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While Russell Wilson has no plans to trade in football for baseball (and based on his numbers, he probably shouldn’t) he announced Friday morning that he fully plans to support the city of Portland in getting their first major league team:
MLB to Portland! Let's Go!!! @Ciara & I are pumped to be Owners, Investors, and Partners in bringing @MLB to Rip City! @PDXDiamondProj #MLBtoPDXhttps://t.co/raoe7BzkUA
— Russell Wilson (@DangeRussWilson) June 1, 2018
Wilson and Ciara are currently listed as investors and co-owners of the Portland Diamond Project, the main organization in charge of bringing baseball back to their city. The project’s recent objective has been scouting out a perfect location for a ballpark. Along with that adorable image of Wilson and his son, he had this to say about the organization:
“A new team is on the horizon. Today I am honored to announce that Ciara and I are part owners of the Portland Diamond Project; we’re aiming to bring a Major League Baseball team to Portland. Portland is a place sports fanatics get excited about, headquarters to Nike—a brand repped by all kinds of athletes—and a city where a new stadium is about to stand tall. Ciara and I are both honored to be part of this effort. As owners, investors, and partners in this incredible opportunity, we plan to change the game of baseball and impact the lives of kids everywhere.”
It’s a huge undertaking for the city that has actually had a rich baseball past. Having Wilson and his wife involved now adds a bit of star power to the project as well. But investment aside, it’s nice to see that Wilson is still able to feed his passion for baseball without having to actually be on the field. He’s clearly doing better in this other sport.
Baseball stats
Wilson won’t see any major league playing time, but I dug up some of his minor league numbers again:
In 2010, he played for the Tri-City Dust Devils and in 31 games, finished the year with a slash line of .230/.336/.377 and an overall OPS of .708. At just 21 years old, he wasn’t really hitting for power but his on-base percentage was still pretty decent.
In 2011, his age 22 season, he played 61 games with the Ashville Tourists. His numbers didn’t make any dramatic changes. In fact, his batting average actually went down. He finished the year with a line of .228/.366/.342. His on-base percentage went up while his slugging percentage went down and Wilson ended the year with the exact same OPS as his previous season, .708.