So WTF is up with Tampa's field

C-Gold · May 3, 2009

That has got to be the shittiest condition artificial turf I have ever seen? What's the deal? Is it the humidity in Tampa? Why does it look like that field is 67 years old?

It seems like they have only played in that stadium for like 10 years and they are already talking about getting a new one? That sounds like such a waste of money but let me guess, the Billionare owner wants those same fans who buy the tickets to buy him a stadium?

barman · May 3, 2009

There is no baseball stadium in Tampa.

As for Tropicana Field in St Petersburg, I'm not sure what you think you're seeing, but there's nothing wrong with the field turf. The stadium is maintained at 72 degrees for event days and less than 80 degrees the rest of time. Not sure how humidity would be a factor since it's totally enclosed.

C-Gold · May 3, 2009

OK a-hole.

I said "Tampa's field" so you don't need to pull some technicallity out. It's the Rays field.

Do you call the Redskins the Landover Redskins, or the New Jersey Giants/Jets?

Look at the Rays turf and then look at the Blowjays turf. It almost looks like there is a star in centerfield where BJ Upton stands. The other turf isn't the same color, and it looks warned down or mildoey. The field looks like shit and especially for a stadium that new.

The team already had blueprints to do a new field and you can see why.

arniesarmy · May 3, 2009

I agree, the turf look horrible on TV. But no one in Tampa, St. Petersburg, Gainesville or Palookaville gives a damn about that team. They're lucky if they draw 15,000 a game and they were in the World Series last year. A total wasteland for baseball.

C-Gold · May 3, 2009

I was reading that a lot of good baseball players are from the Tampa area, but nobody gives a damn about the team (except maybe dick vitale).

It was a shame, even 3/4 into last year, not that many people were going to the games. They had to tell people ( hey, your team is about to make the playoffs jack asses).

It wasn't empty, but they should have had more fans at the games this year... they freaking won the AL last year!

barman · May 3, 2009

CGOLD bows up: Do you call the Redskins the Landover Redskins

BAR: Of course not. But if someone asks where their stadium is, I wouldn't say Silver Springs or DC. Would you?

CG: ...or the New Jersey Giants/Jets?

BAR: Well yeah, actually on those two I do just that to remind the Brooklyn born SheBar that NYC does not have any NFL teams.

CG: It almost looks like there is a star in centerfield where BJ Upton stands.

BAR: LOL....It doesn't Look Like There is a Star....There IS a sunburst in center field that matches the sunburst on the front of the Rays home jerseys.

The field is in excellent condition, I assure you.

The reason why there's been some formal discussion of a new yard for the Rays (in approximately 2012-2013) is because the current place was built over 20 years ago. Not only are there very few boxes that can be sold at higher prices, the upper half of the second deck places fans way too far from the field of play.

Discussion of a new stadium has nothing to do with any perception that the current field turf is not up to major league standards.

barman · May 3, 2009

C-Gold said:
I was reading that a lot of good baseball players are from the Tampa area, but nobody gives a damn about the team (except maybe dick vitale).

I'd invite you to expand your reading list.

TB Rays attendance in 2008 was almost 50% higher than in previous seasons.

Attendance this season so far is running about 25% higher than 2008 overall average.

C-Gold · May 3, 2009

New York and DC do have football teams. Those are the cities that support the teams, and those are their names.

If that's a sunburst in centerfield, then it looks like shit because people can't even figure it out. I saw other people bitching about their field on TV too, it looks like dog shit.

Tampa won the ALCS, they should have had much higher attendance.

barman · May 3, 2009

C-Gold said:
Tampa (Bay) won the ALCS

Really, that's the bottom line, eh?

5teamparlay · Aug 17, 2013

http://tbo.com/news/business/major-league-baseball-may-intervene-in-rays-stadium-issue-20130815/

[h=1]Major League Baseball may intervene in Rays stadium issue[/h]
TAMPA — Major League Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig on Thursday said stadium discussions between the Tampa Bay Rays and St. Petersburg have stalled and that he was considering intervening in the issue.


His comments at baseball’s owners meeting in Cooperstown, N.Y., are somewhat surprising, because the team and St. Petersburg seemed to be making progress recently. Just last week, St. Petersburg Mayor Bill Foster said he’s open to allowing the Rays to look in Hillsborough County for stadium sites, something the mayor had resisted for at least two years.


However, that progress may not be coming quickly enough for Selig and Rays principal owner Stuart Sternberg, based on their latest comments.


“Baseball needs a resolution to this problem,” Selig said at the owners meeting, with Sternberg in the room listening. “I find it a very, very troubling situation. We were optimistic this was moving in a very positive direction. Unfortunately, it’s stalled.”


Foster wouldn’t speculate about what provoked Selig’s comments Thursday.


“The conversation has not stalled, and they’re ongoing,” the mayor said.


For several months, the team and the city have been negotiating a way for the Rays to look around the entire region for suitable stadium sites. The team has said it can’t conitnue to play at Tropicana Field through the end of its stadium use agreement in 2027, and it has insisted that it must be able to look in Hillsborough County as well as Pinellas County for a new site.


If talks are, in fact, stalled, it’s not clear what Major League Baseball can do about it. Relocating to another market is not on the table, Sternberg said in an Associated Press article Thursday.


Sternberg has suggested several times in recent years that baseball’s other 29 owners were growing restless with the Rays’ lingering stadium problem. Richer teams such as the New York Yankees have to subsidize less profitable teams through revenue-sharing payments. It’s not clear how much the Rays get in revenue-sharing today, but internal baseball documents leaked by the Web site Deadspin.com show the Rays received $35 million in 2008.


“The other owners are looking at it,” Sternberg said again on Thursday. “How many years is this going to be? How much money is it going to be? We should be able to get to the point where the revenue-sharing dollars we would receive don’t need to be so significant year in and year out.”


Selig, meantime, said he is giving “very strong consideration to assigning someone from MLB to intervene in this process, find out exactly what the hell is going on.”


Baseball has intervened on occasion in stadium discussions around the country. The Oakland As have wanted to move out of their stadium for several years and currently want to move to Santa Clara County, which includes San Jose. However, the San Francisco Giants have fought the As and argued that Santa Clara is their territory.


Selig appointed a committee to study the battle between the As and Giants and find a solution four years ago, but the committee never announced any solution, said Roger Noll, a Stanford University professor and economist who studies sports economics.


In Miami, baseball’s chief operating officer, Bob DuPuy, regularly attended stadium discussions between Marlins executives and South Florida government officials, Miami Commissioner Marc Sarnoff told the Tribune in 2010.


DePuy was present whenever Marlins President David Samson threatened to move the team without a new stadium, Sarnoff said.


“Baseball was always supporting Samson’s threat of moving,” he said.


Foster on Thursday said he would welcome Major League Baseball to talk about the stadium issue, saying, “Ours is a big table. The commissioner always is able to sit down at the table to discuss our situation.”


Karl Nurse, chairman of the St. Petersburg City Council, said he sees the commissioner’s comments as the “usual pressure on the city to go borrow several hundred million dollars and buy us another facility.”


“I guess if they bring a big enough checkbook, that would be just fine,” Nurse said. “I assume their intention is not to bring a big checkbook.”


The Associated Press and Tribune reporter Christopher O’Donnell contributed to this report.