California (Republic) Dreaming

Just how would an independent California change baseball? (via SupportPDX)

Just how would an independent California change baseball? (via SupportPDX)

The concept of California seceding from the United States is not new. A lot of people have predicted it, but they meant via a cataclysm, namely the state sliding into the Pacific Ocean after an earthquake of biblical proportions.

This time around, the secession movement is political. As is the case with most of the ideas posited by politicos and policy wonks, one has to ask: have you really thought this through?

When Californians go to the polls in November 2018, they will be asked to authorize a referendum for the following spring as to whether their state should secede from the U.S. The secession movement is popularly known as Calexit. Given the numerous issues that an independence movement entails, California voters will have a lot of things to consider. Will baseball be one of them?

Before 1958, California could have seceded with no effect on major league baseball. Now that there are five teams in California, it’s a different matter. You might say so what? MLB has been international since 1969 when Montreal was granted an expansion franchise. What’s the big deal?

The big deal is that Canada was already a nation in 1969 when MLB came calling. Canada did not secede from the United States; it has never been part of the United States. Personally, I think the U.S. should have conquered Canada a long time ago, but that is not a topic to explore on this web site.

Let’s assume that California voters choose independence in 2019, the state legislature agrees, and all the remaining necessary steps are taken. Next, let’s assume that we don’t have a Fort Sumter moment followed by years of combat to force California back into the Union. What would this mean for MLB?

Imagine baseball historians looking back at Opening Day in California in April 2020. Hindsight, of course, is always 20/20, but the 2020 season is a whole new ball game. It’s a historic moment in California baseball, maybe the biggest one since 1958, when the Dodgers and Giants introduced major league baseball to the West Coast.

I predict that the Dodgers and Giants will be allowed to open the 2020 season one day earlier than the other California teams because they’ve been around longer than the A’s, Padres and Angels. The Dodgers and Giants are the legacy teams.

As in 1958, the two teams open the 2020 season with a six-game home-and-away series. The first three games in 1958 were actually played at Seals Stadium in San Francisco, but that venue is long gone. Dodger Stadium is the oldest major league park in California, so the Dodgers have the honor of hosting the first major league game in the new nation of California.

As the fans arrive at Dodger Stadium, nothing appears different at first. They experience the usual traffic jams on the nearby freeways (the 5, the 101, and the 110) as well as on Sunset Boulevard near Elysian Park Avenue. The parking lot attendant takes your money (admittedly, it’s now California currency…hard to get used to seeing Jerry Brown’s mug on a dollar bill), you park as close as possible, and begin the trek across the parking lot to the appropriate stadium entrance.

Once inside, however, the Dodgers fan realizes that California is not in Kansas any more. The traditional red, white and blue bunting, always in evidence on Opening Day, is no more. Oh, there is bunting hanging from the railings on the upper decks, but it’s just one color: gold. California is, after all, the Golden State. In northern California, there was a movement by Oakland A’s fans to proclaim gold and green as the new national colors, but it didn’t get far. Tommy Lasorda led a campaign to combine Dodger Blue with gold, but it was shot down by a coalition of Giants fans, Angels fans and USC fans. The latter found blue and gold unacceptable, as those were the colors of arch-rival UCLA.

Aside from the bunting, the Opening Day experience seems pretty much the same at first blush. The Giants and Dodgers are introduced and take their places along the first and third-base lines respectively. As usual, a celebrity vocalist comes out to sing the national anthem. Remember, this time around it’s not The Star-Spangled Banner. Francis Scott who? Never heard of him.

So what is the new California national anthem? Well, unless some contemporary songwriter comes up with something better, they will probably go with the official state song, I Love You, California. Not too many people know this ditty, but it is sung at the funerals of California governors. On that day when a supersize casket containing the earthly remains of Arnold Schwarzenegger is lowered into the ground, the tune will reverberate around the cemetery. Today, however, he’s still walking the earth. In fact, he’s here today to throw out the first ball.

I won’t reproduce all the lyrics of the song because, like The Star-Spangled Banner, the song has several verses, and one is sufficient for the national anthem. So here’s verse one plus the chorus:

A Hardball Times Update
Goodbye for now.

I love you, California, you’re the greatest state of all.
I love you in the winter, summer, spring and in the fall.
I love your fertile valleys; your dear mountains I adore.
I love your grand old ocean and I love her rugged shore.

