Tampa's "Fans" Don't Show Up
One of the hottest teams in baseball right now, the Tampa Bay Rays might even be the BEST team in baseball but based on the apathetic fans in St. Pete, you'd never know it.
Sure, the Rays went to the World Series in their first ever playoffs appearance, yes, they feature some of the best young talent in the game, they even play a fan-friendly exciting style of baseball and yet still, no one wants to go to Tropicana Field.
As Buster Olney wrote this morning:
The No. 5 starter, Wade Davis, has plus stuff; the No. 4 starter, David Price, has the best pure stuff in a strong rotation. The No. 2 hitter in the lineup, Carl Crawford, is expected to be the best-paid free agent this fall. The No. 4 hitter, Evan Longoria, would probably be the consensus No. 2 pick, after Joe Mauer, in an if-you-were-starting-a-franchise-today draft. The No. 6 hitter in the lineup, B.J. Upton, would be the most talented player on most other teams.
Even after the World Series season the attendance DROPPED, apparently Tampa fans are unwilling to see winners OR losers. Now featuring the best record in the game, the Rays took on Oakland on Wednesday before a robust 10,691 fans. Or at least, that was the ticket sales, watching the game it looked like far less.
That makes it the SMALLEST crowd in baseball thus far this season. MLB needs to move this team somewhere fans will actually CARE about it, because they are far too good to be ignored by their "fans." And while we're at it, MLB why not move the Rays to the NL so I a) don't have to worry about them beating the Red Sox, b) can root for them.