Tampa Bay Rays stadium

[darin617]

How sad and depressing is it to watch the Twins playing in such a crappy stadium. I am still in disbelief how bad the turf looks in the outfield and how empty the place is.

MLB do the Rays a favor and get the ball rolling and have them in Montreal ASAP. Pray for 2016 or 2017 Rays fans.

 

[Thrylos]

deja vous all over again...

[Willihammer]

They don't need to go to montreal, they have fans.

Go to Google maps and pull up Tropicana field. It's at the spout of like three major bottlenecks. It's horribly inaccessible. They just have to pick a better spot in Tampa to play.

[Hrbowski]

There is no reason not to stick a fork in it. An absolutely horrible stadium that should be demolished.

 

Think this would work?

 

[Bark's Lounge]

Maybe someone can enlighten me about how Montreal should be the Ray's next location. Obviously some things went right as the Expos played there for 35ish years, but I have a hard time seeing it as a fit.

 

Although the BlueJays are going good right now, It seems like they have a difficult time signing free agents who are not their own - native and organizational wise they have some success. It seems like the players have issues with the higher tax situation. This is only my observation.

 

Personally, If I were a ball player, I would be thrilled to play in Toronto or Montreal. You make more money than the majority of people, I would be glad to pay the taxes, but that is my take as I make a pittance compared to MLB players. I have never been to either city, but I have only heard good things from people I know who have.

 

It's in the Eastern portion of North America, other than that I don't see Montreal as a fit.

[JustinCB]

deja vous all over again...

Déjà vu?

[Otto von Ballpark]

 

They don't need to go to montreal, they have fans.
Go to Google maps and pull up Tropicana field. It's at the spout of like three major bottlenecks. It's horribly inaccessible. They just have to pick a better spot in Tampa to play.

I've been through Tampa, and the stadium is definitely in an odd location, but the Marlins don't exact draw well with a new ballpark in Miami.

 

I think their location problem might be their city/state rather than the part of town.

[Otto von Ballpark]

 

Maybe someone can enlighten me about how Montreal should be the Ray's next location.

Montreal is a pretty sweet city!  I've gone there for fun with no baseball -- I would undoubtedly do so again if I could catch a ballgame too.

 

But yeah, it's not likely.  The city would need to pony up for an expensive new stadium, which it didn't do last time when said stadium would have been much cheaper.  There's probably some regret from a few folks up there, even important business/civic types, that they let the Expos get away, but that is hard to undo.

[d-mac]

 

Déjà vu?

 

I think deja vous is the plural. 

[d-mac]

 

I've been through Tampa, and the stadium is definitely in an odd location, but the Marlins don't exact draw well with a new ballpark in Miami.

 

I think their location problem might be their city/state rather than the part of town.

 

Bingo. Seems sports fans forget that most Floridians are transplants from somewhere else. Thus, they are generally beholden to the sports teams where they grew up. It's not just the baseball teams, but it seems like all the pro teams down there struggle to draw. 

[Thrylos]

 

Déjà vu?

 

Nah.  That's "already seen".  Deja vous is french colloquialism for "already been"

[James]

My understanding is that everybody wants a team in Montreal but nobody wants to pay to build a stadium.  If you find someone to do that, it might happen.  

 

If you find someone to build a new stadium in a better location in the Tampa Bay area, then that's where it'll be.  

 

I think Montreal is mainly being discussed to scare the state of Florida to pitch in for a new stadium.  Like how contraction of the league was brought up when the Twins wanted a new stadium.

[JustinCB]

 

Nah.  That's "already seen".  Deja vous is french colloquialism for "already been"

Thanks!  Had not heard that before.

[biggentleben]

 

My understanding is that everybody wants a team in Montreal but nobody wants to pay to build a stadium.  If you find someone to do that, it might happen.  

 

If you find someone to build a new stadium in a better location in the Tampa Bay area, then that's where it'll be.  

 

I think Montreal is mainly being discussed to scare the state of Florida to pitch in for a new stadium.  Like how contraction of the league was brought up when the Twins wanted a new stadium.

 

Or how Tampa Bay was used to pressure owners for decades into building a new stadium, specifically in Seattle, until the Rays came around.

 

Then how Florida was played as a threat against Montreal for so long before Montreal's team was moved from them.

