ outfield bleacher seats for students. The rumor is that Buffalo lost out to Miami because there was a committee of pro athletes who were allowed to give input on the potential expansion sites and Billy Jean King ranked Buffalo dead last which hurt their ranking. Buffalo won the phone in survey by USA Today in a landslide.
Louisville Slugger Field where the AAA Louisville Bats play was also modeled in part on Camden Yards and built with the idea that it could be Expanded into an MLB Stadium if MLB Expansion ever came. I don't think anyone really thought MLB Expansion was actually coming to Louisville, but they did think it best to plan ahead JUST IN CASE so that an expansion of Slugger Field would be relatively easy and inexpensive. The damn REDS always try to lock anything coming to Louisville. It would make sense for Buffalo IF the Blue Jays ended up going the way of the Expos to pick up the Blue Jays. And not too far-fetched for MLB to go to 40 or more teams which would make Louisville and Buffalo likely candidates for MLB Expansion.
The Buffalo / Niagara Falls market is too small for Major League Baseball and lacks the corporate headquarters and area wealth to support a team. The Bills and Sabres are viable only with the help of Canadian fan support. That would not happen for a baseball team. Rochester, NY about 70 miles east of Buffalo and similar in size also supports the Bills .
I was wondering the same thing about Coca-Cola. Why haven't they bought the naming rights for a team like the Atlanta Braves? Coca-Cola is an Atlanta born and based company. Same thing with Delta Airlines. That's another Atlanta company. They could be the name of the NBA Atlanta Hawks arena. The Atlanta Falcons stadium is named after Mercedes-Benz. That's a German company and they already had the naming rights to the New Orleans Saints SuperDome and the Falcons and Saints hate each other but Mercedes-Benz sponsors both of them? Why not name the Falcons stadium Home Depot stadium? The Falcons owner created Home Depot. If not that they could name it FedEx Stadium. The Falcons head coach is the son of the man who created and owns FedEx. Coca-Cola, Delta Airlines, Home Depot and FedEx would all make a lot more sense than German and Japanese companies owning the naming rights to all these American teams.
@@dustinsindledecker154 That is a great point. "X Stadium" or "X Field" or "X Park" would be pretty (as TLC would call it) Crazy Sexy Cool. I don't think Musk is much into sponsoring though. Then he would have to deal with other people's opinions and he seems like he would much rather go by the beat of his own drum. There's gotta be some other companies based out of San Fran though. X would be the coolest name for sure. Microsoft or Google or Facebook could do it too. Either way I think it's better if local companies own the naming rights instead of companies from far away.
@@dustinsindledecker154 How so? Isn't he one of the richest people in the world? His net worth is $248.8 Billion. He's worth over 20x as much money as any MLB owner is worth. He could easily buy the most expensive team in baseball and own the team and stadium outright. So how can he not afford just the naming rights?
MLB will never come here as this market has been in decline for years and I doubt there are enough baseball fans here to support a major league team. If the Rich family ever had gotten a team it would have bankrupted their business and family.
A MLB team in Buffalo makes perfect sense. Upstate New York is a hotbed of baseball, they have the population and there is no MLB baseball anywhere. MLB keeps trying to squeeze a ballpark into a few acres of land in Las Vegas when the perfect solution is Buffalo.
I think it's stupid to put your name on a stadium. why waste all that money when your brand is already big as is. Tesla is a big name. Coca Cola is a big name. There is no point for big companies to do this.
Buffalo has horrible weather and I laugh how the Buffalo bills is using New York taxpayers money to built outdoor stadium LmAo just to lose in the playoffs
Buffalo native here. Looking back, we can hardly deny Denver getting a team, because of how beloved the Rockies are there, but the real regret was losing out to Miami. We'd have taken better care of our team than those fans do.
Washington’s efforts finished 5 out 6th at the time, DC was viewed as losing 2 teams and the ownership group was led by Corporate real estate head John Aikridge who didn’t have deep pockets. Also former Redskins owner was marketing the Baltimore Orioles as a regional team, taking Baltimore off the road jerseys.
When I was in law school I had a job interview in Buffalo in November 1992. The lunch was at the restaurant at the stadium. One of the people who took me to lunch said they were doing all their business lunches at the stadium in order to generate some interest in expansion.
