"Dad, want to have a catch?" "No! Go practice your corner kicks!"

"The one constant through all the years, Ray, has been baseball. America has rolled by like an army of steamrollers. It has been erased like a blackboard, rebuilt and erased again.But baseball has marked the time. This field, this game: it's a part of our past, Ray. It reminds of us of all that once was good and it could be again. Oh... people will come Ray. People will most definitely come. " -Terrance Mann, Field of Dreams

You've never heard anybody say that about soccer.

Yet we are suddenly faced with a battle between soccer and baseball in Portland, and it looks more and more like it is baseball that will be forced out of town.

All because we so desperately want an MLS soccer team.

Let's go over this again: when Portland was granted an MLS expansion franchise to begin play in 2011, the agreement was that Portland would renovate PGE park to make it soccer-only, while also building a new stadium for the Portland Beavers. Two proposed sites were put on the table: Memorial Coliseum and Lents Park. But then the public didn't want to tear down the Coliseum, even despite how old and dilapidated it is. Then, the public lashed out against building a stadium in Lents Park, and the city officially took the site off the table.

So now, suddenly there are no options for a baseball stadium in Portland and a Sept. 1 deadline looming. If nothing can be found, baseball leaves town.

All because we so desperately want an MLS soccer team.

We were told my Meritt Paulson that building for soccer would not come at baseball's expense, but now it appears like it will. For the record, I was on board with the option of putting the stadium at Lents Park, but not as an end-all option. It was completely unfair for the city to put residents in a position of "It's Lents or nothing," but the poor planning brought it to that.

Now baseball might be leaving, and for what? Soccer? Let's get one thing straight right now:

Soccer is a fad.

At least it is in Portland. Residents love the Timbers and the MLS and the European leagues because it is the trendy thing to do at the moment. Portlanders love what other cities have, and right now Portlanders are looking at Seattle with their Sounders and thinking that looks fun, I want that. But Seattle is only enamored with the Sounders because the Sonics left and the rest of their teams suck. Seattle had a natural need and love for the Sounders that is genuine. Beyond the initial excitement with the green scarves and the Timber Army in the MLS, do you honestly think soccer is going to have a lasting popularity in Portland?

For that matter, will the entire MLS even still be relevant in a few years? It wasn't that long ago that the MLS was viewed as a fringe league trying to stay above water.

The Beavers have been in town since 1903. Think soccer would have that kind of longevity in Portland?

Paulson and mayor Sam Adams were so caught up in the newness of MLS soccer that they let it cloud their judgement and planning, and in doing so they now risk letting a franchise with ties to multiple generations leave town without a fight. Their eyes were solely on soccer that they lost sight of baseball until it was too late.

Baseball is everything soccer is not. It's historic. It has ties to Portland. Baseball has stuck around throughout the trends and appeals to the masses. Ask any kid and they'll tell you they'd rather take their glove to a baseball game. Soccer, on the other hand, is a sport that appeals to Portland's elitist, 21-30 crowd because it is so anti-sport. But in a choice between baseball and soccer, it's soccer that seems poised to stay in town. It isn't a genuine love for soccer in Portland, it's just that it's trendy! It's European! It appeals to our Keep Portland Weird mentality!

But Portlanders are a fickle bunch, and unlike in real soccer cities, in a few years the fad of soccer will wear off and Portlanders will move on to whatever is in style then.

And when the Timbers are playing before empty crowds in five years, Portland will realize how important baseball really was.