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Reflections
More dust flying at Ray's plate
By MARY BURRELL
Article published on Wednesday, Oct. 19, 2005 |
“Please pardon our dust.”
That’s the jingle that Devil Rays fans are going to hear for awhile, as the new management of our Tampa Bay baseball team prepare us for changes – again.
To hear them talk, change is good.
How long have they been a part of humanity?
Most of us are pretty resistant to change, and those of us who are totally out of the loop of big business are getting a little tired of the Rays constant makeovers.
So, to Stuart Sternberg, who is heading up the new ownership group of the Rays, I suggest you resist the lazy assumption we are all on your team. We aren’t players who can be bought and sold so quickly, and most of us are going to at least act like we’re from Missouri.
Take it slow.
Find out what we think.
Obviously, there are concerns that swirl above our commonplace heads, too high for us to see or understand – corporate sponsorships, financial arrangements, “community relationships” – in order to have the bucks to continue the baseball biz in our neck of the woods.
We realize that. And truly, we wish for those things to happen successfully.
Down where we breath, we wouldn’t mind a little overhauling of some attitudes. There are a lot of people who would be thrilled to go to Tropicana Field, where there are rows and rows of empty seats, and be able to pick a seat out that may not be their designated seat, but may be one that gives them a little breathing room (what’s the diff?), without some egomaniac escort insisting they sit right next to another large person, elbows touching.
These things certainly don’t help to win people over, and these kind of changes would be most welcome in the old ball park. (Could we get more room for our seats too while we’re at it?)
But there are things we like. We like that our kids can run the bases on Sunday – that’s really cool – they are, after all, the first lifetime Rays fans. And if we get there early enough, they can spend an hour or two climbing the wall, running through tubes, and pitching their little hearts out until they’ve spent enough energy to sit down and watch a game for a few hours.
The Rays always give us a good game. (To be honest, they always win when we go – we’re good luck.)
Sometimes we get bobble-head dolls. We like that.
We like the people who work at the games. They’re nice.
We like Raymond.
And we miss the sweeper who used to dance during the seventh inning stretch.
I don’t know about anyone else, but I personally miss that color purple (the inaugural team color). It was rad, it was cool, it was Tampa Bay.
Then they changed the whole look of the team, thinking that a more retro look would – what? – make the team win more games?
Green for god’s sake. Old-fashioned puke-green. So now there’s purple and green fans in the stands. How embarrassing. Talk about your identity crisis.
The fake grass needs to be replaced, by the way.
Still, we are proud of Tropicana Field. It’s air conditioned, baby, and rain or shine we’re playing. People say it “takes away from the experience.” I’ve been in Yankee Stadium, at Shea Stadium, in the summer, and during storms.
I’ll take the A/C, thank you very much. In addition, I always thought they did a wonderful job at the graphics, music and special effects in the stadium.
We will miss Lou. We liked Piniella, a Pinellas beach resident, I might add. He is a Beacon reader (maybe), and goes to the same pizzeria as I do (Original Pizza on Madeira Way), so I felt rather protective of him. Plus, Mom was a fan from when he played up north.
But then again, my daughter has never gotten over losing Bubba, and my son, Fred McGriff.
That’s just the biz. We know that.
But, new ownership people, you should know there are plenty of dedicated fans out here. And, probably more so than other fans, we do understand the dust of baseball. To tell you the truth, Mr. Owner, we don’t really care who you are, or what you plan to be for the corporate community.
Just watch us eagerly line up behind you if you do us the favor of creating the illusion of baseball being about – well, you know – the game of baseball.
Now that kind of change – dare I say it? – would make a big hit with the home crowd. Go Rays!
Mary Burrell is managing editor and editor of the Beach Beacon and Seminole Beacon.
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Article published on Wednesday, Oct. 19, 2005
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