story today on the Tampa Bay Rays search for a new home getting at least a cursory look in Hillsborough County is extremely intriguing.
There are two major points in the story, bylined by Bill Varian and Stephen Nohlgren. That is, that County Commissioner Ken Hagan has written a little to Jeff Lyash, the chairman of the group that recently came up with a report on possible future homes for the Rays franchise, to address the Commission at a future date, something that the ABC Coalition has wanted to do since before their report was completed last month.
And also, the report says that there has been a group trying to procure property north of the St. Pete Times Forum in downtown Tampa that would (barely) fit a ballpark on it.
We have no new facts to add to this, but plenty to opine on.
First, as the story suggests, the odds are still not in favor of this ever happening. Yes, the Rays have a lease until 2027. But that won't stop Stuart Sternberg or Bud Selig from encouraging the team to use leverage whatever they can to get out of Tropicana Field before then.
There are all types of rumors when it comes to the Rays and new stadiums over the years, so why hash all of that out? The point is that the ABC Coalition report listed two of the three best sites for a new home for the baseball team in Tampa – one in the Westshore area, the other in downtown Tampa. (The other being in Mid-Pinellas St. Petersburg)
This article appears in Feb 10-16, 2010.