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Facilities

Rays' Silverman Says Ballpark Distraction Now Affecting Team On The Field

Rays President Matt Silverman yesterday made the team’s “loudest plea yet” for a resolution to ongoing ballpark issues, saying that the “stadium situation has become a distraction that now affects the team on the field and damages the reputation of the Tampa Bay area,” according to Marc Topkin of the ST. PETERSBURG TIMES. Silverman said, “Clearly, something needs to be done.” Silverman in a statement added, “It’s hard to combat the national media’s depiction of our stadium.” Silverman’s remarks “followed the latest wave of criticism of Tropicana Field after consecutive nationally televised games were marred by quirky stadium issues -- a broken light on the catwalk Sunday” and a power outage in a bank of lights Monday. Rays manager Joe Maddon yesterday said Tropicana Field is an “improper” venue for major league baseball. Maddon said the ballpark has “served its purpose,” and it is time for the Rays “to move on.” While Rays Owner Stuart Sternberg last week said team officials "would consider an open-air stadium -- they had proposed one in 2008 with a sail-like cover -- Maddon said a "new stadium would need a retractable roof." Maddon also “took a veiled shot at St. Petersburg Mayor Bill Foster for refusing to allow the team to consider sites” for a new ballpark outside the city. Maddon: “I believe it’s a regional asset; it’s not a city asset. When you start looking at it as ‘mine’ and not ‘everybody’s,’ that’s where things get skewed or not work out well.” Topkin notes Foster “didn’t seem to appreciate the input,” and said Maddon “needs to concentrate on playing on the field." The mayor also “questioned Silverman’s characterization that the stadium was a distraction" (ST. PETERSBURG TIMES, 7/20).

DON'T PLAY THE BLAME GAME: In St. Petersburg, John Romano writes “catwalks, broken lights and ESPN blowhards have no business in the discussion of whether the Tampa Bay area needs to consider the construction of a new stadium.” Romano: “This is about money. And it is about the future of baseball in Tampa Bay. … There is a problem here, and it needs to be solved.” Attendance and revenue streams at Tropicana Field “are not sufficient for Major League Baseball’s needs.” The city “has to acknowledge that support for the Rays at Tropicana Field has fallen horribly short of expectations." At the same time, the Rays “have to acknowledge that they were well aware of the shortcomings and got the team at a bargain price because of that.” Romano: “If the two sides continue at this pace, neither is going to get the outcome it desires” (ST. PETERSBURG TIMES, 7/20).

SWIMMING WITH THE FISH: A MIAMI HERALD editorial stated the Marlins' new ballpark “going up in Little Havana has brought a decidedly new and exciting look to the Miami skyline where the Orange Bowl once rose." If Miami-Dade’s “tourism economy continues to buzz as it has been lately, there should be no problem in the immediate future paying off the debt on the stadium bonds through the use of the county’s hotel bed tax.” The editorial: “A recent tour of the ballpark, now almost two-thirds complete, showed off the modernistic design with a fabulous view of downtown. From the pool that will be dug behind the left field wall for fans to splash around in to plazas on the east and the west, which will be open for neighborhood use daily, the stadium captures the imagination. With time, it may just capture residents’ hearts” (MIAMI HERALD, 7/17).

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