Maybe the Rays & the Marlins should consolidate as the Florida Orangebirds
and also add Jacksonville a biug s****ts market, then get investors from
Tampa, Miami and Jacksonville to combine their money to get enough cash
to put a 60 to 90 million dollar team on the field
and play
27 home games in Miami incl opener
27 home games in St Pete incl 1st Yankees home series
27 home games in Jacksonville incl end of season when Miami is too hot
I'd keep the Marlins franchise as they have already won a World Series and
let the Rays franchise move on to Mexico City (or where-ever Selig can get
the most money)
Maybe the new Florida team can get 50% of the sale amount for these to use
as an investment for a Jacksonville site
"StevenA" <traveller925@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote in message
news:1148139717.948701.30620@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> The May issue of Boston Baseball magazine has an article titled "Break
> Up the Devil Rays". It's a typical Rays ba****ng article, calling the
> Rays the least entertaining team in baseball and critical of the Rays
> low home attendance. While the Rays are certainly not among the
> league's elite, it hardly seems fair to compare them and their fans to
> the Red Sox and Red Sox Nation. Or does it? I grew up just outside
> Boston, but today I live in Tampa and consider myself a fan of both
> teams. The Red Sox today are perrenial contenders who regularly sell
> out Fenway Park, but that wasn't always the case. Like many other Red
> Sox fans of my generation, I became a fan during the Impossible Dream
> year of 1967. However, the previous year, 1966, was not only a losing
> year for the Sox, it was the their eighth consecutive year with a
> losing record. Coincidentally, 2005 was also the eighth consecutive
> losing year for the Devil Rays. Both teams played a 162 game schedule,
> so let's compare the 2005 Devil Rays to the 1966 Red Sox.
>
> Won-Lost record:
> 1966 Red Sox: 72-90 (444), Finished 9th in American League (second to
> last)
> 2005 Devil Rays: 67-95 (.414), Finished 5th in AL Eastern Division
> (last)
>
> Home attendance:
> 1966 Red Sox: 811,172
> 2005 Devil Rays:1,141,669
>
> Home runs:
> 1966 Red Sox: 145
> 2005 Devil Rays:157
>
> Runs scored:
> 1966 Red Sox: 655
> 2005 Devil Rays:750
>
> On base percentage:
> 1966 Red Sox: 308
> 2005 Devil Rays: 329
>
> Stolen bases:
> 1966 Red Sox: 35
> 2005 Devil Rays: 151
>
> Team ERA:
> 1966 Red Sox: 3.92
> 2005 Devil Rays: 5.39
>
> I could go on, but basicly, other than pitching, the 2005 Devil Rays
> had stats that were comparable to or better than the 1966 Red Sox, and
> they had better attendance. I don't recall anybody calling for the
> 1966 Red Sox to be broken up. The following year the Red Sox went on
> to win the American League pennant and play in the World Series. Of
> course I don't expect history to repeat itself with the 2006 Devil
> Rays, but under new team owner****p and management I do expect them to
> improve and become competitive over the next few years. The Devil Rays
> may be looking up at the rest of the division right now, but Red Sox
> writers should not be too harsh to criticize. After all, it wasn't all
> that long ago that the Red Sox were in the same position.
>
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