Steve Berthiaume on why the Rays need to leave Tampa

[strahanfan92]

^Listened to the last segment before I head off to work. Dude makes many good points like the "traffic" issue and the Vegas thing.

[FedEx227]

It really sucks because we're at a point now and in the next 4-5 years where the Rays are going to be a premiere franchise.

[RyanLeaf16]

Keep it on 620WDAE.com. At 5:30p, Steve Berthiaume will be on to answer some questions regarding his article about the Rays.

[RyanLeaf16]

Also, I just visited ESPN.com and saw this photo for their article and, I have to say it's a low fucking blow by ESPN.

The picture below is from a Rays team practice! Yet, ESPN uses it in their article related to attendance to try and prove a point and before someone tries to argue that they are using a stock photo, RaysIndex.com apparently got the story when it was first posted and ESPN was using a photo from a 2004 game between the then Devil Rays and Royals. RaysIndex called them on it and they changed the photo. So, this photo is not an accident.

[RyanLeaf16]

I'm listening to this right now, it's getting pretty heated lol.

Berthiaume was a bit smarmy early on and it got worse later. I didn't like the direction it was taken though. Could've made some better points, but, when you get angry, it's hard to keep cool and keep it on track.

He just hung up on Berthiaume lmao!

I could see it coming from Duemig. He was having enough of Berthiaume's smart-ass remarks.

[Mogriffjr]

wow what was berthiaume saying?

[NAHSTE]

Berthiaume acting smarmy? Never saw that coming.

[FedEx227]

Also, I just visited ESPN.com and saw this photo for their article and, I have to say it's a low fucking blow by ESPN.

The picture below is from a Rays team practice! Yet, ESPN uses it in their article related to attendance to try and prove a point and before someone tries to argue that they are using a stock photo, RaysIndex.com apparently got the story when it was first posted and ESPN was using a photo from a 2004 game between the then Devil Rays and Royals. RaysIndex called them on it and they changed the photo. So, this photo is not an accident.

http://www.raysindex.com/2011/06/espn-coms-anti-rays-bias-reaches-new-levels.html

[killgod]

I still think contraction is the best option.

If they relocate, Vancouver.

Do that.

When the city isn't burning to the ground, it's actually quite interested in baseball and has a very strong economy along with a stadium that I believe will be MLB ready.

Putting a strong well run organization in that market would be brilliant.

Put them in the AL West to compete directly with Seattle, as well as bringing in the many Seattle fans in BC and watch the money stacks grow.

[NAHSTE]

Do that.

When the city isn't burning to the ground, it's actually quite interested in baseball and has a very strong economy along with a stadium that I believe will be MLB ready.

Putting a strong well run organization in that market would be brilliant.

Put them in the AL West to compete directly with Seattle, as well as bringing in the many Seattle fans in BC and watch the money stacks grow.

LOL you mean the same Seattle team that is 22nd in attendance this year with just over 1,000 more fans per game than Tampa? Or the Seattle team that has been in danger of moving three times in the last four decades?

I mean maybe Vancouver would draw better than Tampa initially, but it's hard to gauge how stable a franchise would be there long term.

Oh and here's the stadium that is supposed to be MLB ready ... I could name 10 college fields in America that are more MLB ready than this.

[killgod]

LOL you mean the same Seattle team that is 22nd in attendance this year with just over 1,000 more fans per game than Tampa? Or the Seattle team that has been in danger of moving three times in the last four decades?

I mean maybe Vancouver would draw better than Tampa initially, but it's hard to gauge how stable a franchise would be there long term.

I don't get what's so funny?

You'd build a rivalry, one that's could feed off the MLS rivalry that's becoming quite immense.

The teams would be able to feed off each other. I don't care what Seattle's attendance is, there's a ton of fans in BC. Surely any idiot could realize the Canadian Mariners fans aren't attending alot of games for the obvious distance reasons.

Driving 3 hours one way to watch a baseball game surely isn't that appealing, but it doesn't mean Seattle fans don't exist in BC and would be a good draw for when Seattle would play in Vancouver, in addition to the popular teams.





I suppose I should hotlink a picture of the empty building the Toronto Marlies play in? Perhaps the Maple Leafs should move?

Or perhaps a more suitable picture would be of the amount of fans the Whitecaps played in front of in the NASL, compared to the MLS?

[NAHSTE]

I don't get what's so funny?

You'd build a rivalry, one that's could feed off the MLS rivalry that's becoming quite immense.

The teams would be able to feed off each other. I don't care what Seattle's attendance is, there's a ton of fans in BC. Surely any idiot could realize the Canadian Mariners fans aren't attending alot of games for the obvious distance reasons.

Driving 3 hours one way to watch a baseball game surely isn't that appealing, but it doesn't mean Seattle fans don't exist in BC and would be a good draw for when Seattle would play in Vancouver, in addition to the popular teams.

Your solution to save one of the worst attended and suppported franchises in MLB is to move them to Canada to form a manufactured rivalry with another of the league's worst attended and supported franchises. I don't find that funny, but I do find it unlikely to succeed financially.

And if there are already Mariners fans in Vancouver ... that's not really a great thing for the Rays' attendance should they move there. Wouldn't that be the same problem they have now with more visiting fans than home fans at those games?

Vancouver may be a viable option down the road but I just had to laugh at how simple you made it sound. That stadium is not even up to NCAA Regional standards yet you call it MLB ready, and the Mariners are a team that wouldn't even exist today without them making the playoffs in 1995, so it's hard to use them as a crutch to prop up another franchise that is floundering at the gate.

[killgod]

Your solution to save one of the worst attended and suppported franchises in MLB is to move them to Canada to form a manufactured rivalry with another of the league's worst attended and supported franchises. I don't find that funny, but I do find it unlikely to succeed financially.

And if there are already Mariners fans in Vancouver ... that's not really a great thing for the Rays' attendance should they move there. Wouldn't that be the same problem they have now with more visiting fans than home fans at those games?

Vancouver may be a viable option down the road but I just had to laugh at how simple you made it sound. That stadium is not even up to NCAA Regional standards yet you call it MLB ready, and the Mariners are a team that wouldn't even exist today without them making the playoffs in 1995, so it's hard to use them as a crutch to prop up another franchise that is floundering at the gate.

Do you think the stadium you linked is where they would play? Or the current couple hundred million dollar renovation of BC Place might be what I'm talking about?

[NAHSTE]

Do you think the stadium you linked is where they would play? Or the current couple hundred million dollar renovation of BC Place might be what I'm talking about?

Oh how lucky! Another non-baseball specific stadium that feels more like a warehouse than a ballpark! Just what the Rays need.

I bet David Price and Longo can't wait to trade the Trop for this place:




Yeah I can totally see a baseball field fitting there. And they won't have to use any more quirky ground rules for goofy catwalks and wires hanging from the roof... oh wait.

[FedEx227]

Yeah that's an incredibly lateral move.