When the snow crowned Golden Sierras
Keep their watch o’er the valleys bloom,
It is there I would be in our land by the sea.
Every breeze bearing rich perfume.
It is here nature gives of her rarest. It is Home Sweet Home to me.
And I know when I die I shall breathe my last sigh
For my sunny California.

The other verses sing the praises of the redwoods, the Golden Gate, Catalina and Yosemite, among other iconic landmarks. The song is more than 100 years old, so there’s no mention of smog.

On Opening Day 2020, the song may not be familiar to Angeleno baseball fans, but the scoreboard will display the lyrics to help them get up to speed. As for the melody, they’ll just have to take the cue from the organist.

Meanwhile, in the other 25 major league ballparks in the U.S. (and dozens more minor league ballparks), the folks in ballpark operations are searching for recordings of the song because they’ll have to play it when the California teams hit town.

But what is the protocol for California baseball fans when they hear their new national anthem? Is it necessary for gentlemen to remove their hats? Should fans place their hands over their hearts, or would another gesture be more appropriate? The peace sign, perhaps? Considering California’s confiscatory tax policies, perhaps holding on to one’s wallet would be appropriate.

On Opening Day 2020, only the California national anthem will be sung, since the Dodgers are hosting the Giants. But Dodgers fans had better get used to two national anthems because when they’re not playing the Giants and the Padres (or the Angels and A’s in interleague contests), they’re going to have to listen to two national anthems. Now they can empathize with baseball fans in Toronto.

california-flag-bear-flagMost fans look toward the flag while the national anthem is being played. The fans at Dodger Stadium will quickly discover that the California state flag is now flying where Old Glory used to fly. “California Republic” is emblazoned on the state flag, so that still works. The logo is the California grizzly bear, a subspecies which is now extinct. Guess the Triple-A Fresno Grizzlies didn’t get the memo about that.

At Dodger Stadium, they kept an American flag after the 2019 season because they knew they’d have to fly it when the Dodgers played U.S. teams. Then they realized that the flag was obsolete, and a 49-star flag was needed. This necessitated a rush order to the Chinese factory that had been humming away 24 hours a day for months to fill the orders from the U.S. In the days leading up to California’s secession, there was a movement afoot in the U.S. to add Puerto Rico to the Union so the 50-star flag could remain in effect, but it was to no avail. A last-ditch effort on behalf of Guam also went nowhere.

Well, one of the sometime perks of Opening Day at the ballpark is a flyover during the national anthem. You want to see jets over Dodger Stadium? No problem, we’ll just get Magic Johnson or Stan Kasten to pull some strings and get the commanding officer at Vandenberg Air Force Base to scramble a couple of F-15s, and…wait a minute. Forgot that the U.S. abandoned Vandenberg after secession. Now that California is a separate nation, it’s in the process of creating its own army, navy, air force and coast guard along with its very own military-industrial complex. No jets yet, however.

So far military recruitment efforts have been met with apathy. The five California teams offer generous military discounts on tickets, but there have been few takers. Rumor has it that the new nation might have to bring back conscription. The protests at Berkeley have already begun.

At any rate, once the opening ceremonies are out of the way, it’s baseball as usual at Dodger Stadium. The Dodger Dogs are still on the grill and the beer is still overpriced…odd to think that American beers are now imports, however.

Then we get to the seventh-inning stretch. Time for God Bless America! No, wait! That’s out! Take Me Out to the Ballgame still works, but where do we go from there? Hotel California? California Girls? California Gurls? California, Here I Come? California Love? Notable tunes all, but which one to use? Time for another referendum, I guess. Personally, I would choose California Sun, recorded by The Rivieras in 1964.

After the seventh-inning stretch, it’s back to baseball, and for the rest of the game it’s just like old times. Dodgers fans still leave early no matter what the score or the political status of California.

So it appears little has changed at Chavez Ravine despite the change in sovereignty. As the season progresses, it’s more or less business as usual for the Angels and Giants also. But the Padres and A’s are having major problems.

Since California has so much coastline, the loss of the U.S. Navy is particularly worrisome. Down in San Diego, the Navy was a major part of the economy, so the Padres are feeling the brunt of the loss. After the fleet moved up the coast to Astoria, Ore. (creating a raging economic boom as well as untold anguish for Beaver State environmentalists), San Diego’s population went into a steep decline.

The Padres won’t come close to selling out their 2020 home opener and the number of season ticket holders has plummeted. The long-term prospects for the franchise are bleak. The team denies reports that the Padres are talking to officials in Las Vegas about moving the franchise.

