Costner to "crash" Rays party

Longtime movie star Kevin Costner will be the star entertainer at the Rays' Nov. 8 unveiling of their new uniforms and logos at St. Petersburg's downtown Straub Park.
Costner, who starred in baseball-themed movies including Bull Durham and Field of Dreams, will perform with his rock band, Modern West, at around 6:30 p.m., following the 5:30 "fashion" show, featuring current and former players, such as Wade Boggs and Fred McGriff, modeling the new uniforms.
There will be a fireworks show after the free concert. Activities start at 4 p.m.
The Rays will make appearances throughout the Tampa Bay area on Nov. 9, including a noon event at Gaslight Park in downtown Tampa, and at Champs retail stores that night.

The

Comments

[Tampabaysportsfanatic]

I have an idea, just make the announcemtn and use the money they are spending on this dumb party to give us free parking again and stop with the dumb $2 service fees.

[Ryan Callahan]

OMG!!! More money more money more money. WHY NOT SPEND THE MONEY ON THE PLAYERS!? This is Rediculous. We will never have a good team because all this management worries about is having famous people at their "unveiling party" and how the players look. i dont care if they are wearing shorts and t shirts as long as they win. I am FED UP with this management.

[DJ]

Seriously? Are you guys really complaining about how much the Rays spent on designing new uniforms, hiring Costner's band, and throwing a party? If they hired the Rolling Stones and a guy to resurrect Gianni Versace to design the new uniforms, it wouldn't have any impact on payroll.

[DJs shrink]

Apparently off your meds again, moron. Add up all this crap and it means something.
It's also the sign of a degenerate corporate culture that is not interested in the final product but only in the socialistic revenue sharing.
We need to boost your visits here to thrice a week.

[DJ]

Added up with what? 10 million on making the Trop better and another few million on an academy in Venezuela? They could have used that money for a year and a half on Gil Meche. Wow, maybe fourth place in the AL East again!!!... It is not what they spend on other things, it's what they don't spend on free agents. One doesn't have anything to do with the other. They should be doing both. Their extra little spending added all together isn't even close to how much it would cost to get a free agent that's worth anything. Keep doing whatever extra stuff you want AND spend some money to fill holes through free agency.

[The Dude]

The new unis are horrible anyway.

[Ray of Sunshine]

An organization pretending to be a MLB team (the Rays) hires a group pretending to be a rock band (Modern West) being fronted by a guy best known for pretending to be a baseball player (Kevin Costner), very classy! I think I'll pretend to attend.

[Sunshine]

It sounds like a fun time, I'm going. It should be A WHOLE lot more fun than whining to a blog.
You guys can sit home and watch tv with your mom.

[the shrink]

DJ,

I was taking the $10 million and spending it on an ANNUAL basis. That would make it significant compared to the present $28 million payroll. But I agree. It should be a lot more--at the very least $50 million.

[Tony]

Seriously guys, it's just a party. They had to bring in some big names in hopes that people wouldn't show up and boo those god-awful new uniforms. As for spending on free agents, you might as well forget about them making a splash this offseason. This is one a the worst free agent classes to come along in a long time. The key to the future success of the Rays lies in how much they are willing to spend to lock up their own developing stars. Building from within is the model for success for the have nots. Case in point: Colorado Rockies.

[shrinkie shrinkie]

Tony,

They're not even COMPETITIVE. They had the worst record in baseball. They have beaten one divisional rival once in ten seasons. Who's talking about stars? They neded actual major leaguers to fill holes. They don't have a major league catcher in the entire organization. They need a shortstop. They have 2 1/2 proven pitchers and believe me, no one else on the '07 staff has even potential to be average. The guys with potential: Upton, Crawford, and Young are not going to wait to build from within. You act like all the good players in the organization will stay while Sternberg tries to compete on a shoelace. Time is running out. This is the offseason they need to improve this team drastically with trades and free agents. Forget all that "from within" crap.