SB Nation User Blog: rayweaver

Don't lecture Tampa fans: Having Rays of hope is still very new

rayweaver — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 12:28:05 -0000

Don't lecture Tampa fans: Having Rays of hope is still very new

CBS Sportsline article sticks up for Rays/baseball fans in Tampa Bay.

Sunday's TBS schedule

rayweaver — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 00:48:38 -0000

All four matchups will be taking place on Sunday, assuming no sweeps in the two NLDS series. TBS only has three time slots available for games on Sunday. So the question is, will we definitely get to see the Rays play on Sunday? Does anyone know what will happen if all four of the series are still ongoing on Sunday? Will there be a situation where there's regional coverage for games with the same start time? I'm planning a watch party, and I am going to be very pissed if the Rays aren't on my TV.

Playoffs-Trop Parking Fees

rayweaver — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 15:59:50 -0000

Does anyone know if the parking fees will increase for the playoffs?

I heard a rumor from someone I sit next to at the games. She heard from the guy who runs the lot where she parks that the prices will go up for the playoffs. I think she parks in one of those independant lots like the one at the old Winn Dixie on 3rd Ave in front of the Trop. Has anyone heard anything about the Trop's parking fees increasing too?

Are there public records for season tickets sold?

rayweaver — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 13:58:58 -0000

Does anyone know where to find out how many season tickets are sold annually for each franchise? Is this information public?

I was listening to Baseball This Morning on XM today, and Mark Patrick decided once again to insult the Tampa Bay area and the lack of attendance for the Rays. Just as most other radio/tv show hosts spout off on something without doing research, Mark Patrick once again did this in regards to discussing attendance. He questioned whether the Rays had sold out a game this year occurred other than the game on the LL Cool J concert night. Buck Martinez at least chimed in with the the nightly attendance for this Red Sox series, though he threw in a jab implying that more of the fans may have been for the Red Sox. (This was probably only true on Monday as the tide evened out on Tuesday and then turned the Rays' way by Wednesday. I saw way more Rays fans at the game last night.)

This got me wondering about two things: First, does anybody remember hearing the White Sox fans being called out in 2005? They won 99 games and still only finished 7th in AL attendance. They increased their attendance by 21% from 04-05, but they were not selling out and they averaged just under 29,000/game in a stadium with 40,615 seats. Second, why is it that a lot of the media don't understand what we've been discussing all year about how (season and single game) ticket sales don't increase dramatically until the next season after the successful season (i.e. win div, make playoffs, WS). The White Sox averaged 36,500/game in 06, the year AFTER the WS championship. They had a 53% increase in attendance from 04-06.

We've also discussed that it takes time to build up the fan base, but the media expects instant sellouts for an 11-year old perennially losing franchise, and the media often compares Rays attendance to that of 100+ year old franchises. I've heard some say that anything less than 30,000/game is unacceptable. So I looked up some attendance numbers on baseballreference.com, and saw that in 1998, the Devil Rays averaged almost 31,000 fans per game for that season. This proves that at one point, this area had 2.5 million that were interested in this team or at least in watching MLB. It seems to be that the area was excited about a new team back in 1998 and they bought the season tickets in advance assuming they would have a fun team to watch that would also be competitive. I assume that after the first horrible season, a lot of people turned their backs on the team because of the product on the field. They felt betrayed. I don't know how many of those fans in 1998 were season ticket holders, but I would assume a nice hefty chunk of the ticket sales were from season tickets. I would like to know how many season tickets were sold that first year and how many were sold in the years after. Also, I would expect an upswing in attendance for the Rays from 07-09 like the White Sox had over 04-06, but I would like to know how season ticket sales affect this attendance.

Does anyone out there know where to find this information? Is it public information?

Fan loses eye after being hit by ball

rayweaver — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 17:41:22 -0000

Fan loses eye after being hit by ball

Don Zimmer on XM175

rayweaver — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 13:54:37 -0000

Zim was on at 8am, and the replay will be around 11am EST

Zimmer was on for a about a 10 minute segment this morning. It was a decent interview, though he showed that he either doesn't know or doesn't care how to pronounce a few names of the players. He said Zor-bist instead of Zo-brist a lot and even had the host doing the same thing. As usual, the attendance topic came up again at the end of the interview. Zim said he couldn't understand how they had "only 12,000 people show up the last few games when the team is 3.5 games in front of Boston."

Regarding the posts on Upton not hustling and his punishment

rayweaver — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 03:10:44 -0000

Let me preface this by saying that I am a fan of the Rays. Not just the team as a whole, but the individuals that make up the team. I support each player, and I want to see each player perform well and to the best of their ability. I want them to be successful in all that they do on the field because their individual successes can lead to the team's success. If a player is not successful, I'm not the guy who is going to come unglued and spew negative comments aimed at him. I'm not above being pissed at poor performance, but constantly being negative towards specific players or the manager is pointless, unless of course you enjoy the negativity. I see people at games do this all the time, and I just don't get it. Why do they even bother going to the games if all they end up doing is getting pissed off at every mistake a player makes? If a guy repeatedly fails in one fashion or another, the team will deal with him accordingly. They don't need or care for the fans input. That being said, I have a couple of questions and some commentary on the recent posts regarding BJ specifically. I'm not foolish enough to think I'm going to change anyone's mind regarding Maddon's decisions regarding BJ or the double standard or BJ's performance, but maybe some will at least think objectively about this post.

