ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — I know the Pinellas County Commission needs to approve its portion of the Rays Stadium on July 30, but a yes vote seems like a foregone conclusion.
Tampa Bay Rays baseball is here to stay for another 30-plus years, at minimum.
While I continue to listen to debates on this topic, Rays owner Stu Sternberg said something I think is important to remember at the city council vote.
“I do feel, that each and every one of you and the people here in this room who have spoken against this proposal want to see it happen. They just don’t necessarily like the details of it."
The details are very important and worth continued discussion.
I’m a Pinellas County resident. Sternberg and elected officials need to be held accountable for all those details and promises in this deal.
But, I’m not here to editorialize on that topic.
I’m here to be the sports guy. Remind folks that the majority of people surrounding this topic, at their core, wanted baseball to stay in the region.
Keeping Major League Baseball in St. Petersburg is still worth celebrating, even if in a vacuum for dissenters.
Leading up to this vote, all I could think about were the fans. And while the team will consistently rank near the bottom of the league in attendance, the Tampa Bay region ranked 13th in viewership, according to Forbes.
So yes, baseball is still important to many in the region.
Nathan Harriel, an East Lake product who will represent Team USA at the Olympics in soccer, recently did a podcast wearing a Rays uniform. He said going to games was a part of his childhood.
PJ Morlando was just taken No. 16 overall by the Miami Marlins in the MLB draft. He was a huge Rays fan growing up. His favorite player was Sam Fuld.
You have to remember there have only been 26 full seasons of Rays baseball. There’s finally a generation of kids who grew up knowing nothing other than Rays baseball.
Think about the moments inside Tropicana Field:
- Tampa native Wade Boggs earning his 3,000th hit with a home run – kissing home plate.
- Evan Longoria’s screamer over a fence, built specifically for Carl Crawford, in Game 162.
- The Relay in 2019 against the Astros.
- I know this is just sports, but these are cherished memories.
Some of the most significant at that.
But during the city council public comment session, one resident, Matt Lettelleir, reminded me having the ballpark here is so much more than the Rays' greatest hits.
“For my daughter who loves going to baseball games. I want this stadium, I want all the promises – I can talk about all that – I want my daughter to grow up having a baseball team and keeping baseball here for generations to come.”
Just a dad who loves going to a ballgame with his daughter.
I lost my mother last year and some of my fondest childhood memories were centered around going to Shea Stadium with her.
In her final trip to town, along with my stepdad, who is having health issues of his own right now, we went to a Rays game. I can’t tell you most things about that trip, but I remember vividly sitting with them in the ballpark (along with my now-wife) watching the Rays get crushed by the Twins.
So again, I get the enormity of this redevelopment project and the prongs of impact it has in our community fiscally, socioeconomically, etc. But Seminole native and lifelong Rays fan Brett Phillips taught me long ago -- baseball is fun.
We can’t forget that fact as the team ventures into its next chapter, no longer half-in and half-out.
It wasn’t a fun path to the day, but the Rays are here to stay.
And that’s pretty cool.
