The groud rules are a blast, aren’t they?

You know what – you were right!

Seeing as though Toby Hall has proven to be an unproductive waste of money for you all. Perhaps it was ignorant at the time to suggest not signing him due to his being an asshole, which he sort of was, but there was also the whole “he sucks” element as well. Sorry you had to find out the hard way.

People always bring up the catwalks as a problem with the Trop, and I can understand that to some degree, but how honestly does it really impact the game? The ground rules pretty much set things even. Balls off the lower two catwalks would be home runs had the catwalks not obstructed the ball’s flight. Balls hitting off catwalks in foul territory would end up as foul balls out of play anyways. As far as balls striking the upper couple catwalks go, I’ve only seen that happen maybe a few times since the stadium opened. It really doesn’t occur that often, and balls that stay up there and are judged ground rule doubles are no different than similar quirks in any other ballpark. Not every stadium is cookie-cutter similar, thankfully, nearly every one has their own unique ground rules in some area or another, and the arcane ones at the Trop come into play so little that it shouldn’t really matter.

BTW, no hard feelings, I hope?

I may disagree with some of his individual decisions, but they are relatively minor and I can understand the general thinking that he is going with as he moves forward on the franchise. The team has done more in a business sense over the last two years than Naimoli ever did. He’s upgraded the stadium, re-branded the team, signed several players to long-term, team-friendly deals, and moved forward with a massive stadium proposal that would completely change the look of St. Pete.

There will be individual players, Scott Kazmir most likely, that probably won’t stay here long-term, but I think that he can keep the core of the team together just fine. They have the No. 1 farm system in baseball, and the Longoria signing last week is just another example of the commitment Sternberg has shown to keeping the young players here. He might not always be successful, but he will try.

Attendance has increased every year at the Trop since Sternberg took over, including so far this year, and a lot of that has to do with the upgrades he’s made to the stadium. The organization is really trying their best to make the Trop a destination for families, and they’re building relationships in the community. Attendance is at its highest levels since 1998-00 despite the team actually finishing with the worst record in baseball for two years running. I think things will only get better as they develop a winning product.

This team is fun to watch, and for the first time that I can remember as a fan, there is actually the expectation of some success this year. We probably won’t finish in even the top three of the AL East this year, but next year they could certainly challenge for the division if things keep progressing.

But I would nominate Yankee Stadium, Fenway Park, the Metrodome, the Oakland Coliseum, Shea Stadium, and Joe Robbie Stadium as potentially worse places to catch a ballgame. IMO, the Trop is certainly better than Joe Robbie. Now obviously five of these stadiums are going to be replaced in the near term, and Fenway has historical value, so the Trop doesn’t have a lot going for it going forward. That’s why it is imperative for the team to get the ball rolling on a stadium upgrade, but right now I think the Trop is cushioned from the bottom. I guess it’s a matter of taste though. Some people just have a virulent antipathy towards domes.

I don’t plan on quoting the Communist Manifesto anywhere though, so have no fear.