Taking a break from fuming over the Lightning for a minute, I got a nifty little email this afternoon from one of the upteen PR firms that contact me from time to time with various sport inanities that are you there. This may be a Tampa Bay Lightning blog (that also covers Tampa Bay sports and sometimes national sports news), but at any given time I’ll get emailed marketing for rival franchises (Panthers) or uninteresting videos that PR firms hope to make viral….

In this case, I got a Baseball marketing attempt. This set off my cynic alarm:

Fans who want to rub elbows with the 24 greatest home run hitters of all time should check out http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/pages/500-Home-Run-Club-LLC/63511284320?ref=ts

It’s the timing that really makes me cynical about this. Yes, it’s Spring Training and hope springs eternal. This is when MLB has it’s annual renewal…

But then again? This is also the time that is plagued by scandals to no end with thanks to some of these aforementioned “24 greatest home run hitters of all time”. How many of those players used the Juice to get where they are? How many are suspected to have used performance enhancing drugs to reach that plateau?

Hope springs eternal… but cynicism prevails while the ugliness of the ‘Roid era continues to hang over MLB. “24 greatest home run hitters” at this point in time is subjective at best, no matter what the stats say.

Taking a break from my attacks on Lightning management, I’ll redirect my efforts now toward the city of St. Petersburg, Florida.

Previously known as “God’s Waiting Room” (just had to dust that one off), St. Petersburg has turned into a happening place over the last decade. Nightlife thrives, there’s a happening residential community both downtown and elsewhere in the city… Things aren’t all rosie there, however with economic disparity and racial/social issues, but it’s a far cry from the void that it was for so long.

Oh, lest I forget, there’s a little baseball team down there that’s got a bit of a following now. Which brings me to the point of this post.

You see, the Tampa Bay Rays announced their desires to have a new baseball stadium (just as the economic climate was turning sour in December 2007) built on the site of Al Lang Field. While the design and funding concept was outside the box, there were too many issues (economics, logistics, NIMBY’s, etc) that put a halt to the plans for Tropicana Field’s replacement.

But the team is still exploring options and places around Pinellas County…

Which has St. Petersburg crying foul because the team’s lease at Tropicana Field and with the city of St. Petersburg does not expire until 2027, and they don’t want the Rays to go anyplace outside the city. Oh, and they’re not sure if they even want a new stadium for the Rays…

But they demand the Rays be their own personal Rays. Forget the region concept that is the name “Tampa Bay” — the thought debate on a new stadium has hinged (supposedly) in the past on the Rays ballclub being renamed the St. Petersburg Rays.

Read it all..

Over the course of the history of this weblog and my blogging in general on the Internet, I’ve had some problems with the Tampa Bay professional baseball franchise. I’ve had some problems with the mainstream coverage of the team when moves were made (blindly) to improve the team in 1999. The gaffes, the laughs, the horrors… Larry Rothschild, Hal McRae, Lou Pinella, Chuck “Chuckles the Clown” LaMar and some of the beyond-bizarre moves that he made as GM, and of course Vincent J. Naimoli who rounded out the ills and the thrills and the chills of the first few years of Tampa Bay baseball.

I’ve also lashed out blindly and ignorantly – trying to connect the dots that just weren’t there – to current Rays managing general partner Stuart Sternberg. I thought something sinister was afoot and recalled recent ill-conceived notions of contraction by Major League baseball.

I don’t have the links right now to all this “goodness”. And I don’t really want to spend time researching it. No.

Why? Because in their 11th season, almost 11 years to the day of the 1997 expansion draft, the Tampa Bay Rays ballclub will be participating in game one of the 2008 World Series.

That’s not a misprint.

That’s not a typo (and I should know, I make many).

I day I did not expect once again is here. Through all the squabbles I have been through both this season and in seasons past, I never really expected to see this day. I didn’t expect this team — the Wunderkids of St. Pete — to get thsi far though I could very well see them making a pennant chase.

And still ghosts haunt me. While I revel in Carl Crawford, Evan Longoria, Scott Kazmir, Andy Sonnenstine, Akinori Iwamura, Carlos Pena and the rest of the Tampa Bay roster… The unease of days past still linger. Brian Kelly, Greg “Toe” Nash, Jose Canseco, Gregg Vaughn, Wilson Alverez, and so on and so forth. The names are malignancies that have not been wiped out just yet.

