Moving Devil Rays Only Hope

by Eli Greenspan on Sep 13, 2007 11:48 AM EDT

The Devil Rays have become the laughing stock of baseball, again. They have some solid players, but pitching isn't there to put something together. The city has pretty much given up too, suggesting they should move to a bigger city with fresh, new fans. They are still young, but there pitching would give a top Triple-A team a run for their money. I mean most baseball fans do not know who Carlos Pena is, because he is on the last place Devil Rays. Pena is batting .279 with 39 HR and 110 RBI, second in the league in homeruns. Many cities have openings and want a baseball team. Portland, Las Vegas, North Carolina, maybe even Mexico City, but I doubt it. Their stadium is the worst in baseball, according to several major league players, and moving them might motivate some of their young, troubled, players. I say Las Vegas because they have a temporary stadium ready, would get fans year round, and it would give more competition in the AL West. But if they want to stay in the AL East, it should be Charlotte because they double the population of Tampa, and would stay in the same division. Maybe we could bring back the Charlotte Hornets?

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i think you're right with this one Eli, and the Marlins will be able to get a bigger fan base once TB is out.

by timy1 on Sep 13, 2007 12:52 PM EDT reply actions

You want to move Elijah Dukes and Delmon Young to Las Vegas??

by richie on Sep 13, 2007 1:27 PM EDT reply actions

I am really impressed by this article. your content is always good, but you make some really good points to get them moved out of tampa.

by Anonymous on Sep 13, 2007 1:29 PM EDT reply actions

Delmon Young is good but Elihah Dukes is wired

by Anonymous on Sep 13, 2007 2:12 PM EDT reply actions

A. show me a quote from a player that says the Trop is the worst. Having been to more than half of the parks in the country i would tell you that there are at least 5 that i have been to that are worse than the Trop.

B. The Rays have the tightest lease in all of pro sports. The lease does not end until 2027. Which means "maybe" they can buy out the last 5 years and leave after 2022.

C. Timothy. if you think moving the Rays will give the MArlins a bigger fan base you are an idiot. and no smarter in geography than miss teen south carolina. The Marlins cant draw fans IN MIAMI. Why would they suddenly draw fans from SIX HOURS AWAY.

D. There IS A LARGE contingency of people in the area that want to root for the Rays but have never been given a reason to. The old ownership group was the worst in baseball and drove the franchise into the ground before it ever got started. With this core of young talent that you speak of...when they start to show signs of life (check out their record in the last 40 games) fans will notice and they will start coming to the park.

E. yes the actual city of charlotte doubles the population of Tampa, but the Rays dont play in Tampa. And if you look at the population of the METRO AREAS. the Tampa area has a population of 2.7 million, while Charlotte has a metro area population of 2.1 million.

F. This is an old argument I have heard a million times. It is not going to happen no matter how much you wish for it to happen.

by The Professor on Sep 14, 2007 11:48 AM EDT reply actions

I have to agree with The Professor on this one. Whomever the author of this blog is has his head so far up his ass it is comical.

First of all, where exactly did anyone here in "the city" suggest that the team move. It's only half-ass bloggers like this guy who have suggested that. No one here has. The only moving anyone in " the city" has suggested is from St. Petersburg to my hometown of Tampa, because the team needs to leave St. Pete and move the 30 miles closer int the population and activity center of the area.

The Tampa metro area is one of the Top 15 in the country, bigger than Charlotte's as The Professor correctly pointed out, and the main reason that the team doesn't get the support it deserves, at least in person, is that from DAY ONE the organization has not given fans a single reason to get excited. That is beginning to change now, ten years into the franchise's existence.

The one point where I disagree with the professor is on the stadium, which is a total disgrace to baseball, and in a horrible location to boot. I beleive the team will continue to improve and eventually play in a much more charming stadium, hopefully across the water in Tampa, where the team should've been in the first place (mistake number one this franchice made).

Bobby Fenton

P.S. - I hope this post doesn't piss off anybody in the City of North Carolina.

by Anonymous on Sep 14, 2007 1:30 PM EDT reply actions

The only problem with Tropicana Field are the catwalks. It's unfortunate that they come into play at times, but they do. Nothing can change that.

As far as the fan base? I've attended 600+ Rays games and been part of some horribly small crowds but I've never been part of a crowd of less than 400!

Maybe the Miami Marlins are the team that should pack up and leave Florida?

by Anonymous on Sep 14, 2007 6:14 PM EDT reply actions

geography skills regarding time of travel are way too advanced for miss teen USA, so dont compare me to her. second of all, it makes perfect economic sense. you take out one professional team in an area, it gives the other team a bigger market. That's the reason why NY, Chicago, and LA have two teams, b/c of the huge market in that area.

in the end, the Rays can stay in TB, but be stuck in this never ending cycle of having great talent, but cant keep them b/c of the money. their only hope is to get more money, and obviously they cant if they stay in TB. Eli just gave his opinion about this and i agree.

by timy1 on Sep 14, 2007 9:03 PM EDT reply actions

I agree with with a lot of the comments from The Professor. I think it all comes down to one thing, WINNING. If the Devil Rays start to win (and I don't mean winning 70 games), fans will show up. The base is there, but they have to have a reason to show up to the Trop and watch the games. If anyone remembers in the 80s and early 90s, the Bucs would be lucky to get 30K to 40K to a game, because they stunk. But once the Bucs started winning, they were selling out the place. The same story goes for the Lightning. Once they were competitive, going to the playoffs, fans were coming out and packing the Ice Palace. No one is saying a team like the Orioles should move, but look at the stands at Camden Yards right now and you'll find more passionate fans at the Trop than the Yards.

Also, the Trop isn't too bad. It has free parking, some of the better food in baseball (a bucket of ribs, what more could you want) and actuallyis a good place to watch baseball. Sure, I think everyone would rather have a stadium like PNC Park (my favorite stadium), but the Trop works. And remember, PNC is a great park, but no one shows up there. Why? Because the Pirates are losers.

WINNING = ATTENDANCE

Until the D-Rays start winning and no one shows up (like the Marlins), I'm not convinced that they can't work in the Tampa Bay area. If they win a World Series and then no one shows up, we can have this discussion, but now, the conversation is moot.

by Anonymous on Sep 14, 2007 11:38 PM EDT reply actions

Mark My word. The Devil Rays will be staying in Tampa Bay and the Marlins will be moving to Long Island, New York because they are being evicted from Dolphins Stadium in 2009 or 2010. They will split time in the new Mets and Yankees Ballparks until there ballpark is finished in the new Nassau coliseum complex which includes a new Nassau coliseum for the islanders. The reason i say this is because it is a monopoly effect because when is was just the Yankees in New York they could charge prices as high as they wanted and you had to pay it if you wanted to see a baseball game.When the mets came in 1962 it took that away from the Yankees. Now when its 10 dollars for a soda and 5 dollars for a hot dog, the marlins will come and take that away from the mets and Yankees and have a whole new fan base

by Vincent on Sep 15, 2007 12:55 AM EDT reply actions

great idea. all the carolina teams do well with attendance. a temp stadium is there with bank of america in downtown clt. there is even a current sports team owner and former "famous" baseball player (cough cough) michael jordan.

by Anonymous on Sep 17, 2007 11:21 PM EDT reply actions