My wife Laura and I started our careers as actuaries. We made a good living assessing risk and uncertainty on behalf of many clients. As our nest emptied, we began to think about the next chapter in our lives. We thought it would be fun to purchase a professional baseball franchise. It would give us another excuse to pursue our lifetime passion for America’s pastime. For us, nothing is sweeter than watching batting practice and keeping score in the stands of an extra-innings thriller on a warm summer night.
In 1999, we took the leap with the creation of Short Season LLC and the purchase of the Yakima Bears franchise. We relocated to Yakima and immersed ourselves into the community, its arts, culture and early education efforts. Emotionally, Yakima has been good to us, and we hope people feel we’ve been good to Yakima.
However, it hasn’t been easy in the Yakima Valley. The size and economic characteristics of the population are not adequate to support a professional baseball franchise. The facility is not up to baseball standards. And, its communities have been reluctant to support improvements.
Then the Portland Beavers left for Tucson.
Imagine our surprise when Portland-Vancouver USA – the 23rd largest metropolitan market in the country and the childhood home (McMinnville) of my wife Laura – would have no professional baseball for the first time in 103 years.
We began exploring possibilities with the Northwest League. We completed fact-finding missions, met with leaders, looked at options and studied the economic potential (We are actuaries, after all!).
We were drawn to Vancouver because it is a community that is coming of age. It fully embodies the motto that adorns the wall in Clark County’s hearing room: “Proud Past, Promising Future.”
We consider Vancouver a large community with a very bright future – beautiful waterfronts, temperate climate; a city with pride. We feel it when we talk with community leaders or when we see families thrilled to go to the new library. We hear it when we stroll through Esther Short Park and the Uptown area, or when thousands gather to enjoy a Six to Sunset concert. We even taste it when we make our obligatory visit to Treat every time we’re in town.
We are thrilled with regional plans for the future. A downtown waterfront development; remodeled facilities at Fort Vancouver; a proposed performing arts center; a fresh economic development roadmap – It’s the kind of place that is just beginning to hit its stride.
We believe the creation of a multi-use facility and the presence of a professional baseball franchise is another strong step in Vancouver’s desire to embrace the future. The recent economic study confirms what city and county leaders and our team and league all expected – it makes good economic sense. It is a classic win-win. That’s why we are prepared to back 30 percent of the proposed multi-use facility and will take care of it at our expense. Outside of our 38-game home season, we hope it is abuzz every day with community and Clark College activities.
We respect and welcome the necessary diligence undertaken by community leaders in studying the opportunity. Nevertheless, we are confident that creating a multi-use facility and having a professional baseball franchise will help put Vancouver on the map, as it has for many other communities that took their foot off first.
We hope together we can pursue another step in creating a “Promising Future” for Vancouver, Clark County and Clark College. This is Vancouver’s time and we want to be part of it.
Let’s play ball.
Mike McMurray is the president of Short Season LLC, owners of the Yakima Bears, a short season Single-A professional baseball franchise affiliated with the Arizona Diamondbacks.