So while I revel int he impossible — the Rays getting this far — it seems surreal to me. It will undoubtedly remain unreal to me for a long time to come. This is the apex of Tampa Bay’s baseball history. A quest that spanned decades and routinely pulled up disappointment.

And the question that stands out in my mind isn’t “How will it end?” No, it’s how much higher to the top? Because that’s where a Ray shines from — the top. And all this team has done this season is shine.

Shine on, Rays.

Congratulations to the 2008 Tampa Bay Rays.

From out of no where, having never won more than 70’s games, to League Champions… That is a huge hill to climb.

And it ain’t over yet!

The blogosphere is teeming with posts about the Rays win, but I’ll just link to a select few threads:

• Sticks of Fire
• DRaysbay
• Rays Index
• Sports Talk – Tampa Bay Sports Blog

Very much off topic…

I grew up a Mets fan, living in a small village on Long Island in New York. I can remember, as a young kid, how everyone was going nutso for the Amazin’s of 1986. I didn’t truly grasp it, but in the following years I grew to love and cherish baseball — in general and New York Mets baseball. It followed me to Tampa Bay through the early 1990’s as I had access to WOR telecasts through local cable. All of this while I was drawn into the local quest for Major League Baseball.

So it doesn’t come as a surprise that I’ve been aware of New York Mets owner Fred Wilpon’s long sought Ebbets-Field inspired successor to Shea Stadium for more than a decade. My recollection may be wrong, but the first time in national print that I saw reference to the famed model of Shea’s replacement, it was a Sports Illustrated article that focused on former Mets general manager Joe McLlvane and the building-with-youth Mets of 1995/96 or there abouts. Two years before it’s public unveiling.

But the point of this post isn’t supposed to be about the previous version of what is now known as CitiField, nor about CitiField itself which contains the “Ebbets-Field inspired” architecture and a uniqueness that I can’t quite imagine.

That’s partly because I hold fondness for Shea Stadium.

The above should be looked at as the most absurd statement someone can make about Major League Baseball. Yet having been a fan of the Mets and having read about and reveled in some of Shea’s storied eccentricities and history (Yeah, yeah, yeah and so much more) I’m hurt and saddened about it’s in-progress demise.

Yeah, in progress.

15 days after the last public event at William A. Shea Stadium in Flushing Meadows, New York, the deconstruction of the Mets home field has begun in earnest. Stadiumpage.com has a few snap shots and I am sure that there are more out there on the web.

It seems surreal to see Shea with all seating removed, with the lamps ringing the stadium removed. And imminently, it’ll start being torn apart. 44 years of baseball (some of the worst and most miraculous in Major League history), of musical performances, of airplane derived annoyance and other landmarks and eccentricities will be coming down. And like many of the stadiums that have gone before it — pulled down in order to make space for parking.

For more on the end of Shea, visit Mets.com / MLB.com.

Rays / Red Sox about to get underway on TBS (why the hell did MLB approve putting all playoff games in the first two rounds on basic cable?!) but I wanted to bring up MSNBC trying to milk everything out of Tim Wakefield’s start tonight in an online column.

I’ve got loads of respect for Wakefield and can remember him from his early days with the Pittsburgh Pirates (when he wasn’t just a knuckleballer but one that would throw it fast). Between longevity and tenure, he gets a nod from me…

But Joe Maddon brought up a great point in the milk-this-drama-to-the-max article:

“When (the knuckleball) is righteous and on, nobody hits it on any given day.”

Nine innings of baseball… Don’t get cocky, don’t get complacent and don’t get frustrated if the Knuckleball is on tonight, Rays fans. At least two more games — starting right about now.

Update: 8:57 PM EDT: I stand corrected. Tim Wakefield chased after 3 innings. We go to the top of the fourth — Rays lead 5-1.

As of right now… it’s that baseball team that plays home games in St. Pete.

Yes, your Tampa Bay Rays.

There have been so many instances so far this season where a title next to the Rays name (AL East leading, for example) is just too foreign to grasp… But it’s happening, it’s really happening…

Enjoy it.

What do you do when someone is trying to voice disapproval of the new Rays ballpark propsoed by the team?