The news is not all bad in San Diego County, however. The abandonment of Camp Pendleton has opened up miles of coastline for development. Given all that new real estate on the market and the loss of population, now you can get a nice house within walking distance of the beach for a reasonable price.

Meanwhile in Sacramento, elected and appointed officials are starting to make noises about how the new nation’s capital deserves to have a major league franchise. After years of failing to find a suitable location for a new ballpark in the East Bay area, the Oakland A’s are seriously considering relocating.  Reportedly, Billy Beane and GM David Forst were spotted scouting locations in greater Sacramento during the offseason. Since the Raiders have said they’ll move to Las Vegas, the Oakland Coliseum would have no tenants if the A’s leave. Marriott, however, has quietly explored the possibility of building a ski resort at Mount Davis.

Despite the turmoil, as the 2020 season progresses, California fans are getting used to all the new procedures and customs. Now it’s time for a road trip. So how about a long weekend in Phoenix while the Dodgers are there?

Imagine you’re a Dodgers fan packing up the car and heading east on I-10. Funny thing, though: now it’s called simply Highway 10. It’s no longer part of the U.S. interstate highway system, so all the signs had to be changed. Also, with no more U.S. funds to maintain it, it is now a toll road.

As you approach the Arizona state line, you notice the traffic backing up. Must be an accident. Probably some damn 18-wheeler. Oh, wait, it’s a border checkpoint. The old state line is now an international border! One armed guard approaches your car while another guard with a dope-sniffing dog gives your car the once-over. Hope you didn’t leave any joints in your overnight bag.

Once on the Arizona side, you note the U.S. Border Patrol is on the lookout for illegal aliens. They’ve been very busy since Calexit became reality. Before that came Calexodus, when millions of people fled California while they still could still legally migrate to the 49 states. The ones who didn’t get out in time are trying to do so now, but the U.S., having absorbed so many Californians during the Calexodus, isn’t taking any more legal immigrants from the new nation. So they’re trying to sneak in. A lot of them have died on the trek, some freezing in the Sierras, others perishing in the desert. There is a bill in Sacramento about rebranding Death Valley because the name is too insensitive.

Then there’s the currency exchange on the other side of the border checkpoint. Totally forgot about that. Can’t use California dollars in Arizona. Time to get re-acquainted with the dead presidents. Unfortunately, they’ve been working the printing presses overtime at the California Bureau of Engraving and Printing in Sacramento, so the exchange rate is pathetic. Arizona used to be cheaper than California, now it’s the other way around. Say goodbye to those spring training vacations. Maybe next year, the Dodgers will take a page out of the Cubs book, and move their spring training to Catalina Island.

It’s not all fun and games for the ballplayers either. The California players are getting tired of having to go through customs on almost every road trip. They’re concerned about the long-term prospects for that California currency and insist on being paid in American dollars. Major league GMs are worried that it may be difficult for California teams to recruit free agents.

Meteorologically speaking, the climate is still ideal for baseball in California. The socioeconomic climate is another story. Will baseball reign as the national pastime in California nation?

The question may not need to be answered. The secessionist movement may never get much traction. If so, this article can be dismissed as overheated rhetoric from the hot stove league.

Call it California dreaming…on such a winter’s day.

References and Resources

www.savvycalifornia.com

www.yescalifornia.org


Frank Jackson writes about baseball, film and history, sometimes all at once. He has has visited 54 major league parks, many of which are still in existence.
25 Comments
Oldest
Newest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
Famous Mortimer
7 years ago

I liked it up to the last third, I guess?

For reference, when Ireland ceased to be part of the UK, it continued to use British currency for 6 years, allowing a reasonable amount of time for a changeover.

And there are lots and lots of nations round the world that manage to avoid having armed guards on their borders; some of them also manage to levy a reasonable tax to pay for road maintenance.

If it’s similarly impossible for Canadians to visit the US to watch baseball, you might have a point with some of the latter part of the article (I have no idea on that score).

I believe that, rather than wailing about how terrible secession would be, it would be more useful to discuss the problems that have led to it becoming an idea. If it’s the current President, then get involved in political action against the current President. If it’s something else, get involved there too.

Paul G.
7 years ago

some of them also manage to levy a reasonable tax to pay for road maintenance.

That would not describe California.

ckt
7 years ago

Playing the national anthem before domestic games is stupid anyway. And who really has border patrol? I regularly drive to different countries and I have never ever been stopped by border patrol.

