It seems that some media types in the United States, are criticizing Evan Longoria of the Tampa Bay Rays, for critical comments he made towards the fans of the Tampa Bay/St.Petersburg area, for their poor support for one of the best teams in baseball, since 2008, when they defeated the Red Sox in the ALCS, before losing to the Philadelphia Phillies in the World Series.
I don’t understand what the media has to be critical about. It’s not as though Longoria made these remarks after just one game, or even one season. The Rays have a great team that is certainly capable of winning the World Series and they feature some of the best young players in the game, including Longoria, and starting pitcher David Price. The team deserves much better support than what they’ve been getting,
With only 12,446 fans showing up at Tropicana Field on Monday, when the Rays had a chance to clinch their second playoff birth in three years, Longoria thought the time was right to send a wake up call to the local sports fans. His comments were right on the mark. Longoria has nothing to apologize for. He should be congratulated for speaking up.
As detailed by ESPN.com, Longoria delivered a fair and accurate assessment of the fans poor support of the team. With so many average or below average teams in Major League Baseball, the fans should be flocking to watch the Rays. “We’ve been playing great baseball all year.Since I’ve been here (2006), the fans have wanted a good baseball team. They wanted to watch a contender. And for us to play good baseball for three years now, and for us to be in a spot to clinch again and go to the playoffs,we’re all confused as to why it’s only 15,000 to 20,000 in the building.”
I don’t understand at all why some in the American media have their noses out of joint over this. Longoria is speaking from the heart,with acceptable language, and in a respectful manner. Staying quiet hasn’t gained the Rays any fans, so Longoria has given them an assertive but very polite message, which was important for them to hear.
The Rays management and ownership have since decided, to give away 20,000 tickets to the Wednesday night game against the Baltimore Orioles, in an attempt to smooth things over, and get some energy in the building.
Longoria went on to say: “ In 2008, when we clinched, this place was packed. It’s kind of like what else do you have to do to draw fans in this place. It’s actually embarrassing for us…….We have enough guys in this room to celebrate with, but we’d love to celebrate it with the fans too…….I’m not trying to say that we have bad fans or any of that because believe me, I’ve been here since ‘06 and I love the Tampa Bay community. It’s just tough to see, and I felt I was the right guy to say it.”
Teammate and ace pitcher David Price, echoed Longoria’s sentiments on his Twitter page: “ Had a chance to clinch a post season spot tonight with about 10,000 fans in the stands……..embarrassing.” Price later offered an apology for his remark on his page. “ If I offended anyone I apologize. I did not think it was gonna turn to into this………”.
The gesture by Price was a nice one, but completely unnecessary. He also spoke from the heart,with a fair and accurate comment.
The fans will now deal with the consequences of their non support, as the owners have already announced a much smaller budget for the Rays payroll next season. The current payroll of $71.9 million, a team record, is expected to drop to $50 million or less. Team owner Stuart Sternberg told the St.Petersburg Times, “ No question. Nothing can change that. Unfortunately, there’s nothing that can happen between now and April that can change that unless Joe Maddon hits the lottery and wants to donate it or I hit the lottery.”
With that in mind, the fans in Tampa and St.Petersburg, will remember the old saying that applies to many aspects of living, and will be applicable to their baseball team as well next year. They will appreciate, as everybody does sooner or later, that you don’t know what you’ve got till you lose it. The speculation is already in place,that the Rays will lose free agents Carl Crawford, Carlos Pena, and Rafael Soriano.
It’s understandable for fans to stay away from a team with a poor product. For one of the best teams in a professional sport like baseball to be nearly deserted, is a situation where the fans deserve some criticism. Evan Longoria handled it with class and professionalism, in spite of the popular point of view that faults him for his honesty. I think he should be congratulated for his remarks, and his delivery of them.