Answer: Block signs of the anti-sentiment. Hat tip to St. Petersblog.

The Tampa Bay area seems to be in disbelief right now with the team that resides in St. Petersburg performing in a certainly non sub-mediocre level that the area is so accustomed to.

Yes, the mighty Tampa Bay Devil Rays.

Mighty? MIGHTY? They aren’t world beaters (as the series in Boston last week could certainly point out) but they are a sight better than what they have been in the past.

St. Petersblog pointed out how the Rays are ranked #4 on the worst-franchises ever list and it’s certainly fitting and deserved of the franchise that once attempted to charge a marching band to stay and watch the game after they performed the national anthem. On the field, they have won 70 games ONCE in ten seasons. Off the field… well, that national anthem flap is only the tip of the iceberg. I won’t go into that.

So with a whole lot of pathetic anecdotes and poor play dominating the team history, it’s not surprising that Friday’s game versus the Angels — a thrilling win with strong pitching and a Sayanora home run by Evan Longoria — drew a paltry 12,000. Even American Idol top-three performer Syesha Mercado couldn’t lure a larger crowd of people to spend a hot and muggy Friday night inside the climate controlled comfort of Tropicana Field and watch two of the top performing teams this season in the AL go at it.

It won’t take long for fever to truly grap Tampa Bay with this baseball team. But there have been a few seasons where there has been one degree or another of promise that only spiraled out of control into a pit of desolation and humiliation.

Terrence Mann’s soliloquy from Field of Dreams doesn’t apply yet. People won’t necessarily come, Ray. Winning may cure all ills but the element of belief hasn’t hit the general sport-fan populous in the area. Once it does… Look out. Until then, however, empty nights at the Dome will be what greets the team.

I’ve gotten used to the New York Islanders pulling stuff like this and I’ve also gotten used to the Tampa Bay lack-of-Devil Rays pulling this on a cost effective platform in the past…

But a nine year investment in a rookie? This takes things to new risk levels:

“This is obviously fairly unique,” Friedman said. “But it was something both sides had interest in really exploring and talking about. And both sides had to make some concessions along the way to get to this point.

“… We have to stay open minded. The economics of the game and us being a low-revenue team, we have to think differently and take chances such as this to keep our nucleus in place as long as we can.”

The salaries for the first six years of the agreement are guaranteed, with the team holding a one-year option for 2014 season and a subsequent two-year option for the 2015 and 2016 seasons. The contract guarantees $17.5 million. If the Rays exercise both options, Longoria would earn more than $44 million over the life of the nine-year agreement.

“Fairly Unique” does not begin to explain it. But Longoria was signed on the cheap considering what has has already accomplished and what he could command on an open market… IF he pans out (and even if not — scrub players are getting obscene money in MLB in recent years).

The Tampa Bay Rays have been doing much to improve their image the last few eyars since Stu Sternberg took over the team. But you want to know one quick way to tear all that down with fans who are sick of the scandals, sick of the fact baseball has been sullied by BALCO and artificially inflated stats?

Explore signing Barry Bonds.

A great young nucleus with some new veteran additions this winter… Ruined by bringing in the biggest blowhard in pro sports.

Do the Rays really need a new stadium?

At the same time, do they really need a new stadium on a cramped location on the water that offers no parking? Continues life on the tip of the Pinellas Peninsula at an increased distance from points east?

There’s a lot to be discussed — And it’s getting discussed at Skyscrapercity.com with minor rumblings also going on at SkyscraperPage and FanHome of course. That being said, the most discussion (rambling about development, economics of baseball, the real estate bubble bursting and what not) are on the SkyscraperCity link.

There will be a press conference in little less than an hour with renderings of the Rays proposed ballpark. The St. Petersburg Times already did a mock rendering from passed-on takes of the stadium rendering. It raises more questions than answers though.

The St. Petersburg Times blog The Heater brings you the leaked supposedly new Rays logo, colors and uniform.

My gut reaction is that I liked the green (which many people around baseball ridiculed) and that this new logo is a mix and match reminder of various logos from around the MLB world. It reminds me mostly of various San Diego Padres logo elements since 1991, it reminds me of the Milwaukee Brewers, it reminds me of the California Angels before they became Disney-fied in the 1990’s and reminds me of the Florida Marlins somehow).