Besides I do not really understand why millions would leave California for the US anyway. These are people that decided to live in California, many of them are born their, their jobs are probably there, and the economy is probably better than most parts of the US anyway.

Frank
7 years ago
Reply to  ckt

Californians are already pouring out of there and coming to Texas (and other states) in droves in search of housing and jobs. They are leaving because the cost of living is too high ($500,000 average housing prices in LA County), the regulations and tax rates stifle enterprise, and the state government has crushing levels of debt. Granted, the beaches, the scenery, and the climate are great, and if you were born there, you may not want to leave, but the long-term economic prospects don’t look good. I doubt that secession would cure that.

Markp1950
7 years ago
Reply to  Frank

Good that some are moving out of Cali so I can move in!

Rainy Day Women 12x35
7 years ago
Reply to  ckt

If you grew up in California, you’d understand. As for me, I lived 54 of my first 60 years there. The last 6 have been spent in Boise, Idaho. California…..a great place to be from

Carl
7 years ago

California wants to leave the union? If they send the Dodgers back to Brooklyn, we’ll call it even and they can leave peacefully.

Jimmy
7 years ago

Frank, stop thinking rightwing economics ever helped anyone who isn’t a millionaire.

William Wallace
7 years ago
Reply to  Jimmy

Frank: Then, let’s set the minimum wage at $500/hr, so we can all be millionaires. Then everyone can agree to have right-wing economics, and we’ll all live happily ever after.

Francis Jackson
7 years ago

Middle class Californians are voting with their feet and they are leaving California. These people are not right-wing ideologues but they know a sinking ship when they see it.

Paul G.
7 years ago

That was quite snarky. I’m not sure how accurate this all is, but good snark is welcome.

It is a good point that San Diego may not be viable as a market without the navy presence. I have not studied the issue though. It is definitely something to think about. If this did come to pass, it is not out of the question that San Diego would secede from California for that very reason. For that matter, there may still be 50 states given that the interior of California almost certainly would want out – their politics are unlike the coast – leaving a Republic of California that looks more like Chile than anything else.

baycommuter
7 years ago

You really think the Navy would give up San Diego, the home of the Pacific Fleet? Heck, the Navy didn’t even give up crappy little Guantanamo when Castro took over Cuba and demanded it back. Note that it was South Carolina firing on Fort Sumner that started the Civil War, not the states seceding (which wasn’t recognized). California would be stupid to attack the Navy, or the Marines at Pendleton, or the Air Force at Travis or Edwards, or whatever the hell the military does in the blue cube in Silicon Valley.
President Brown wouldn’t be very warlike anyhow (President Schwarzenegger might be different).
So I figure the Padres will be OK in any event, or rather, as OK as they are now.

MCT
7 years ago
Reply to  baycommuter

In all seriousness, if California secession were to occur, there would likely need to be negotiations over what would be done with all federal property in California. Not just military installations, but things like federal courts, post offices, national parks, offices of federal agencies, etc.

There’s an argument that, as the successor to the U.S. government with regard to California, the new California should inherit this property. There’s also an argument that, since this property was originally purchased by the U.S. as a whole, and (in at least some cases) for the benefit of the country as a whole, the U.S. government should keep it. I think the end result would be somewhere in between. California would get some federal property; other federal property might be kept by the U.S. government. In some cases, California might end up with certain property, but would essentially have to buy it from the U.S. government. Or California might get title to certain property, but lease it back to the U.S. government, allowing the U.S. government to stay at least for the time being.

In the end, one of two things would happen to any given military installation: 1) Some arrangement would be reached under which the United States military would transfer it to the new California military, or 2) Some arrangement would be reached under which the United States military would continue to operate the installation (just as the U.S. military currently has bases in other countries). Existing bases would not simply be abandoned en masse and the new California military forced to build new ones from scratch.

Dan Pickett
7 years ago

fyou Frank on conquering Canada

a eskpert
7 years ago
Reply to  Dan Pickett

Canada should have conquered the U.S.

Dan Pickett
7 years ago

Apologies Frank, that was a bit harsh. I’m usually a pretty calm old man.

Marc Schneider
7 years ago

“Personally, I think the U.S. should have conquered Canada a long time ago, but that is not a topic to explore on this web site.”

That was considered and advocated several times in the 19th century and might have happened or at least been attempted if not for the British Empire. But I think we need to keep Canada as a haven for those of us that might want to leave the United States of Trump.

