AHC: Get a MLB Team in Indiana?

[SmithAlien]

Is there any way to have a Major League Baseball team somewhere in Indiana (maybe through MLB expansion, for example)?

If so, would it be in Indianapolis? Or even Fort Wayne (after all, where the first professional baseball game was played in May 1871, between the FW Kekiongas and the Cleveland Forest Cities)?

What would an Indiana team be named?

Or would Indiana always be minor league at most after the early years of professional ball? (My hometown Fort Wayne has a very long history of baseball in the pro levels; our current MiLB team is the San Diego affiliate, the TinCaps (formerly Wizards from 1993)).

The challenge is to somehow get MLB in Indiana.

 

[OldNavy1988]

Indiana would've had to build a whole new stadium to replace Owen Bush to have a chance to at least attract someone to move there.

 

[1940LaSalle]

Unlikely. The closest Indianapolis ever came (and no other population center in IN is even worthy of consideration) was the Federal League in 1914. And that franchise moved to Newark, NJ for 1915 in preparation for placing a Federal League team in New York.

In the final analysis, Indianapolis, apart from that excursion a century ago, was, is, and will always be a minor league baseball town.

 

[RySenkari]

Unlikely. The closest Indianapolis ever came (and no other population center in IN is even worthy of consideration) was the Federal League in 1914. And that franchise moved to Newark, NJ for 1915 in preparation for placing a Federal League team in New York.

In the final analysis, Indianapolis, apart from that excursion a century ago, was, is, and will always be a minor league baseball town.

Not necessarily. If Cleveland or Cincinnati go completely to hell and Indianapolis booms (perhaps they could build a stadium in Fishers or Carmel), they've got a chance. 2030s at the soonest, but still, never say never.