Are they bad? Arguable. Are they good? Arguable. Will I go out and buy a ballcap? Not until the team shows more promise than a few games a season. That’s been my mantra since 1998 and it hasn’t yet changed.

I got sent a story last night from my friend here in Tampa. He’s a Red Sox fan and this was about a Yankees fan… So I wasn’t at all surprised when he told me “Why is this news?”

Yet this is news indeed:

Fred Slaven is convinced this makes him the victim of a hate crime. And after six years in Florida, he’s going back to New York.

Yankees – and their fans – are generally welcome there.

The opposite may be true on Blackstone Drive in Embassy Hills, where Slaven lives. About a month ago, someone stole the Yankees vanity plate from his Chevy Malibu.

Then, on Wednesday morning, he walked outside and saw his limited-edition Yankees flag, complete with the dates of all 26 world championships. It was still hanging from the pole attached to his garage. But someone had burned a black hole in its center.

Where do you draw the line on discontent towards opposing opinions, ideas, principles and in this case, teams? I’ve heard stories like this with political candidates or political ideas/principles. I’ve dealt with the teens in my neighborhood, while growing up, giving my family a hard time by stealing things from my yard and such… But getting on a guy for being a proud fan of the Yankees?

Getting on a guy in the Tampa Bay area for being a proud Yankees fan? Tampa Bay, the home to thousands (if not millions) of New York transplants and the Yankees second home?

Nothing wins over my sympathy easier than seeing someone — an opposing teams fan — getting a hard time from the local fans. I was apologizing profusely at Game Seven of the Stanley Cup in 2004 to Flames fans who were harassed by a drunken idiot sitting behind us (but those Flames fans were resolute — they hollered back “It’s just him, don’t sweat it!”). Hearing stories of car windshields smashed in outside Raymond James Stadium at Buc games always gets me — how much hate can you show an opposing team? And why, especially when your team turns out the victor?

My friend tried to justify whatever happened to Fred Slaven by saying he must have done something to piss off his neighbors… But honestly, there is nothing that can justify someone going to these lengths to harass a fan of an opposing team. Slaven likens what happened to him as a hate crime, and I’m of the same opinion. There is a line and that was crossed here. The battle is on the field, not with the fans personally.

*

My good buddy Tommy Duncan at Sticks of Fire took the time Monday to break the news to me that over the weekend the Philadelphia Phillies became the first American pro sports franchise to reach 10,000 losses.

“Lets put a new poll up on Sticks of Fire asking who’s gonna’ be the next sports team to lose 10,000 games,” Tommy suggested, and include all of Tampa Bay’s pro sports teams as answers.

“That poll doesn’t make sense,” I told Tommy. “Only one local team even has an outside shot at it and it’ll take about 100 years.”

“You’re too damned serious,” Tommy retorted.

“I’m not being serious,” I told him. “I’m being logical. The Rays play 162 games in a season. The Bucs play 16. The Lightning play 82. Who do you vote for with that knowledge? Do the math.”

Now, any long time local sports aficionado can tell you that it feels like Tampa Bay teams have lost over 10,000 games already. The Bucs had 14 straight double-digit losing seasons before 1996, the Lightning had back-to-back-to-back 50 loss seasons, and the Devil Rays… are the Devil Rays. In honesty, the Bucs are 193-304-1 (.388) in the team’s 30 year history, the Lightning are 415-553-113-38 (.384) in 14 seasons, and the Devil Rays are 615-932 (.398) in 9+ seasons. For those of you with no calculator, that equals 1,223 wins and 1,789 losses (including OTL), and 39 ties.

Grudgingly, Tommy conceded the point (but I swear, I could hear him mumble “party pooper” under his breath), but his poll concept gave me an idea of my own: What is the next major feat to be accomplished in Tampa Bay sports?

The poll is currently posted on Sticks of Fire, have a look will ya?

Mentioning the Bucs kickoff-return-for-a-touchdown drought was a no-brainer to begin. The Buccaneers are oh-fer the franchise (that means the team has scored a grand total of zero (0) times on kickoff returns), making it the most renowned non-accomplishment in Tampa Bay sports.

