Communities across the country are home to professional baseball teams of all levels. From Major League Baseball to the minor leagues, to the Pecos League of the Southwest, professional baseball teams represent communities and bring them together.
Here are five cities in the United States that have no form of professional baseball, but are more than able and deserving to host one:
1. New Orleans, LA
The Shrine on Airline is a beautiful 10,000 seat stadium in the suburb of Metairie that is currently only being used for professional rugby. Formerly home to the triple-A New Orleans Baby Cakes which relocated to Wichita, KS in 2019, New Orleans hopes to bring back a double-A team with the same Baby Cakes name.
New Orleans, with a metropolitan area of nearly 1.3 million people, successfully has hosted an NFL and NBA franchise for years. The Shrine on Airline is a perfectly sized minor league stadium for a large city that does not have a Major League baseball team.
2. Honolulu, HI
Honolulu has not had a major professional baseball team since 1987, when the triple-A Hawaii Islanders moved to Colorado Springs. Since then, the University of Hawaii has used Les Murakami Stadium as its home baseball field. Holding 4,312 people, Les Murakami Stadium would have the ability to take on a single-A or double-A franchise.
While travel expenses would be expensive for the team, a schedule can be made to reduce travel costs, such as the team being on the road for two weeks at a time, then being home for two weeks at time. Back in the day, the Islanders would host teams for seven-game series. Honolulu hosts a population of almost one million people. Combine that with the tourists that Hawaii consistently brings and it makes Honolulu a perfect fit so host a low-level minor league baseball team.
3. Edinburg, TX
Texas currently hosts four teams of the Texas League in double-A baseball. Edinburg, McAllen, Mission and the surroundings areas make up a population of more than 850,000 people. Currently, the closest minor league baseball option is in Corpus Christi, more than two hours away from Edinburg. This area has not had professional baseball since the Edinburg Roadrunners of the failed North American League in 2013.
UTRGV Stadium is a 4,000-seat stadium that is expandable to thousands more with the grass hill behind the outfield wall. This stadium also features ten executive sweets. In 2015, the University of Texas-Rio Grande Valley became the official owner of the stadium and made many updates to the stadium including new fencing and dugout upgrades. This stadium and city would fit well in the double-A Texas League.
4. New Haven, CT
Yale Field, home of the NCAA Yale Bulldogs, has hosted two professional baseball teams in its lifetime, but none since the New Haven County Cutters of the Canadian American Association of Professional Baseball ceased operations in 2007. The northeast is home to the Eastern League of double-A baseball, a fitting level for a team that could play at the 6,200-seat stadium.
The Greater New Haven area has a population of more than 850,000 people and the southwest portion of Connecticut currently hosts no minor-league baseball teams. Just a train ride away from New York City, New Haven has the ability to successfully support a minor league baseball team.
5. Baton Rouge, LA
Baton Rouge is a city that has showed the ability to support a baseball team, home of Louisiana State University, one of the best collegiate college baseball. During a run of national championships from 2008-2010, 10,326-seat Alex Box stadium was built, and LSU has continued in dominance. However, this stadium is only used until June every year.
This stadium easily has the capability to host a triple-a team and a fan base to support it. The Baton Rouge metropolitan area has more than 800,000 people, and if a triple-A team is not an option, Baton Rouge has a smaller venue, Pete Goldsby Field, for a lower level professional baseball team.
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