What they're saying

“I was excited about it and I think everybody was so it’s a little disappointing. We were looking forward to it. . . . It was something to get excited about. But we can deal with the turf. We’ve been playing on it for so long at the Trop, we’ve done good in the Trop. We just have to keep playing in the Trop and see what happens after that. Hopefully something will come up.” - Carl Crawford, longest tenured member of the Rays

“I applaud the Rays’ commitment to better under-standing the wishes and needs of our citizens. As we go forward, I hope that we can have engaging collaborative and community discussions about keeping the Rays in Pinellas County.” - Karen Seel, Pinellas County Commissioner

“It’s a good thing. It’s what POWW has been advocating for months, that we need more information, we need to look at alternatives, that it was much too narrow of a time frame.” - Hal Freedman, Preserve Our Wallets and Waterfront

“It eliminates an end date. It eliminates a rush. We’ve got some room to breathe now and really look at all the issues.” - Jeff Danner, St. Petersburg City Council member

“Now instead of having the Rays float these balloons that get shot down, we have a more inclusive communitywide effort, involving all the constituencies.” - Steve Raymund, St. Petersburg Area Chamber baseball task force chairman

“CONA has been very supportive of a delay in this process and looks forward to working actively with the new group. It’s a good idea for everyone.” - Barbara Heck, president of St. Petersburg’s Council of Neighborhood Associations

“Not just being on the Rays but living in the area, I thought this was a great idea and this was definitely going to help the St. Petersburg area grow. So it’s a little disappointing, to say the least.”
- Dan Wheeler, Rays relief pitcher, who lives year-round in Belleair Beach

“I applaud the Rays’ management and ownership for their decision to seek other opportunities in our region and will work, as a county commissioner, to ensure that their objectives are met in a manner that mitigate and address the objections of our community and environment.” - Ronnie Duncan, Pinellas County commissioner

“Clearly, the waterfront could be a very, very good site. But at the end of the day if we can rally together as a community and come up with something that everyone can agree on and ensure that Major League Baseball stays in St. Petersburg for 50 more years to come, then I’m all for it.” -Kenny Locke, Fans For Waterfront Stadium

“As an average fan . . . I thought it was a heck of an idea. But for whatever reason it’s not working yet so we have to make it work somehow.” - Joe Maddon, Rays manager

Comments

[Oh the Irony]

Barbara Heck [CONA] used to be a product manager at Tech Data .... the former chairman of that same company?
Steve Raymund ... the St. Petersburg Area Chamber baseball task force chairman

of course I'd be willing to bet you that Raymund wouldn't be able to pick Carlos Pena out of a lineup if he was standing next to Cadillac Williams and Marty St Louis!

[Thomas]

"This plan may have failed, but Aaron Sharockman was a huge success. His blog was the coolest thing on the internet for weeks. A completely unbiased information source with lively debate. I can only hope the Frankness returns for the next proposal."
- Thomas, Message Board Poster, Non-Hunter.

[mlm]

Agree with Thomas. It's a shame the comments often did not match the quality of the reporting.

[Rick K]

Two important observations from the quotes above....

1. The Rays players and coaches were apparently bigger fans of the proposed new waterfront stadium than the misinformation specialists in the ANTI cause asserted.

2. It appears that the County Commissioners quoted above would prefer a site NOT in the City.