A Load of BS

I'm a little late to the party, but it saddens me to think of a potential future without spring training baseball in Central Florida. Last month, The Houston Astros and Washington Nationals announced plans to leave Kissimmee and Viera , respectively, for a brand-new facility in Palm Beach County. This would likely create a ripple effect that could eventually facilitate the departures of the Braves and Tigers. Similar to Arizona spring baseball, most teams in Florida want to train and play within short distances of each other. This means the Tampa Bay region, the Fort Myers area, Palm Beach County and the Treasure Coast would all be chomping at the bit for future spring training occupants. Of course, Central Florida is not hurting for tourism dollars with the presence of The Walt Disney Company, Universal, Sea World, WWE's NXT development program and, um... THE WALT DISNEY COMPANY! Still, baseball is a part of the fabric of spring in the Orlando area. This is why I'm m...

On Monday night, the Tampa Bay Rays began their first homestand with their new right fielder, former top prospect-turned-stud rookie Wil Myers. Fans came out in droves to greet their new franchise player. A capacity crowd of 11,407 saw the Rays win 4-1, thanks in large part to Myers. At least he saw more people in the stands on Monday than he did at Triple-A Durham. The Bulls stadium only holds 10,000. The Rays’ stadium and attendance issues are well documented. Tropicana Field is an antiquated facility at best, and its location might as well be a few minutes east of Albuquerque. I’m sure that the Rays front office has done everything short of offering BP to the first 10,000 kids to draw fans. It’s still a little disconcerting to see the Tampa Bay Lightning average 19,055 for a hockey game. Meanwhile, a winning team like the Rays can’t crack 12,000 when their top prospect cracks his first career homer – a grand slam- two days prior. Tampa Bay has become a proven winner on the ...