I spoke with a huge Yankee fan at a local grocery store earlier as I was attempting to make my way around him, en route to the dairy aisle. By huge, I mean of considerable size, not in affect. He could have bled pinstripes for all I know, but that’s not the point. I asked Scaloppini (we’ll just call him that since I couldn’t have been bothered to ask him his name) if he was going to make his way to the Trop tonight to catch the game. “No way, I hate that team,” was his response. Taken aback, I mumbled something about supporting his team. “I’m not giving that team (the Rays) my money,” replied Scaloppini. “I could just sit at home and watch the Yankees on Direct TV.” In a moment of snarkiness, I reminded him that he is giving the Rays his money by means of the luxury tax. He agreed and mentioned something like he couldn’t wait for the Rays to move. I was kind of over the conversation by that point.
Here is exhibit A of the typical Yankee fan response. The Rays, a team that’s able to contend with the big boys on a boot strap budget, get (as the kids say these days) hated on by the fans of other teams with a superiority complex. Scallopini’s response was indicative of those, whose only reasonable solution to the thorn in the side that is the Rays, is to hope that they’ll be gone at some point. Not, “oh hey, maybe my team needs to step up their game,” or “oh hey, maybe they need to try another way.” Nope, just let’s hope they’ll be gone. It got me thinking.
On the way to the Trop yesterday, I was listening to an interview with Stu Sternberg on WDAE 620. Big Dog asked Stu something about looking into property in the Channelside district, in Tampa. Stu responded with something like not really, and we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it. He also noted that with yesterdays sell-out, todays sell-out, and tomorrows game which is close to selling out, if the numbers were consistent finding the Rays were drawing 2-2.5 MM fans a year, the stadium issue could be put on the back-burner, for the time being at least. I had an epiphany.
In all of Stu’s hyperbolic and impetuous statements about fans and attendance, one thing holds true: this man really does care about his team, and I kind of like his bluntness…though more so in times when he’s not just seemingly whining. I’ve also came to the realization that he isn’t only trying to protect a financial investment, though that does have something to do with things. With this cold war (so to speak) between he and the city, it’s easy to see past this fact.
In the end, he genuinely wants his team to be successful, and he wants to do whatever it takes for them to be successful; be that dropping $20 MM plus, over the last six years, into a stadium that’s becoming more and more inadequate by the day, or wanting something better.
I think it should be noted by the critics of both the Rays ownership and Mayor Foster, that the Rays, as an organization, is very fan friendly. It also bears mentioning that they have made concerted efforts to get more butts in the stands. That tends to get lost in all of the tacit bickering. In the end though, one thing holds true: the Rays need to be able to depend on the businesses and corporations in the Tampa Bay area if the organization is to be sustainable, here, over the long-term. That’s especially true in this economy when there isn’t as much disposable income floating around.
What does all of this have to do with good old Scallopini? Maybe it’s just me, but watching the old guard sweat it out in lieu of the upstart underdog is highly entertaining. Sternberg mentioned in a different interview Friday that, “We should be up (attendance) a good amount this year…We’ll have a good amount more people at the gate.” And I truly hope that pans out. Not just for the players who, like any other entertainers, don’t want to perform to a sparse, less than enthusiastic crowd. And not just for the organization who can determine their payroll off of attendance. But also to piss off Yankees and Red Sox fans who can’t stand to watch their well worn turf get pissed upon by a team that they feel shouldn’t even be in existence.