#BaseballForever needs your pledge of support for the Tampa Bay Rays

I know I’ve told this story before, in fact I’ve likely told it here on multiple occasions. However, it bears mentioning again. I grew up at a time in St. Petersburg, bereft of any Major League Baseball action. Sure, I was surrounded by Minor League teams, and I certainly took in my share of ballgames at Al Lang Stadium, but there was nothing like the Major League experience.

I distinctly remember coming home from elementary school, propping myself up on the family couch, and turning on WGN to watch my beloved Cubbies. There, however, was a disconnect. While the Cubs were my team, they really weren’t. I longed for a team of my own from my city.

Prior to expansion in 1995, St. Petersburg flirted with destiny on multiple occasions.

In 1989, just before the Cubs put together their landmark season with Don Zimmer at the helm, lobbyists in Illinois pushed for ballpark funding for the Chicago White Sox, who were slated to relocate to St. Petersburg. The decision meant that the then Suncoast Dome, which was built to attract a team — either through relocation or expansion — would stay vacant for almost a decade.

In 1991, the hopes of Bay Area baseball fans were again dashed when Major League Baseball awarded Miami with a franchise instead of St. Petersburg. During the expansion process, a little over 22,000 people made $50 refundable season ticket deposits. That total increased to a little over 32,000 for MLB’s 1993 expansion process (which includes those who made a commitment for the 1991 process).

Then in 1993, the Giants almost relocated to St. Petersburg when ballot measures for a new stadium in San Francisco failed in the ’80s and ’90s and proposed sites in San Jose and Santa Clara also fell apart. I’ll let Paul Francis Sullivan (the Hardball Times) finish the story:

Vince Naimoli led a group of Tampa Bay investors who wanted to put a major league team in the vacant Suncoast Dome (now Tropicana Field). The Giants move seemed all but certain for the 1993 season. A “Welcome Giants” rally was held in St. Petersburg and San Francisco fans were bringing “Don’t Go!” signs to the half empty Candlestick.

But when the National League owners didn’t approve the move, Lurie sold the team to Safeway CEO Peter Magowan, who vowed to keep the team in San Francisco. Magowan knew he needed to make a big move to appease the hurt San Francisco fans. So he opened up his checkbook and brought in free agent Barry Bonds and the 1993 Giants won 103 games.

Defeated again, it was back to the land of hope and dreams — of baseball diamonds and the longing to see my favorite players in person, not on TV — for me.

Finally, in 1995, new expansion franchises were awarded to Tampa Bay and Phoenix (the Arizona Diamondbacks). The new franchises began play in 1998. At long last, we were given a team to call our own! The rest, as they say, is history.

Back to the present. With a nod to the past, it again is time for us to pledge our support for Major League Baseball in St. Petersburg. The city, along with the Baseball Forever campaign, is developing a new ballpark proposal for the existing Tropicana Field site, and will soon be submitting this proposal to the Rays. The community’s support — both personal and business — for this is pivotal.

If you love baseball and want to see it played here in perpetuity, then show your love, enthusiasm, and support for the Rays by pledging your support to encourage the ball club to build a new stadium in St. Petersburg.

Please click the link (below) to pledge your support, fill in your (or your company’s name), check all of the categories that apply, fill in the bottom parts, and finally click the submit button.