Baseball at the horse track

And you thought it was all about the baseball and the fans. Nope. It’s all about the cash.

St. Petersburg, Fl
Opinion by: E. Eugene Webb PhD
Author: In Search of Robin

As expected things have quieted down a bit on the Rays exit from downtown St. Pete. While the activity in Tampa and Hillsborough County continues to move along, the pace seems to have slowed a bit as the baseball season gets under way.

Charlie Frago has an interesting article in the Tampa Bay Times, Could hunt for stadium lead Tampa Bay Rays to ... Oldsmar?

Oldsmar as the new home of the Rays?  120 acres of undeveloped land owned by Tampa Bay Downs lies just to the west of Race Track Road.

Probably a long shot, but Brian Auld's and Melanie Lenz's take was, "It definitely has the potential of funding from both counties." 

And you thought it was all about the baseball and the fans. Nope. It’s all about the cash.

All of that starts to make sense in light of the Hillsborough’s $40-million-dollar commitment to the Yankees for an update of their spring training facility.

Having funding available from both counties may sound intriguing, the Rays will probably rethink that once they consider all the strings that would be attached to a multicounty agreement to fund a new stadium.

Not sure where this site is located, head for the Oldsmar Flea Market and keep driving until you get to the race track. It’s back there somewhere.

All of this may sound a bit farfetched but stranger things have happened.

For now, Oldsmar Mayor Doug Bevis is having a good time.

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Disclosures:
Contributor: Bob Gualtieri for Pinellas County Sheriff