City councilors in Hillsboro unanimously approved a deal this Tuesday to bring baseball to their city. There’s already an agreement in principle that Hillsboro will build a stadium for the Yakima Bears. It's a single-A, short-season team. The city of Milwaukie has also taken steps to get a team. K.L. Wombacher is the general manager for the Bears. He told OPB’s "Think Out Loud," he’s not sure what having a second team in the Metro area might mean for his team.
Alex Capaul pitches during the Yakima Bears' June 20, 2012, home opener against the Salem-Keizer Volcanos.
Yakima Herald-Republic
He explained, "You know, it’s hard to say because we don’t know the market, yet. It’s too new for us to understand if two teams could co-exist well. I know they’ve put a lot of work into their project, and we applaud them for putting in all that work. Ultimately, our league will decide whether the market can have two teams or not."
Hillsboro officials plan to build the stadium next to the existing football stadium. It’s expected to cost up to 15 million dollars. City leaders say the facility could also be available for high school and college games.
