Field of Dreams

In case the video on their majorleaguedowntown.com site isn't working for you (it didn't in my browser)... here's a direct link: direct video link

(Also, thanks to all you folks that keep this site humming. I'm not a big poster but I do read your work quite often and enjoy your insights and analysis.)

And as for the weather concerns...won't they still play games at night 5 of 7 days of the week in this new ballpark anyways?

Tell me intelligent fan, when in the Bronx in the summertime, is it not scorching ass hot? Or Arlington?  Or Atlanta???  Like the dude above me said, what about Chicago??? IT's HOT in the SUMMERTIME EVERYWHERE!!!!
Also, in regards to parking, there is next to no parking at Wrigley, or at Yankee stadium-  You know that St. Pete will have a trolly to get you to the game and back to your car with little effort.  I can understand if you are medically unable to walk (bad legs, emphazima, etc.) for those of you who are just fat and lazy, it will do you some good to walk your big a** to the ballpark...

To understand this deal, we need perspective.  I offer my background as an example.

My first game was when I was 13 years old, and my dad took me to see the Indians at Cleveland Municipal Stadium.  That place was huge, 80,000 seats for baseball.  My dad didn't want to go because he said the indians were losers and had been his whole life.  This was 1985.

There was only 1 guy in the entire centerfield stands, and he was banging a drum the whole game.  The Indians played hard, but were down 4-2 in the 8th inning.  I got to move down and sit right beside their dugout, and when Joe Carter hit a home run that won I got a high five from a couple of players.  I became a lifelong fan.  Although I didn't get to go to another game until 1993.

In 1989, I heard that the Tribe was moving to St. Pete because of the stadium.  I was heartbroken, but anyone could plainly see why the Indians were going to move.  But everyone came together and decided to build Jacob's Field.

In 1993 my girlfriend got box seats to several Indians game including the final weekend.  ( I married her for that)  The Tribe was getting interesting, but the stadium was a complete joke.  I never realized it until my wife surprised me with tickets to see the Tribe play a sold out game against the Yankees in 94.  Then I realized how baseball was to be played.  Jacob's field was beautiful, and to top it off, free agents suddenly wanted to come to Cleveland.  Eddie Murray, Dennis Martinez and Orel Hershiser rewarded me with a world series visit in 1995 and the rest was history.

Jacob's field became a catalyst that drove development all over the lower downtown neighborhood in Cleveland.  Restaurants,  and other amenities just sprang up in what was once a really bad neighborhood.  The indians had 455 straight sellouts, and they used that money to win 7 straight division titles, 8 playoff appearances, 2 ALCS appearances and 2 world Series appearances.  In fact, they are still using this revenue, as the recent playoff run indicated.

Why is all this important?  Because the Tampa Bay Rays are much like those indians I fell in love with so long ago.  They have promise, and a habit of making life hard on the Yankees.  They also have a bandbox stadium that sits out there unconnected with anything like it was some weird spaceship that just landed.

I believe that the Rays will be competitive.  But in order for that to happen, we need to get this done.  This will put the Rays on the map as a serious baseball team, and a legitimate destination for players.

In addition, St. Pete needs to get this done.  Putting 20-30 thousand fans in downtown st. petersburg will present a lot of questions:

Where will they all eat?
Where will they all park?

The answers to those questions my friends will mean lots of money to the city.  Downtown will be hopping and it will integrate the baseball game and the community and will drive businesses that will provide those services.   And for those of us, who don't want to pay for parking, we can always take the bus.

On the other end, the parking lots at the Trop represent an uncapitalized asset.  They are not generating any revenue for the team or the city.  And they isolate the dome in ways which exclude it from the surrounding neighborhood.  Adding that space to the tax roles, while utilizng space that is already in the public domain at Al Lang seems like a win win to me.

In short, the idea that there is no public benefit in all of this is stupid.

As for those who are worried about the heat,  i will say this:  Get over it.  It is hot in Florida, but it is also hot everywhere else too.

As for those who want the new stadium in Tampa, i say this:  Get over yourselves.  I have been to Tampa.  I have driven there.  It is not that nice.

All that said, there are somethings I suggest changing:

The formula should be this:

150 Million Team contribution as agreed
200 Million from Sale and redevelopment of Trop site.  Redirect future tax revenue from trop site to retire trop debt.  Cap this revenue contribution at 200 million total.
50 Million from ticket surcharge :  1 dollar for every ticket times 20,000 tickets = 20,000 * 81 games times 20 years = 48 million dollars
50 Million from surcharge on food and merchandise sold at game over next 20 years.
Rays agree to be responsible for every dollar of cost overruns.

Total = 450 Million

The beauty is that the Rays will take the risks here.  20,000 tix means that they had better do their jobs delivering the promise of a competitive team.

Also the City should sign the Rays to an ironclad Lease extension which requires a minimum of 81 games to be played within the City of St. Pete until 2057.  After 2027, when all debts for the stadium are paid off, when the City and the Rays should ensure that adequate maintenance and improvements are made to keep the stadium viable for the next 50 years.

So what do you say Rays?  Deal?

Doesn't there have to be an environmental study if any landfill is to be used in the bay? I am sure that will raise some very legitimate concerns about the ecology in the area and hope the Rays are sensitive to those concerns.