The Rays winning their division seemed like the next choice as the team has yet to win more than 70 games in a season, let alone challenge for anything more than 4th place in Major League Baseball’s AL East.

From there it got murky. The Lightning have won the Stanley Cup, they’ve had the league MVP, they’ve had the league scoring leader… They’ve even had the most gentlemanly player in the league! What the hell could their next challenge be? Well, seeing it took the New York Rangers 54 years between Stanley Cup championships and the current longest drought in the NHL is 40 years (held by those crazy kids in Toronto, East Canucklestan) having the Lightning win the Stanley Cup a second time seemed like a good choice.

Speaking of franchises, will Tampa Bay get an NBA team before any of the aforementioned goals are reached? What about a new Major League Soccer team? Heck, there are so many feats to add to the list that we’d love to hear your suggestions in the comments.

The Tampa Tribune decided to piecemeal several current stadium concepts into one new ballpark for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays — You can check out the design and the features on their web site.

A retractable roof structure (of the clam-design featured at Miller Park in Milwaukee, Wisconsin) is employed with minarets (a la the University of Tampa’s Plant Hall). The model is viewable from 360 degrees and is not an officially proposed stadium for the Rays. This is just wishful thinking by the staff at the Tribune. No doubt that wishful thinking also includes the stadium being dubbed Tampa Tribune Ballpark, with the stadium located in downtown St. Petersburg. After all, the Tribune needs a retort for the St. Petersburg Times owning naming rights to the arena formerly known as Ice Palace in downtown Tampa.

There is a forthcoming article about this proposal scheduled to be published this Sunday (7-08-07) in the Tribune.

Some people think he’s an outright bad seed, others think he was the victim of character assassination by way of the St. Petersburg Times. Regardless, he’s caught the Tampa Bay regions attention and inspired Tim (from The Journey of Jack Tripper) to write and record the Elijah Dukes is my Daddy Blues.

(Hat tip to Sticks of Fire where I saw Tim’s post)

(originally posted by me on FanHome and modified for Boltsmag — JF)

There was a piece in the New York Times yesterday about the upcoming Rays series in Orlando. Within the story, Stu Sternberg — the Rays managing partner — is quoted as saying “Baseball does not feel right indoors,” and that Tropicana Field “We recognize it has a shelf life of five years.”

This has stirred up a hornets nest of discussion as well as Sternberg having to further explain his comments. He’s not lobbying for a new stadium, he’s not asking for a new stadium, he’s not demanding a new stadium… He and his investment partners have put 20 million dollars into Tropicana Field the last two seasons and those monies weren’t just a five year investment when a much larger piece of change would be required if the team were planning to lobby for a new park.

To describe the situation as Rays fans know it — Tropicana Field won’t be replaced any time soon, especially with how crappy the ballclub has been since it’s inception nine years ago. It doesn’t warrant that kind of investment — no matter how much harping out-of-towners say about the park (or even locals who don’t attend games, citing the stadium as an excuse). The team is also locked in to a 30 year lease with hefty fines for breaking it… That alone locks the team in to St. Petersburg.

That being said, a dialog about a new stadium isn’t a horrid thing — it’s the absolution that a new stadium is needed and now because of blah, blah, blah. Insert your reasoning here.

I made mention in November of a St. Petersburg Times snippet about the Rays starting a dialog about a new ballpark. I don’t recall this being brought up in the latest hoopla or not. Regardless, there are two absolutes that need to remembered with the Rays and any talk of a new venue:

Tropicana Field is 16 years old, the stadium design itself was a relic of the 1970’s to keep the building energy efficient. The location of the stadium (downtown St. Petersburg) and it’s design have been debated and put into question time and time again over the course of the Rays existence

The Rays have no hope for a new venue as long as the team stays as pathetic as they have been since their inception. It’s just noteworthy the team is putting it’s toe in the pool regarding the stadium situation.

The second quote is the stronger reasoning. Both the Lightning and the Buccaneers offered the Tampa Bay sports fans a taste of competitiveness in order to earn the right to have the community invest in a new venue. The Rays haven’t even come close yet, and until they do, a new venue and talk of one is just a pipe dream.

Humor me though, there’s a new poll here at Boltsmag asking readers where in the region a new Rays ballpark should be…

[poll=6]

1-13 and manager Joe Maddon doesn’t see a problem.

