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Bevos eye Beaverton for new ballpark site

No, really: the city of Beaverton is making a pitch to house a new ballpark for the Portland Beavers, and owner Merritt Paulson is reportedly interested.

It would be so poetic if the Portland Beavers (Class AAA; Pacific Coast League) ended up at a new ballpark in Beaverton, a Portland suburb. Imagine the marketing possibilities: the Beaverton Beavers playing at baseball at Beaverton Ballpark, laying down bunts and stealing bases.

We're a long way from a Beaverton ballpark, but the mayor of that fine community — the Beaverton head beaver, so to speak — wants to see the Bevos at a ballpark on city-owned land. Not quite sure there's any offer of money for a new ballpark, but the offer of free land has certainly attracted the attention of the Beavers' head beaver, Merritt Paulson, who apparently has told a Portland city officials or two about the suburb's interest in baseball. Said Beaverton Mayor Denny Doyle in a statement: "If Portland is unable to find a suitable location for the team, we'd like to be considered as a potential regional solution to not only keep the Beavers in Oregon but in the immediate Portland metropolitan area."

Of course, in politicalese, regional solution is a signal to other cities and governmental bodies that they need to kick in to make a ballpark work. And we just don't see Sam Adams and Randy Leonard to be too darn eager to be kicking some tax dollars out to Beaverton so the Beavers can leave Portland.

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