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If I owned the Tampa Bay Rays …..
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Bob Szasz, aka, The Rays' Heckler. Not funny any more.
(Photo: MLB.com)
While baseball’s Hot Stove League begins to heat up, players and where they might land is only a part of a team’s preparation for spring training and beyond. Occasionally I speculate on what the Rays could do to better the organization and it isn’t generally roster specific.
I have always been of the mind that winning is just a part of drawing crowds to Tropicana Field, especially in an area that does not have a lot of disposable cash and the fierce competition to tap into what is available. Football is the dominant sport from Pop Warner to the Buccaneers and everything between. Rays’ owner Stuart Sternberg and his group appear to understand that and are carving out their own little piece of the sports pie.
With that in mind and the fact that I don’t have to fork over once cent of my own money to see any of the following implemented, I give you my end of year wish list/suggestions to put more fannies in the seats and generate extra income so the on-field success continues.
¶ Re-sign Rocco Baldelli.
The Rays did what most teams would have with Rocco, not picking up his option when it appeared his playing career was in jeopardy. Even Baldelli understood.
However, his amazing comeback and contributions to winning the American League championship warrants a substantial contract offer to keep him in the only organization he has ever known. Even if he cannot play every day it has become very clear that when he does, he is close to being the player he was before being struck with a mitochondrial disorder.
It also keeps him away from the Red Sox – Baldelli is from nearby Rhode Island - who would be hot on his trail should he not get a deal from the Rays.
¶ Re-hire Kelly Frank as Raymond.
This deal stunk right from the outset when Frank was let go for allegedly thinking too much outside-the-box in her portrayal of the furry mascot.
The company brought in to replace John Franzone as Senior Director of Creative Services and Entertainment when he resigned has a one word motto – generic – when it comes to in-stadium activities and Frank was not generic. In fact, she wasn’t just a person inside a costume, she became Raymond.
One of the keys to the Rays' increase in attendance is Sternberg and company did a 180° turn from previous boss Vince Naimoli and allowed people to have fun, be fans at it were. The dismissal completely contradicts that mindset.
The same outfit that allows the “Rays Team” to ride around in the back of a pick-up truck along the warning track before the game and toss things into the stands at the same time the Rays’ staring pitcher is warming up in the bullpen is fine but Frank, who never crossed that line, brought loads of fun to kids and adults alike and that was to much over the top?
I don’t get it and neither do the fans who have expressed their displeasure with the firing.
¶ Put a cork in “The Heckler.”
Bob Szasz, the man with the deep pockets, the best seats in the house and a voice that can be heard in Miami, has become more annoying than jock itch. Let’s face it, his act has run its course but what I cannot figure is he gets his mug on in-stadium promotions but Kelly Frank loses her job as Raymond?
It was fun when it started because, according to the self-published author, he would pick one player a game and heckle him each time he came to the on-deck circle, just a few feet from his seat and between pitches when he was in the batter’s box.
Not any more. It’s anything goes at any time. Pitchers are now fair game to his booming barbs. But it doesn’t end in the stands.
Because Home Plate Club patrons exit through the corridor under the stands where the players enter the clubhouse about 50-feet away, Szasz stands along the rope line and bellows his congrats each time someone in uniform appears from the dugout. Imagine being in a 10x10’ room with a 1,000 watt stereo blasting at full volume. That is how loud it seems only with an echo to boot.
Enough already.
¶ Finally, in years past there were only a pair of spring training games, usually at home, televised by the Rays. It was logical because Al Lang Field was just a mile from Tropicana Field. But things are different now with the shift to Port Charlotte, about a two-hour drive from St. Petersburg.
The move south was designed to whet the fan’s appetite for the regular season and possibly expand their base where people would make the trip north instead of east where the Marlins are.
With that in mind, adding three or four more telecasts would keep fans close to the team and they don’t necessarily have to be home games either. Adding the Red Sox and/or Twins from Ft. Myers and possibly the Cardinals and/or Orioles when they make a trip to the other coast would be interesting additions. We cannot forget the radio side either. With the distance between the home base and spring training sites adding a few more broadcasts would not be a bad idea either.
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