I get the Buffalo region (including the Canadian portion) does have a pretty decent population base and some of the suburbs are nice, but the city itself is clearly in decline.
Buffalo resident and native here. It is a shame that Buffalo did not get a team through expansion or relocation, but the stadium did save Buffalo baseball. They had to get out of War Memorial Stadium (aka the Rockpile, the stadium used in the movie The Natural) with it being a bad location as well as being very outdated. I do think youre right that it would have not succeeded had MLB came to Buffalo permanently. I did get to see the Blue Jays at Sahlen Field for two games in 2021. It still is a nice stadium 35 years later. Love going to see the Bisons every summer.
War Memorial Stadium was a football facility that had a diamond wedged in; not a good baseball venue. As far as the condition of the old Rockpile went, a New York sportswriter said of the place in 1960 when the Bills started; it looked like whatever war it was a memorial to was fought inside it.
@@tygrkhat4087 And outside it as well.
Buffalo is a shrinking market, so it's doubtful MLB ever comes there, but it's a great minor league city
Omaha.
MLB is likely to expand again in the next few years, and I don't think Buffalo has even been mentioned as a possible destination.
4:05 -- This stadium DOES NOT HAVE a "lower bowl." It's the lower DECK!. A "bowl" would go all the way around the stadium without any breaks, like a bowl that you would use for eating, such as a soup bowl. Ergo, a "bowl." This stadium has an upper and lower DECK... NOT a bowl configuration!
If I recall. There was talks of the Indians needing a new stadium and Buffalo was in the running to get them or an expansion team in the 90s
American Association had higher capacity stadiums for a Triple A league. Mile High in Denver was a baseball stadium that morphed into a football stadium. Same thing for Cardinal Stadium in Louisville. Rosenblatt Stadium in Omaha got bigger because the College World Series got bigger. Greer Stadium in Nashville had a bleacher section in right field added that got capacity to 16,000. Pete Weber, former Buffalo Bisons and Sabres announcer, has been a Nashville Predators announcer since 1998. Pete talks about the Bisons at War Memorial Rockpile and Pilot Field fondly. He has a soft spot for former Bisons managers Rocky Bridges and Terry Collins.
I saw quite a few games when Collins was the Bisons manager. He played small ball, made for exciting games.
WOW! Finally showing Sahlen Field. I feel Buffalo - unlike Tampa Bay, Miami, and Oakland, would actually support the team had they gotten one. Besides the Expos and possible expansion teams, the Giants were rumored to be sold and moved there in the early 90s. It fell through mainly because it would take about a year to expand the stadium and no one wanted the Giants playing a year or two as a lame duck franchise in San Francisco....kinda like the Athletics situation now. BTW, the team would have been named the New York Giants of Buffalo. 🖤🖤🧡🧡🖤🖤
There was a plan in the early 70s for a cookie cutter multi-purpose Dome Stadium in Lancaster, NY that would have housed the Bills and an MLB team. It fell through and the Bills got their own stadium in Orchard Park.
Oakland used to support the team what happened
T? 3:04 😮
What was Fabio doing at a baseball game in Buffalo?
Lmao. Was waiting for that.
“I can’t believe it’s not bah-der!” 😆 😂
@vascoDG1498 Probably being scouted by the A's
His hair.
I don’t need sleep… I need answers
At least it got a chance to host an MLB team in 2020 and part of 2021 while the Jays were unable to play in Toronto due to the border closure.
I would have loved to have seen what this planned "Ninety billion dollar domed stadium" would have looked like.
You caught that huh?
Sadly, I remember them building it. Memorial stadium (AKA the old Rockpile… which is where the Natural was filmed) was really falling down. So the Bisons needed a new home park. Mixed with that, MLB expansion. I remember my first time there, you could see the main supports ready for the upper deck to be built… The OF config of today was made in the 90’s because the parent team (Indians) wanted the OF dimensions to match that of their home park, Jacobs Field… The fences were a bit further back (and can be seen in your photos) but not much. The winds off the lake often came in from 1st base dugout to LF fence so yeah, many a baseball could get caught in the wind… though if upgraded to MLB levels with the upper deck, it was felt that would have been rendered moot by the deck shielding things. The city and the Rich’s were after the team that went to Denver (and we were a finalist)… we knew MLB was putting one of those teams (I believe it was the Rays) in Florida come hell or high water. MLB actually thought it was very smart to build it the way they had as even someone like me just out of HS could see the fact that it was ready to be upgraded… it’s not anymore, they’ve taken some major support structures out after a re-no as they pretty much know that it’s been too damn long… Still, as you pointed out the record attendances… it was also noted often that those numbers you put up…BEAT 2-3 or more MLB teams those years if not more… the longest serving name was Dunn Tire Park.. and the current name is Sahlen… one of the best HOT DOG’s you’ll ever find… once you get past Ohio.. I think they are only found in a few places… Wrigley field… and they can be found in some Phoenix area stores…
The ongoing joke with respect to the old War Memorial Stadium, due to its run-down condition, is that whatever war it was supposed to be a "memorial" to, was fought within its confines.
