Pie in the Sky

The Tampa Bay Rays have just released renderings of a proposed new stadium.  Heaven help Rays’ fans—if in fact there are any—should this thing ever gets built.  It looks a little bit like the Twins’ old Metrodome, only flattened and with a see-through roof.

The stadium would have a mere 28,216 permanent seats for a total capacity of just under 31,000.  At one time or another, Comiskey Park had a capacity of 52,000; Ebbets Field, 35,000; Forbes Field, 41,000; and the Polo Grounds, 55,000.  And let’s not forget the old Yankee Stadium at 70,000 and Cleveland’s Municipal Stadium, 78,000.  That paltry number of seats can only mean one thing:  the Rays don’t want baseball for the masses, but the classes.

The estimated cost is in the neighborhood of $900 million, with the Rays mum on exactly how much they would contribute.  I can just imagine fans broiling under that translucent roof.  How do you spell “design fiasco”?  It shouldn’t be with public money.

Here’s a thought.  At $900 million, you could basically rebuild all of the classic ballparks.  Why don’t the Rays do that and play every series in a new-old park?  Better that than yet another Wi-Fi friendly venue.