 

It's baseball's constant circle of leaving one viable spot open to use as a pull against those places reluctant to spend taxpayer dollars on their team owned by billionaires.

[Brock Beauchamp]

I just watched Sano's moon(catwalk)shot, as I wasn't able to see the game last night.

 

Ridiculous. What a horrible stadium.

[ScrapTheNickname]

Portland?

 

Nashville?

 

Charlotte?

 

St. Paul?                                                       (Come on, we need a RIVAL!)

[ScrapTheNickname]

 

 

I just watched Sano's moon(catwalk)shot, as I wasn't able to see the game last night.

 

Ridiculous. What a horrible stadium.

I remember a few years back Kubel hit a sky-high (ooops, no sky) popup that hit the A-Ring (I believe) and bounced down for a ground-rule (hey, no ground!) double.

 

To appropriate and twist Senor Ronald Reagan's famous quote, "Mr. Sternberg, tear this stadium down!"

[D. Hocking]

 

Portland?

 

Nashville?

 

Charlotte?

 

St. Paul?                                                       (Come on, we need a RIVAL!)

 

St. Paul would have old Midway stadium they could use (or was it torn down?)

 

Another option -- Duluth -- imagine the view overlooking Lake Superior, the refreshing, gentle spring breeze in early April games, the cheap post-game drink specials over in Superior.

[twinsnorth49]

 

Nah.  That's "already seen".  Deja vous is french colloquialism for "already been"

Uh  no,  it means you, as in already been yourself before. Already been would be Deja ete (accents omitted for simplicity).

[James]

 

Uh  no,  it means you, as in already been yourself before. Already been would be Deja ete (accents omitted for simplicity).

Leave it to the guy in Canada to tell us about the French language.  

[Thrylos]

 

Uh  no,  it means you, as in already been yourself before. Already been would be Deja ete (accents omitted for simplicity).

 

Is "already been yourself before" that much different that "already been"?

(I see the "yourself" as repetitive in that phrase. Same with "before", "already" implies that)

 

Gee   

[Loosey]

Being that my parents live in Florida, I have seen how people there live in the summer.  It is like 110% humidity during the day and hot.  Finally in the evening it is bearable to go outside.  So what better place to go after being stuck inside all day than to go watch a baseball game in a drab circus tent.

 

If they had a retractable roof (I hate them, but you sort of need one in Florida) and a better location I would guess they would have a decent fanbase during winning seasons.  As it stands now no one wants to spend a nice Florida evening in a stale dingy place that is hard to get to.

 

 

[twinsnorth49]

 

Is "already been yourself before" that much different that "already been"?

(I see the "yourself" as repetitive in that phrase. Same with "before", "already" implies that)

 

Gee   

vous means you, so yes, very different. The phrase is loosely translated as that in English, it has no direct equivalence, that's a common error in French to English translation.

 

Anyhoo, I'm all for Montreal getting a team back, the 'Spos were always my second team, used to be a big Steve Rogers fan.

[Winston Smith]

Well the Twins played in the crappy Metrodome longer than the Rays have played in the Trop. How soon people forget.

[darin617]

 

They don't need to go to montreal, they have fans.
Go to Google maps and pull up Tropicana field. It's at the spout of like three major bottlenecks. It's horribly inaccessible. They just have to pick a better spot in Tampa to play.

I have to disagree with you that location is the reason nobody comes to games. When you look back when they made the playoffs in the past they had serious trouble getting fans to show up. Florida gets their fill of baseball in the spring and don't care about it during the season.

[Willihammer]

 

I have to disagree with you that location is the reason nobody comes to games. When you look back when they made the playoffs in the past they had serious trouble getting fans to show up. Florida gets their fill of baseball in the spring and don't care about it during the season.

The park doesn't pick up and move when the team makes the playoffs. They draw fine in local TV ratings. Much better than the Marlins. They have a fanbase.

[Willihammer]

Look:

 

Right now, at 4:55 Eastern time, its a 45 minute drive to get to Tropicana park from Tampa.

 

https://goo.gl/maps/Fg1fp

[ScrapTheNickname]

 

St. Paul would have old Midway stadium they could use (or was it torn down?)

 

Another option -- Duluth -- imagine the view overlooking Lake Superior, the refreshing, gentle spring breeze in early April games, the cheap post-game drink specials over in Superior.

And they would only need to draw 9,000 people a game.