If you are anything like me, you see the intrinsic value of keeping the Tampa Bay Rays in St. Petersburg. Not only does the organization employ (in some capacity) thousands of workers at Tropicana Field, they have planted roots in our community, and — by way of their associated charitable organizations — invested time and money to make our city a better place.
If you are unfamiliar with the Baseball Forever campaign, our goal is to convince the Rays that their current site, reimagined and redeveloped, remains the best location for Major League Baseball in Tampa Bay. We will do this by working closely with the Rays, county officials, the private sector, and other stakeholders should the team identify a future stadium site adjacent to or impacting St. Petersburg.
One of the most visible impacts of our collective efforts will be our Baseball Forever Night at the Trop on Friday, August 19, 2016 when the Rays host the Texas Rangers. The goal is to sell out the Trop to show our team just how much the community supports them.
With each lower level individual ticket sold ($25), you’ll receive a free Rays baseball cap. Upper level tickets are $10 each. Tickets are available online at www.RaysBaseball.com/BaseballForever. Additionally, you can reserve the best seats by ordering a group of tickets for 10 or more people. You will receive seats together, a scrolling scoreboard welcome, and no online fees! For more information or to place your group order call Josh Gallo at (727) 825-3107 or email jgallo@raysbaseball.com
You may be asking, “How can I help?” In the short-term, make a commitment to purchase tickets to the above mentioned ballgame. I’d also encourage you to forward this message to any and everybody — family, friends, coworkers, employees, etc. If you’re an active Facebook or Twitter user, blast out the Facebook event page using the hashtag #BaseballForever.
Moving forward, there will be other opportunities to help make St. Petersburg the forever home of the Tampa Bay Rays. For the moment, however, please help support our small market team!