Stuart Sternberg (Photo by Matt May-US PRESSWIRE)
Rays owner Stuart Sternberg recently used the term "vaporized" to describe his hunch that Major League Baseball might shut down his ball club in Tampa Bay.
Mr. Sternberg has also told us on a number of occasions that baseball is a business - and that he needs the tools to operate the business...mainly more fans in the seats.
If you just rolled into town on a Greyhound - let me bring you up to speed. Mr. Sternberg would like someone in Tampa Bay to build him a stadium to replace the one his team plays in now. Most people are speculating that he wants Tampa Bay taxpayers to pick up all, or a portion, of the tab.
He also wants to break his lease at the current stadium, Tropicana Field, and leave early.
Sternberg isn't the first owner to buy a dilapidated pro sports team in Tampa and ask for taxpayers to build him a new stadium. The Glazer family did it successfully in the mid-90's and walked away with a lease that would make Tony Soprano smile.
Sternberg and his team have done a masterful job of putting together a consistent winner on a shoestring.
From manager Joe Maddon, baseball's equivalent of Jim Rockford, to the whiz kids in their front office, Sternberg and Co. make the Little Train That Could look like a whiner.
You can't blame Sternberg for gazing across the bay at Raymond James Stadium green with envy that the Glazers got it without putting dollar one into its construction.
But that was then and this is now. We live on the new frontier of austerity.
I'm a Rays fan. I'd be very disappointed if Major League Baseball utilizes its consolidation laser to vaporized the Rays. (who knew MLB had a WMD...)
But let's get real. The Rays vaporization would have little or no impact on the health of our community. In fact - we would be in good company... Boston, D.C., L.A., Charlotte, New Orleans, Seattle and even New York have all lost pro teams.
And here's another little twist in Stuart Sternberg's quest to have Tampa Bay taxpayers build him a ballpark.
Sternberg has not yet agreed to release the Rays' financial statements. So Stu is asking taxpayers to trust him that Rays baseball is not financially viable without a new ballpark. He wants us to go on faith
Just ask the taxpayers in Miami about going on faith. In 2009 Miami-Dade elected officials signed off on a deal that put Miami taxpayers on the hook for $360 Million Dollars to build a new ballpark for the Florida Marlins.
This came following a plea from Marlins ownership that they were losing money, and that baseball was no longer viable in their old stadium. Sound familiar?
The Marlins' owner wanted the money, but he was unwilling to release the Marlin's financial statements. Miami-Dade Elected Officials gave him the money anyway.
Fast forward to 2010. Leaked copies of the Marlins financials from 2007 & 2008 showed that the Marlins were not losing money at all - in fact they were actually turning a healthy profit during the same years they were crying poor and begging for a new ballpark. And they were turning these profits as they averaged a paltry 16,000 fans a game.
Let's hope Tampa Bay's elected officials aren't as dumb as their counterparts in South Florida.
The starting point for any serious discussions on a new publicly financed Rays stadium should commence only upon the release of the Rays financial statements.
Nothing personal Stu - it's just the taxpayers business.
Have a good week - Dare To Be Great!