War memorial stadium home of the Buffalo bills the time add a remodeled it I could have had a major league team stadium looks nice in my opinion
I like the architecture surrounding the stadium. It would have been cool if the outfield had that church in the background, or the skyline as in 3:57.
I could see a team working in Buffalo or Niagara area, probably Niagara since you have the stadium possibly straddle the border which would be a cool feature. I know that won't happen, but a Buffalo team I'd love to see.
Is that Fabio in the outfield?
Slightly off-topic: Sahlen’s hot dogs are the best and I will fight anyone who disagrees (in-laws are from Buffalo, they got me hooked)
Nashville is the #1 MLB expansion spot right now according to a lot of ppl. But if Nashville had done what Buffalo did, make their AAA stadium expandable, it would be even more favorable. Instead they have the too small AAA stadium in the way. Same thing with Charlotte and Indianapolis- MLB sized cities stuck with minor league stadiums.
Isn't the Charlotte Knights stadium in Charlotte, NC, is able to expand to an MLB stadium as well?
the blue jays did play a couple of games there, so the reloction kind of happened
It is really too bad that Buffalo lost out of getting an MLB team multiple times. Buffalo has some great sports fans and I feel that they would have supported their team through thick and thin.
That is a pipedream your having Jeff.
@@WindomRettes Yes, you are probably right.
2:08 you accidentally said 90 billion instead of million 😂. Amazing video either way, it’s helped me get through depression in a lot of my tough times lately. Keep it up!
lol They could have done better with that 90 Billion, must have been lots of grift involved lol
I was a student at UB from 1987-1991. Pilot field was awesome and when I stayed over the summer I would often go to the weekend day games. 1$ outfield bleacher seats for students. The rumor is that Buffalo lost out to Miami because there was a committee of pro athletes who were allowed to give input on the potential expansion sites and Billy Jean King ranked Buffalo dead last which hurt their ranking. Buffalo won the phone in survey by USA Today in a landslide.
With all due respect to Milwaukee. Buffalo Brewers has a nice ring to it.
i guess the Genesee brewery is not too far away in Rocheser.
Not too far from Big Ditch Brewery…
Also love seeing the River Cats at 10 on the all time Triple A attendance list
Louisville Slugger Field where the AAA Louisville Bats play was also modeled in part on Camden Yards and built with the idea that it could be Expanded into an MLB Stadium if MLB Expansion ever came.
I don't think anyone really thought MLB Expansion was actually coming to Louisville, but they did think it best to plan ahead JUST IN CASE so that an expansion of Slugger Field would be relatively easy and inexpensive. The damn REDS always try to lock anything coming to Louisville.
It would make sense for Buffalo IF the Blue Jays ended up going the way of the Expos to pick up the Blue Jays.
And not too far-fetched for MLB to go to 40 or more teams which would make Louisville and Buffalo likely candidates for MLB Expansion.
I'm from Buffalo ny last week the baseball Stadium caught fire
5:03 is that Fabio?
Fabio at 2:05 lol
I can't believe it's not butter 🧈
We have A COCACOLA PARK for the triple A Irong Pigs in Allentown PA
You figure braves new ballpark they would name the stadium Coca-Cola field with Coca-Cola being in Atlanta
Building a Stadium/Arena with the hope of attracting any team is a waste of money
Actually with the St Petersburg site (Tampa Bay), several teams threatened to move to Tampa Bay back in the 90's if they don't get a new stadium.
well buffalo did need a new ballpark even if they didn’t get an mlb team since the bisons played at the rockpile aka war memorial stadium
Nice looking park.