Does anyone recall if the media has questioned Maddon on the widely held opinion that he has a double standard by punishing Upton while "other players do it too without reprimand"? If so, what was Maddon's response?

My commentary: This not only applies to baseball, but life in general. If you, the player, have been spoken to along with your teammates by the manager about the expectation to ALWAYS give every play your best effort, you should expect some sort of reprimand when you do not give your best effort. There is no gray area. If you screw up, you should be prepared to suffer the consequences, whatever they may be. The first action taken by the manager is most likely a warning given in private. As grown men being paid to do a job, these players should not have to be told twice what the rules are, but nevertheless, sometimes they need to be reminded when they don't follow them. After the first occurrence, the manager has to increase the punishment to deter it from happening again. Every manager is different in how they handle disciplining players, and I don't believe we know how many times Maddon warns a player in private before resorting to calling out a player in front of the team or in public during a game. Upton has obviously made it to the being-called-out-in-public stage. However many times it took breaking the "hustle rule" to get to that point, I don't know. Once a player reaches this stage, the manager is likely hoping that the player will be embarrassed to the point that he will think twice before repeating the behavior that caused him to be called out in public. He hopes it will drive home the point that if you don't follow the rules of the team, you will not get playing time. He hopes that the player will have enough pride in what he does to want to do better and put an end to the mistakes because he wants to play and he wants to be there for his teammates.

With that said, Upton knows what is expected of him, and it's now Upton's responsibilty to correct his mistakes the best he can, starting with running hard to first every time because that is what his manager wants him to do. It's not about what other players do and whether or not they get punished the same or not for breaking a team rule. Each player is responsible for what he does and he should not worry about what goes on between other players and the manager. For all we know, other players have been spoken to behind closed doors about infractions, and their rule-breaking may have not gotten to the point of public reprimand. If an obvious double standard is present, it won't go on for long. It will be noticed by the players, and they should deal with it by not taking advantage of it themselves(read:stop breaking the rule) out of respect for the player(s) being hurt by it, or they should collectively take the issue to the manager, though the latter is less likely going to happen if the players aren't comfortable doing so.

From what I've seen of Upton in particular, he is a stand-up guy who plays the game very well at this stage of his career, but he just needs some polish. His defense is awesome even though this is his first full season as an outfielder. Though his offense may not be pleasing to some or many, he is not a bad hitter. He performs his job in front of tens of thousands of people each night and millions of people each year. He's about to turn 24. He seems to be handling the pressure of being a major leaguer and having the spotlight on his every move quite well. He doesn't have the luxury of making mistakes on a small scale as most all of us who do not perform our jobs in the public spotlight. He doesn't get rattled. He is a professional.

To all those who feel the need to prolong the conversation of the double standard or BJ being singled out, let it go. Whatever happens to BJ is a direct result of his actions. He broke Maddon's golden rule at least twice after being warned.

The Trop...Like it, Love it, or Hate it?

rayweaver — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 19:10:19 -0000

Sorry if this is a topic that has been covered before, but I'm an infrequent visitor to the site. As someone who has been to more than 100 games over the last few years, I love Tropicana Field. I understand that it's not the same atmosphere as being in an open-air park, but we live in Florida. There are tradeoffs.

No, we don't have the blue skies or moonlit skies directly above our heads while we enjoy the game. No, we don't have any spectacular, classic/traditional architecture to admire. No, the artificial field doesn't look necessarily pleasing in person or on television. But at the Trop, we are not in the 90 degree heat, humidity and rain. No mosquitoes or gnats either. It's a "pleasant 72 degrees" inside, for the most part. I enjoy leaving on my 45-mile trip to the Trop knowing that rain is not going to prevent the game from taking place (incoming hurricanes excluded), unless you count the occassional power failure due to a storm. I'm comfortable when I watch a game at the Trop. I never had to put on greasy sunscreen while attending a game at the Trop. Sure, the place can look like a warehouse to a newcomer used to outdoor baseball, but this year more than ever, you forget about that once the game gets going. I've been to a handful of the other stadiums around the country, and as architecturally pleasing as many of them might be, I'm not there for the architecture. I'm tired of hearing national media (XM-Mark Patrick, Charlie Steiner, ESPN-pick any puppet that got the memo that the Trop sucks) bad-mouth the place. They just don't get it. One trip to cover a series does not begin to allow a media person to understand the Trop and its benefits. And for the love of all that is good, they shouldn't base their opinion of Tropicana's aesthetics on a trip you made to the Trop over 3 years ago or the highlights they caught on ESPN. The place is very different with Sternberg in charge, and television just doesn't translate well.

So, now I want to know what everyone who regularly attends games thinks. The Trop...like it, love it, or hate it?