PINELLAS COUNTY, Fla. — The best story in Major League Baseball after one month of the season sits in St. Petersburg, and it couldn't come at a better time for a team looking for a new home.
The Tampa Bay Rays are 26-6 on the season and 17-2 inside the friendly confines of Tropicana Park. The Rays haven't lost more than two games in a row through a little more than a month of the regular season.
On the field, the Rays' offense has been knocking the cover off the ball. The Rays have hit 67 home runs thus far on the season and are posting a team batting average of .278 through May 4's games.
The Rays lead the American League in runs scored, home runs, batting average, on-base percentage, slugging percentage, and OPS. The team is second in the American League in total hits and doubles.
And the pitching has been lights out as well.
Staff ace Shane McClanahan is 6-0 on the season and Zach Eflin, Jeffrey Springs, and Taj Bradley are also undefeated on the season. The pitching corps should get a healthy Tyler Glasnow back at some point in the season when he recovers from injury.
In the American League, the Rays' pitching staff ranks first in wins, ERA, hits allowed, runs allowed, and home runs allowed and rank third in total innings pitched.
The team's success, and fan interest, have the Rays also opening the upper level of the Tropicana Dome for the first time in years. At least three times this season, the Rays have packed more than 20,000 fans into the Trop, which has been rocking with each victory.
And the Rays' success could finally solve the issue of what to do after the Tropicana Dome.
The team has been in limbo for years as the cities of St. Pete and Tampa, along with the Rays, have debated a new stadium for the team.
A new stadium will cost more than $1 billion, and covering the costs will be split between taxpayers and the ownership of the team. In news that will be good for Rays fans, the options for the team to possibly relocate to are shrinking.
Las Vegas was once considered a top city for a team to relocate to, but they have a deal in place for the Oakland A's. Nashville, Tennessee, has been talked about, but the city and state are about to pay out more than $1 billion in public money for a new stadium for the NFL's Tennessee Titans.
There are other options on the table, but staying in St. Petersburg or Tampa may be exactly what the Rays need to do.
Back in January, Mayor Ken Welch announced Hines and Tampa Bay Rays as his selection for the master developer of the Historic Gas Plant Redevelopment Project.
“It’s really exciting to be able to combine such an incredible start with something that is going to be an incredible project," said Michael Harrison, the Senior Managing Director at Hines.
He elaborated on the opportunity for the Rays to continue their legacy with the new development.
“In the ballpark that we’re going to be developing, the Rays are going to be developing, and the project around the ballpark that Hines and the Rays are going to do together, we have an opportunity to really focus on placemaking and turn this into a destination for 365 days a year rather than 90 or 100 baseball games a year," said Harrison.
A St. Pete spokesperson said their city staff members are in the process of conducting active negotiations with Hines and Tampa Bay Rays on behalf of all of the communities in St. Petersburg. They said they're hopeful to stick to the previously released timeline, which would deliver a term sheet to St. Pete City Council for review this summer. The term sheet would give city leaders the opportunity to get feedback and input from residents.
“It’s been great throughout the years, but this year is really special," said Mark Ferguson, the owner of Ferg's Sports Bar and Grill.
Ferg's has been serving customers for 31 years. When the Rays do well, Ferguson said it's a big boost to the economy for downtown.
“It means a lot to everybody because now we hired more people. We got more servers, more bartenders, more service help," said Ferguson.
As questions surround the Ray's future, Ferguson thinks for sure St. Pete is the best city for the team.
“We have the space. We have the infrastructure. We own the land, and people are moving here left and right," said Ferguson.
The Rays said they won't be commenting on the ballpark discussions at this time.