I think you meant 90 million.
Have attended several games there. Decent stadium with good food then I was there.
1:59 Is that.....Fabio? If so, was this before or after the bird incident?
Fabio?
I used to go to Bisons games all the time.
Fabio throws out the first pitch!?
Is Fabio still alive?
2:06 $90 billion stadium in the late 70s?? 😅
He misspoke
Built the field right off of Interstate 90, smart move Buffalo
San Antonio is next to boom!! MLB and nfl coming soon
That Fabio?
No way that could be a modern age MLB stadium. Looks like the old Arlington stadium back in the early 90s. Besides NY already has 2 teams.
at the 2:10 mark is that freaking Fabio in the video! lmao
We should have an X field named after the platform formerly known as twitter
The Buffalo / Niagara Falls market is too small for Major League Baseball and lacks the corporate headquarters and area wealth to support a team. The Bills and Sabres are viable only with the help of Canadian fan support. That would not happen for a baseball team. Rochester, NY about 70 miles east of Buffalo and similar in size also supports the Bills .
DG i need fantasu advice asap
I drive by it often.
And thats the problem.
02:03 is that Fabio ?
If the Brewers have no other option but to move from Milwaukee, then Buffalo should be the option
Poor buffalo.
Minute Maid is owned by Coke
And Tropicana by Pepsi
I was wondering the same thing about Coca-Cola. Why haven't they bought the naming rights for a team like the Atlanta Braves? Coca-Cola is an Atlanta born and based company. Same thing with Delta Airlines. That's another Atlanta company. They could be the name of the NBA Atlanta Hawks arena. The Atlanta Falcons stadium is named after Mercedes-Benz. That's a German company and they already had the naming rights to the New Orleans Saints SuperDome and the Falcons and Saints hate each other but Mercedes-Benz sponsors both of them? Why not name the Falcons stadium Home Depot stadium? The Falcons owner created Home Depot. If not that they could name it FedEx Stadium. The Falcons head coach is the son of the man who created and owns FedEx. Coca-Cola, Delta Airlines, Home Depot and FedEx would all make a lot more sense than German and Japanese companies owning the naming rights to all these American teams.
It would something if X got the naming rights to the giants staduim
@@dustinsindledecker154 That is a great point. "X Stadium" or "X Field" or "X Park" would be pretty (as TLC would call it) Crazy Sexy Cool. I don't think Musk is much into sponsoring though. Then he would have to deal with other people's opinions and he seems like he would much rather go by the beat of his own drum. There's gotta be some other companies based out of San Fran though. X would be the coolest name for sure. Microsoft or Google or Facebook could do it too. Either way I think it's better if local companies own the naming rights instead of companies from far away.
@@matthew01234 well also Elon can't afford to put his company's name on the stadium
@@dustinsindledecker154 How so? Isn't he one of the richest people in the world? His net worth is $248.8 Billion. He's worth over 20x as much money as any MLB owner is worth. He could easily buy the most expensive team in baseball and own the team and stadium outright. So how can he not afford just the naming rights?
@@matthew01234 because X is losing revenue
Buffalo is a shadow city of Toronto like Oakland is a shadow city of San Francisco.
MLB will never come here as this market has been in decline for years and I doubt there are enough baseball fans here to support a major league team. If the Rich family ever had gotten a team it would have bankrupted their business and family.
Buffalo should get a team
Cool
Do you love Biden?
let go Buffalo
They lost out to Montreal in the second expansion.
Need to remove the Federal trust protection and allow baseball teams to join MLB if a city gets this far.
A MLB team in Buffalo makes perfect sense. Upstate New York is a hotbed of baseball, they have the population and there is no MLB baseball anywhere. MLB keeps trying to squeeze a ballpark into a few acres of land in Las Vegas when the perfect solution is Buffalo.
@@stevep8445 What the heck are you smoking, whatever it is pass it along.
I think it's stupid to put your name on a stadium. why waste all that money when your brand is already big as is. Tesla is a big name. Coca Cola is a big name. There is no point for big companies to do this.
Buffalo has horrible weather and I laugh how the Buffalo bills is using New York taxpayers money to built outdoor stadium LmAo just to lose in the playoffs
got caught smoking a spliff in the stands by security there 🫡
wHy iSnT thErE a tEsLa fiELd??
Or an X field