ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — The storybook Rays are baseball’s ultimate good news, bad news organization.
Consider:
• Good news: With speed, power, pitching and youth, as well as manageable contracts, the Rays should be contenders through at least through 2010. And center fielder B.J. Upton and rookie third baseman Evan Longoria are two of the game’s most exciting young players.
Virtually the entire roster is under the club’s control through 2010, with budding stars such as Longoria and pitchers James Shields and Scott Kazmir signed to sensible long-term deals. Electric left-hander David Price, the top overall pick in the 2007 draft, was a September call-up who has been impressive into the postseason and would enter next season as a candidate to be the American League rookie of the year.
• Bad news: Dingy Tropicana Field, even with the ubiquitous cowbells clanging and some stadium improvements, simply doesn’t supply a great baseball experience. That helps explain the lowly attendance.
The Rays drew 1,811,986 fans to “The Trop” this year. That’s a 30 percent increase over 2007 and the most since 2.5 million came though the gates during the inaugural 1998 campaign. Still, even though the Rays were in first place for 111 days this season, they ranked 26th in attendance.
High hopes of constructing a $450 million ballpark on the St. Petersburg waterfront in time for 2012 fell apart in June amid citizen protest and little support from area officials.
• Good news: Red Sox fans used to invade “The Trop” and turn it into their own home field. No longer. This is Rays country now, and manager Joe Maddon has high hopes that a budding Rays-Red Sox rivalry will make baseball a “happening” in the Tampa Bay area.
“The way this season has played out, the closeness of the games, the intensity of the games, the fact that we have been able to arrive at the level of the Red Sox on the playing field . . . I think it’s great for the game, it’s great for us,” Maddon said.
• Bad news: Until proven otherwise, big-league baseball remains a second-class sport in Florida. Northern-based fans flock to spring training — to see the Yankees, Red Sox, etc. But come the regular season, the Rays and the Marlins struggle to draw fans. In 2007, the Marlins averaged 16,919 fans per game, last in baseball. The Rays drew 17,148, second to last.
• Conclusion: Until proven otherwise, Florida’s late-season love affair with the Rays is nothing more than a fling.
Waiting game.
The wait goes on for the Philadelphia Phillies, who clinched the NL pennant last Wednesday, meaning they will have to wait a full week before playing in the World Series. That’s not a good thing, according to Red Sox manager Terry Francona, whose team swept the rusty Rockies in last year’s Series.
“I think that we hoped (the layoff) would hurt them,” Francona said. “But again, it comes back to you trying to take everything and make it turn into an advantage.”
Last year, the Rockies had a record eight-day layoff after sweeping Arizona in the NLCS and entering the World Series having 21 wins in 22 games. Boston had only two days off after rallying from a 3-1 deficit to beat Cleveland in the ALCS.
Patrick Saunders covers Major League Baseball. Reach him at 303-954-1428 or psaunders@denverpost.com.
