Rays/MLB

New owner confident goodwill can endure

By MARC TOPKIN
Published March 26, 2006

ST. PETERSBURG - Stuart Sternberg knows there is more work to be done. The team could use some pitching help heading into the April 3 opener, and the stadium remains under major reconstruction with 15 days 'til the home opener.

But the Devil Rays' new principal owner is confident the changes they have made will make a huge difference.

"I firmly believe that people will come out of our stadium on opening night and that first week, and I don't think there will be two people that say, "Same old Devil Rays,"' Sternberg said.

"And on the flip side of that, people are going to walk out and say, "Gee, they really treated us great. I can't believe how nice everybody was. You ought to see what the restrooms are like. They have flat-screen TVs all over the place. The attendants and the fan hosts were unbelievable. They really got me in and out of there quickly. I didn't have to pay for the parking. The food lines were better.'

"I think each person is going to point to one, two or three issues that's going to make them feel really positive about the experience, take that home with them, into work the next day, to their neighbors, and be proud to say they went to the ballgame the night before."

Sternberg said success in 2006 will be measured in terms of increased interest level, and the anecdotal evidence so far has been positive.

Season-ticket sales are up by double digits - percentage-wise, not total sales - though apparently still have a long way to reach even 10,000, as the increase is measured in hundreds.

"This is the first year in team history season-ticket sales have risen," Sternberg said. "I expected we would turn the tide this year with everything and get those numbers up, but it's been ahead of what we expected to this point. I'm not going to say it's translating into tons of revenue because that's one piece of the pie, but what it shows is that ... hundreds and hundreds of people ... are making a commitment."

Also, Sternberg said "it would be great" if total attendance, a major-league-low 1.14-million, increased about the same each year as the payroll is projected to, somewhere in the 10 percent to 20 percent range.

Overall anticipation has been great, Sternberg said, though he knows wins and losses will soon "muck everything up." He hesitates to make public predictions but hints that a goal would be matching last year's post All-Star break performance, when the Rays went 39-34.

"I would hope that we can play like we did the second half last year; that would be spectacular," he said. "They did it not long ago. It's basically the same crew. No question losing (closer) Danys Baez , a guy of that quality, will hurt, but certainly the fact that we've got young players whose careers are going sort of like this (he motions upward), and having Jonny Gomes and Jorge Cantu the full year, and Rocco (Baldelli) coming back, and maybe a couple of pitchers getting a bit better, it's more than possible. I think it's kind of hopeful and expect that we should be able to play with that vim and vigor."

RAYS RUMBLINGS: Ushers, ticket-takers, security personnel and other game-day staffers this week will go through a weeklong training session - Rays U - that includes attitude and actions. ... ESPN's Peter Gammons blogs: "By consensus, the organizations with the biggest and best young athletes are the Dodgers, Angels and Devil Rays." ... Sternberg says the Rays eventually will make a big advertising push in the Orlando area. ... Renovations inside Tropicana Field include a new color scheme featuring red, blue and green earthtones throughout the concourse. ... Cantu will be the guest for the final preseason radio show 8 p.m. Monday at Ferg's Sports Bar & Grill (1320 Central Ave.). ... Padres GM Kevin Towers told espn.com that ex-Ray Dewon Brazelton "just needed somebody to put an arm around him and say, "We believe in you.' He's a half-million-dollar player now. He's not that big $5-million pick with all those expectations." ... Joey Gathright isn't the only outfielder the Marlins are pursuing; they are also interested in Houston's Willy Taveras . ... The Rays 2006 media guide has Joe Maddon on the cover and is dedicated to Tampa Hall of Famer Al Lopez . ... If the Rays are looking for relief help, San Francisco's Tyler Walker , who saved 23 games last year, could be an option. ... The Tampa Bay chapter of the Baseball Writers Association of America renamed its annual good-guy award the Paul C. Smith Champion Award in honor of the late devilrays.com writer; Toby Hall was the 2005 recipient.

CLASSICAL REVIEW: There are lots of ideas floating around to tweak the World Baseball Classic before it is played again, likely in 2009, but there are few who didn't come away convinced it has the potential to be huge.

The biggest issue has been the timing of the event, and insiders say one plan explored is to hold it during an expanded July All-Star break of about 10 days. To make that work, the field would have to be cut to six or eight teams, but there would be qualifying rounds held the year before.

Information from other news organizations was used in the report.

[Last modified March 26, 2006, 00:26:15]