1-13 and Maddon is shooting for the Rays off day and how the team responds to it and plays after it…

“I’m looking around March 20, the day after the off day, I really want to see us turning this thing around,” he said. “We’ll be playing mostly a solid, set lineup and at that point I want to see things starting to change. … That’s the moment I want to see us play our in-season kind of game.”

1-13 and Maddon’s keeping an even keel while the team lacks leadership. They are looking for it from within and I don’t think they will find it. With a team of cast offs and prospects who have never been there (anywhere over 70 wins), the leadership they seek isn’t part of the Rays franchise right now… Unless you count Fred McGriff who has a coaching job with the franchise.

You can see the Rays as potential dark horses in the AL East with their young talent (Rocco Baldelli, Carl Crawford, pre-season ROY favorite Delmon Young, Scott Kazmir). The core is promising on this team but it’s disenchanting that the Rays have not rounded out this crew with a veteran leader or two on the bench or in the bullpen with “been there” experience to help the young guys along.

1-13 this spring… Of course, the games don’t count but when they start counting, what’s going to happen? Will the Rays put Maddon out to pasture if his Zen managerial style continues to not accomplish anything?

The St. Pete Times reported this morning in a short blurb on the cover of their print sports section that the D-Rays are sending out feelers for what fans would want in a new ballpark and where. Among some of the questions that are asked, reportedly, are about location (all locations provided keep the team in Pinellas County and close or in St. Petersburg), roof structures (retractable, partial or open-air) and other such things that this blogger does not know about at this time. There were also questions about improvements to Tropicana Field.

The questionnaire was sent to select residents and select season ticket holders. There was nothing provided about the method of selection or what not.

Tropicana Field is 16 years old, the stadium design itself was a relic of the 1970’s to keep the building energy efficient. The location of the stadium (downtown St. Petersburg) and it’s design have been debated and put into question time and time again over the course of the Rays existence. I found it interesting that of the sites offered in discussing a possible new venue — Tampa was not a choice location. Gateway (Mid Pinellas, a suburban corporate office area), the St. Petersburg waterfront and the current location were the choices provided (meaning the Tropicana Field parking lot).

The Rays have no hope for a new venue as long as the team stays as pathetic as they have been since their inception. It’s just noteworthy the team is putting it’s toe in the pool regarding the stadium situation.

Not trying to get into politics here but it’s hard to escape this. Stuart Sternberg’s first season as controling owner of the franchise has been pretty good on the ownership side of things… While the Rays have floundered on field, their profile has risen and their respectability in the Tampa Bay area has climbed.

But the Tampa Bay Business Journal reports that Tropicana Field was the place of an I.C.E. raid with “Dozens” being arrested.

Interesting little anecdote from tonight’s Devil Rays/Boston Red Sox game:

Scott Kazmir dominated in a way no one could have expected tonight — oh, except his fans and anyone who has seen Scott Kazmir pitch. He notched 10 K’s and that set off an announcement on TV that you could sign up on Kanesstrikeout.com and get a free Papa John’s pizza.

The site was immediately inundated and basically shut down due to heavy server load. After 3 or so tries, the site came back up very slowly with a long load time. Those who DID sign up were told the Rays did NOT get 10 strikeouts today and blah-blah-blah. If you refreshed the form page and tried again, you would be told that you had already printed out a coupon today and could print out no more.

I don’t hold this against the Devil Rays marketing staff as-so-much Kane’s Furniture, who’s own marketing staff was sponsoring this campaign and running the web site. It wasn’t prepared for this and not set up to handle things either.

Anyone remember Delmon Young demanding money from reporters who wished to interview him?

Oh wait, it gets better as Delmon is looking at a suspension for throwing his bat at an umpire. (view the video in the upper right hand corner of the page)

Someone needs to send this kid a message he’s gotta get himself under control.

I’m usually not big on petition sites (tried it one time and it didn’t work out) but I believe this deserved mention…

There is an Online Petition campaign against Barry Bonds.. It’s in it’s early stages and has no stated goal besides “Stoppign Bonds” but I believe the concept to be true….

Barry Bonds continued play and involvement with Major League Baseball is a cancer, and a full whiping of the record books is needed to deal with the cheats of the last few years.