Franchise Softball
Why do the Tampa Bay Devil Rays even bother?
My suggestions:
Sell the team to an owner/group that actually has some semblance of competence, move them to Indianapolis (which is a happening sports town that actually has fans who care about their teams), rename the franchise to something that doesn’t sound like a softball team, and PLAY OUTSIDE for crying out loud!
The current team (like he Old Montreal Expos) simply weakens Major League Baseball as a whole. Nobody cares about the Devil Rays, nobody wants to play for the Devil Rays, and everyone just sort of laughs at them. even the Florida Marlins have won two World Series titles, and actually play their home games outside as a baseball team is supposed to. (Were it not for financing issues, you know the Minnestota Twins would be playing their home games outside!)
Even the holy rollers have issues with the team’s name—you know this franchise is a train wreck if that’s actually a relevant issue!
The Devil Rays are not so bad as far as position players go– Crawford, Upton, Young, Wiggington, Baldelli (when healthy). Their problem, like most baseball teams, is pitching and the fact that they play in the AL East. All those games against just the Yankees & Sox– Toronto went on a spending spree this winter and where are they- 10 games back, tied w/ the Yankees (who everyone says suck). Since you’re not from Florida– did you know that during the summer it rains almost every afternoon/evening and that the heat index is usually at least 100. It’s just not comfortable to be outside at all. I am a baseball purist and I agree that baseball should be played outdoors in the sunshine but 95 w/ 90% humidity, I’ not going.
What I’d like to see– Let the Devil Rays move to Vegas or Indianapolis so they are out of the AL East. And move the Marlins to Tampa Bay. The Marlins need a stadium– they play in a football stadium and its a terrible place to see a game. Plus Tampa Bay/ St. Pete has a history with the NL. The Mets, and Cards were long time spring training tenants. The Phillies and Pirates are still in the area and before we had MLB in FL, everyone followed the Braves.