Anyone know why Mulligan calls the Tampa Stadium "The House that Jerry Built"?

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"That's what the internet is for. Slandering others anonymously." Banky
“Been that way since one monkey looked at the sun and told the other monkey ‘He said for you to give me your fuckin’ share.’”

Yep, that place was built at least partially because of the understanding that the White Sox were moving there. The Illinois legislature wouldn't pass a stadium bill to Jerry's liking. Back in 1988, just as the legislative session was about to expire and the stadium bill died for the final time and the Sox were supposedly off to Tampa, Gov. Jim Thompson appeared on the floor of the legislature to personally lobby and arm-twist and call in favors to get the thing passed and save the Sox. It did pass at teh last minute, resulting, of course, in what today is known as the Cell.

You already do, so why the fuck would you post this?

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I thought he had a deal to move the White Sox to St. Petersburg as well, long before former Gov. Thompson & the General Assembly cut a deal at the last minute to keep the Sox from moving. In fact, the Sox & San Francisco Giants considered moving to Tampa/St. Pete before MLB gave that area an expansion franchise...

Frank got a little London Gentleman in him today....

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doesn't matter what the Rays do in the playoffs, they'll be back to 10-20k a game next year. That team needs to move elsewhere in FL or get a better stadium. Marlins too.

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Ба́бушка гада́ла, да на́двое сказа́ла—то ли до́ждик, то ли снег, то ли бу́дет, то ли нет.

The Marlins appear closer to a new baseball-only stadium than the Rays are. During the season, I think Eric Collins mentioned something about a proposal down there in regards to financing a new stadium not far from Tropicana Field where the Rays play now. E.C. was pinch hitting for Steve Stone when the subject came up during the first White Sox visit to St. Petersburg.

Frank "The Ultimate White Sox Defender"

Feel free to tell us all why Mulligan said it?

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"That's what the internet is for. Slandering others anonymously." Banky
“Been that way since one monkey looked at the sun and told the other monkey ‘He said for you to give me your fuckin’ share.’”

I'm not so sure about that. It seems like the teams that scratch and suck for a while and then break through do a better job of securing a fan base than the teams that have success punctuated by failure. Compare Colorado and Arizona, for example. I also think it's a bit unfair to pick on Rays fans for not turning out more before this year. Would you have? I certainly wouldn't.

The stadium is crap though.

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Fire Phil Emery

I can't help it that the Rays play in a dump of a ballpark down there that fans haven't exactly filled in the team's franchise history! The Colorado Rockies had filled their ballpark from the getgo, even before Coors Field opened in 1995. Remember, the Rocks played in front of over 55,000 at Mile High Stadium in their first 2 seasons as an expansion franchise. The Diamondbacks also filled their ballpark, now called Chase Field, from the very start of their franchise in '98, and they've got a retractable roof. The Florida Marlins have had attendance issues of their own, even though some 80,000 fans filled what was then called Joe Robbie Stadium for an exhibition game before the Marlins got a team in '93. Despite threatening to relocate to Las Vegas or San Antonio, it looks like the Marlins have finally received the green light to break ground on a new baseball-only stadium of their own in the next 3 or 4 years. If you watched the end of the Florida State/Miami football game earlier tonight on ABC Sports (ESPN on ABC), it would behoove the Marlins to build their new stadium with a roof of its own. The Hurricanes & Seminoles played in a driving rainstorm at the end of their game...

It's unfair to expect the same kind of fan turnout for the Rays as for other teams. They've been around for 10 years. Don't most people become attached to a team in their childhood? Not exactly a lot of time to build up generations of fans.

Add to that the large number of transplants in that area.

And the fact that there was already a team in Florida for people to be fans of.

Arizona and Colorado were largely untapped markets for baseball.