Quote:
Originally Posted by Steely Dan
^ you Philly guys still seem sore about losing the As. It was 67 years ago, how many real-deal old-timer As fans can there be left?
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There are a few. There is the Philadelphia Athletics Historical Society:
https://www.philadelphiaathletics.org/
But not many alive who remember the A's when they were good. They won their last American League pennant in Philly in 1931 (almost three-peated, with World Series Championships in 1929 and 1930.)
But the idea is that good or bad, Philly is big enough to have two MLB teams. Two teams having to compete for the fan base (theoretically) makes both teams need to be stronger. I say theoretically because it almost never actually happens in markets with more than one team where if one is doing poorly, people will migrate to the other team. Usually a team's fan base is its fan base, and people don't switch between the two.
So yes, I think we could have two MLB teams, but not just any two teams. It's not like you could move the Tampa Rays here and have a sustainable fan base. The A's moving here would be largely nostalgic, at least at first, but then if they started winning championships they'd take root real fast.