It’s essential to keep the Beavers in town – Harvey Platt

While I offer my support to Mayor Denny Doyle and members of the Beaverton City Council for the development of a public facility in Beaverton that can accommodate the Portland Beavers baseball team, I may also have a different perspective than many other people on this issue.

At the kickoff rally I attended at Beaverton High School in August to bring baseball to our community, I brought along a 1946 Beavers program and spoke about opportunities I had as a child to watch the Beavers play in Portland. Sixty-three years ago, in 1946, the franchise had already been established in our community for more than 40 years – an unbelievable legacy in a time when many businesses were closing due to awful economic times.

I have long been a proponent of bringing Major League Baseball to Oregon, because I know it would be great for our families and our local economy. Baseball and other family activities are exactly what is needed in Beaverton, just as when I was a child growing up watching players like Eddie Basinski, Luis Tiant, George Freese and many others.

Over the past few years, we have been unable to prevent a number of disturbing things that have occurred and changed our world here in Oregon. We have lost many major companies and local jobs, and several community icons have gone away. The Portland Beavers have been part of our history, and it is essential that we do everything in our power to save the Beavers and baseball for our children and the community. If ever there was a quality of life issue that warranted your support, this is the one you need to support.

— Excerpt from OpEd by Harvey Platt in the Portland Tribune, October 8, 2009