The Braves bid for spring in St. Pete makes things interesting

First, full disclosure, we have lived and died with the Atlanta Braves for over thirty years. That being said, who saw this development coming? Certainly not St. Pete’s Mayor and City Council who seldom see the sun coming in the morning. We read and re-read the Journal Constitution and every Atlanta Braves blog there is, and there was no mention anywhere of this bombshell. County Commissioner Ken Welch summed up the situation best when he said bringing another spring training team (and perhaps retaining another) to the bay area and keeping the Rays are two separate issues – each to be weighed on its own merits (the part after dash our words not his). The Rays already are acting like the little boy who no longer wants a toy but darned if they want anyone else to have it. The Rays abandoned the bay area as their spring training home knowing full well it is a super attractive site for pre-season ball as the Blue Jays, Phils and Yanks would attest. The Braves are a draw – with the third highest spring attendance in Florida year in, year out - trailing only the Yanks and Red Sox. Putting together a deal with them (and not even considering the year-round tangent benefits) can only benefit the city of St. Pete and the county.

Around the bay:

1. Astonishing – the endorsement by “Florida’s Best Newspaper” of a candidate who played fast and loose with campaign funds and has a rap sheet on her resume– simply because that candidate is willing to join the three or four other Tampa Bay Rays lap dogs on the St. Pete city council. And Steve Kornell, a six-year incumbent, who committed the mortal sin of standing up to the Rays for the good of the city, gets thumbs down despite a stellar track record during his term in office. Talk about a lack of credibility.

2. The countdown is just days until Clearwater’s premiere annual event – Jazz Holiday now in its 36^th season. Lest we forget, a tip of the hat to the festival’s creator – Don Mains and the cadre of volunteers who have nurtured it over the years.

3. Nice that Mayor George Cretekos and City Manager Bill Horne are visiting our sister city Nagano, but do we have to foot the bill for 4/5ths of our city council to go? Again, it is the fiscally conservative Council member Bill Jonson who is choosing not to go.

4. The so-called “Friendship Bridge” is coming down after local officials refused to pour 20 million dollars into its renovation. Back in 1999 when the old Gandy Bridge was designated for the pedestrian bridge usage, many experts and policy makers warned then the bridge would have a limited life span and would be extremely costly to renovate or replace. Their concerns fell on deaf ears.

5. You’ve lived in Clearwater a long time if you were on split sessions at Clearwater Junior High while they were building the “new” Oak Grove Junior High School.

The diamond, the media and other stuff:

6. The Lightning continue to do inexplicable things off the ice. Now they want to limit the number of tickets a fan can sell during the season. It’s like this – fans buy season tickets so they can get good seats but they can’t get to every game, so they sell them to other fans or often give them away. This does not make them ticket brokers as the Lightning alleges. Having made the finals last year, the Lightning are feeling their oats, but things and standings have a way of changing. Lightning management will probably learn that the hard way.

7. It was nice to see former Tampa Bay Ray Quinton McCracken interviewed for the Red Sox General Manager’s job. We hope it wasn’t one of those “we must interview a person of color” interviews and that the personable and knowledgeable McCracken’s name will turn up again in conjunction with top management spots. He currently serves as the Director of Player Development for the resurgent Houston Astros.

8. We’re only about three months late on this, but congratulations to that paragon of satire, the 5:05 Newsletter on their 1000^th volume.

9. Just guessing that Jonathon Papelbon won’t be wearing a Washington National’s uniform next year.

10. Factoid: With the recent passing of Jack Larson (Jimmy Olson), the only two surviving members of the original Superman TV series are the two Lois Lanes – Phyllis Coates who co-starred in the first season and Noel Neill who appeared in the rest of the original episodes of the man of steel.

The Fall Classic - and the winner is ……

Man, there are some great story lines out there this October. The Royals who came so close last year back for another shot at the crown. The Mets with a young pitching staff that harks back to Seaver and Koosman; then there’s the Bronx Bombers who would love to win one for Yogi – and their hated rivals (at least back in the 50s) the Dodgers. Don’t forget the Blue Jays who came out of nowhere in the second half or how about the Cards who just know how to win or the Rangers? Our crack prognosticator, Achmed Walled (pronounced wall-ED) feels it will be the previously mentioned Royals and from the National League, a longshot – the Chicago Cubs for the first time since 1945. Wouldn’t that be a fun series! By the way, Achmed likes the Royals in five.