Francis Jackson
7 years ago
Reply to  Marc Schneider

A number of people have been exploring moving to Canada since the election only to find out that it’s no haven. They have found that Canada has very restrictive immigration policies. Unless you have a skill that’s in demand or have a lot of money or some sort of family already in Canada, forget about it. If you’re unhappy with U.S politics or just think it would be cool to live in Canada, that is not going to cut it.

a eskpert
7 years ago

That’s partly true, but it’s no more restrictive than the U.S. system of rules.

Maris
7 years ago

Military and Economic invasions were both attempted by the US over Canada in the 19th century. Both failed.

Militarily, the war of 1812 was supposed to be over in months, as America had 8 million people, outnumbering Canadians about 30 to 1. The war lasted 2 years, and Canada conquered much of the NE US, including burning down the first White House.

After that, considerable efforts were made to integrate what is now western Canada into the US. This was primarily done through covert methods involving the building of the trans Canadian railroad. American assets infiltrated the project for decades and attempted to have the line re-routed south of the Great Lakes through the American Midwest, which would give American control to people, resources and capital heading west.

If Calexit happens, it will follow the lines of Ireland as noted above, or similar to the splitting of Czechoslovakia into Slovakia and the Czech republic, or what is unfolding with Brexit. Sports leagues didnt roll over and die in any of these events, and neither will MLB.

Historically ignorant people shouldn’t write about hypothetical history. Stick to the diamond.

W
7 years ago
Reply to  Maris

“If Calexit happens, it will follow the lines of Ireland as noted above, or similar to the splitting of Czechoslovakia into Slovakia and the Czech republic, or what is unfolding with Brexit. ”

It’s an interesting (and perhaps fun) question – I think the split would end up looking more like the Virginia split at the Civil War timeframe – with “North California” or “East California” breaking off from “California” and staying within the USA. (bonus – that’d keep us at 50 states, so no need to 49-star the flag – think of the work saved!) If you google images of “voting map of California” over the last few elections, Cali is already well divided, blue/red, west/east. There’s even been talk of breaking Cali up into multiple states, before this recent secession talk.

I’d picture the east/north counties voting to break away from a “California Republic” and staying with the USA – Sacramento area could go either way. The L.A. area could find itself completely isolated from the Bay area by counties that chose to stay with the USA as well.

Yehoshua Friedman
7 years ago

California secession could be very messy for California and the US. I don’t wish it on either. But the decline and fall of the US looks to be in the offing in the long run whether Trump does a good job or not. It seems unthinkable, but a lot of unthinkable things (like 9/11, for example) have happened in the 21st century so far. And 2020 will also be the first election when millennials vote, and who can tell what they will do? Interesting speculation that you wouldn’t expect from a baseball website, and if I would have to guess who would write such a piece, I would have guessed Shane Tourtelotte, who is also an SF writer.

Marc Schneider
7 years ago

People seem to keep forgetting that the issue of secession was settled by something called the Civil War. Unless the United States agreed to it and/or California was willing to fight a war against the United States, it isn’t seceding. Yes, no one can say what will happen in a hundred years, but this seems unlikely.

As for the “decline and fall” of the US, I can name numerous periods in which people thought that was happening, but the country survived: War of 1812, Civil War period (obviously), Great Depression, 1968, 1970s, post 9/11 (arguably). Countries go through up and down periods. As unhappy as I am about the current state of politics, etc. in the country, I think it’s a bit premature to talk about the decline and fall of the United States. We are still an extremely powerful country, with (despite what some say), a huge economy, and a largely prosperous, highly-skilled, and diverse populace. Plus, we have major league baseball.

baycommuter
7 years ago
Reply to  Marc Schneider

Yes, that’s true, and there’s a Supreme Court decision (Texas v. White, 1869) that ratifies the result of the Civil War and says no state can secede. The only way I could see it happening is the way the Soviet Union broke up, more or less voluntarily. California and Texas (the two big states that seem to want out during opposite presidential administrations) could make some kind of deal and the other states would follow one or the other. There could be some kind of Scotland-style home rule and the military and the trade union could be kept intact.

Cheap Fake Yeezys
6 years ago

Following a look at the Air Jordan 4 SNES US Custom, we now take a look at Freaker Sneaks latest gaming system installment with his Air Jordan 4 NES Custom inspired by Super Mario Bros. and Duck Hunt