Rox Win Great Plains West, Lose in Division Championship

(photo courtesy of Rox website)

The St. Cloud Rox had a phenomenal season in our first as partial season ticket holders, coming on strong late in the season to win the second half of the Great Plains West division, with an overall record of 43-26.  They made it out of the first round of the 8-team playoff field with a victory in the best-of-3 series against nearby rival Willmar, and in doing so, became the first team in Northwoods League history to come back to win a 3-game playoff series after dropping the first game at home.  The magic would end in the second round, losing a winner-take-all game to the LaCrosse Loggers by a score of 8-1 in the Great Plains Championship.  This season was a continuation of a particularly prolific period in franchise history.  Since 2015 (ironically the year of my first St. Cloud game), the Rox have earned playoff births in 8 of the 9 non-COVID seasons, 4 division championships, the best overall league record in 2021, and one Northwoods League Championship back in 2017.  Ben Higdon, a Junior from Southern Miss, led the team in batting average, RBI, walks, and games played, was second in homeruns with 11, and was also named a mid-season All-Star.  Among pitchers with at least 1 start, Dallin Harrison (San Diego) led the team in ERA and wins, Piercen McElyea (Tarleton State) led the team with 52 strikeouts, and Kaden Pfeffer (SCSU) led the team with 52 innings pitched.

The Rox went 5-2 in the seven games of our ticket package and 26-9 overall at home this season, including a remarkable 18-3 home record in the second half.  They were such a fun team to watch, particularly offensively, and I cannot wait to return to Joe Faber Field next year!

STANDINGS AND UPCOMING SERIES AS OF 8/23/24:

Brewers 73-54, +10.0; 3 @ Athletics, 3 v. Giants, 4 @ Reds, 3 v. Cardinals

Twins 71-56, -2.0, -- WC; 3 v. Cardinals, 3 v. Braves, 3 v. Blue Jays, 4 @ Rays

Orioles 74-55, -1.5, +2.0 WC; 4 v. Astros, 3 @ Dodgers, 3 @ Rockies, 3 v. White Sox

2024 GAMES ATTENDED:

Erik - 7

Peter - 29

White Sox Enter the Conversation for New Ballpark

(rendering by proposed developer Related Midwest)

With the Rays' new ballpark seemingly close to a lock, and the Royals and A's ballpark situations sputtering, the Chicago White Sox now have their proverbial hand out to the State of Illinois as they enter the stadium sweepstakes.  With the end of their current lease at Guaranteed Rate Field looming after the 2029 season, the White Sox and owner Jerry Reinsdorf are being pro-active by circulating some sexy renderings for a new ballpark that could completely transform Chicago.  The proposed site is known as "The 78," which is a 62-acre vacant plot of land that was formerly home to a railyard for decades, and smack dab in the middle of downtown in the South Loop.  It has been coveted by developers for years, as it represents the largest undeveloped parcel of land in downtown Chicago with worlds of potential and tax revenue.  Billionaire Reinsdorf has "generously" offered to foot "some" of the bill for this project, but is largely hoping for a public subsidy of over $1.2B in the form of a 2% hotel tax.

There are several practical reasons why the White Sox would want a new park, so that in and of itself isn't a surprise.  The current location of Guaranteed Rate Field on the south side is horrible and very polarizing for both fans and visitors.  It's not a great or safe neighborhood, and it is surrounded by nothing but parking lots and the Dan Ryan Expressway.  Maintaining or building a new ballpark in its current location only benefits the residents and homes immediately west and walkable to the park, but is otherwise far from a destination for anyone else.  Moving to a downtown site would afford a surrounding development opportunity that just doesn't exist on the South Side; it's far more lucrative currently for the team to maximize all of the parking lot revenue.  The stadium itself was also completed in 1991 and had the misfortune of opening just before Camden Yards, which completely changed the game and started the retro ballpark craze.  This caused what was then known as Comiskey Park II to become obsolete almost immediately.  It also has some notable major design flaws that would be hard to remedy without a complete gut, such as the ridiculously steep upper bowl, and all of the vertical circulation being on the exterior outside the gates, which means that fans are restricted to only their ticketed level for the entire game.  With the stadium lease being up in 5 1/2 years and Reinsdorf being 88 years old, logistically now is the time to kick this conversation into high gear.

However, practical reasons aside, the timing and manner in which the team is pursuing this could not be any worse.  The Bears are also pursuing public financing for a new stadium at the same time and would surely be the preferred breadwinner if any public money is handed out at all, which is by no means a sure thing.  Guaranteed Rate Field was 100% publicly financed and is only a little more than 30 years old, so the appetite for funding another new park is just not there, especially when $50M in bonding still exists on the current ballpark that would have to somehow be managed.  Chicago might not even want to squander a major opportunity on this huge vacant parcel on another stadium, which have been proven in study after study to be a sinkhole for property taxes and do not spur desirable long-term development or growth.  It's also just not a great look for a billionaire to be asking for a handout in year when his team is vying to surpass the 1962 Mets as the worst in the history of the modern era.  It's a delicate balance to be sure, as these projects cost tons of time and capital, but the city could also be in a situation where the Bears, White Sox, and MLS Fire (who also play at Soldier Field) could all leave town, which Chicago would obviously like to avoid.

However inconceivable it might be for an octogenarian owner to threaten to move a team to another city or state, blackmail almost always works in these situations, so it will be interesting to see how this plays out over the next few years.  After the Rays in 2028, it's far from certain what the next new MLB park will be to open, despite what the respective teams or the media tell you.

STANDINGS AND UPCOMING SERIES AS OF 8/9/24:

Brewers 65-49, +7.0; 3 v. Reds, 4 v. Dodgers, 3 v. Guardians, 3 @ Cardinals

Twins 63-50, -3.5, +0.5 WC; 4 v. Guardians, 3 v. Royals, 4 @ Rangers, 3 @ Padres

Orioles 68-48, --; 3 @ Rays, 2 v. Nationals, 4 v. Red Sox, 3 @ Mets

2024 GAMES ATTENDED:

Erik - 7

Peter - 27

Rays New Stadium Deal Finally Official

(rendering courtesy of Tampa Bay Times)

Let the hyperbole and skepticism abound, Tampa Bay Rays fans.  You've been waiting for a new ballpark since pretty much Day 1 of your team's existence, and it appears the wait is almost over.  After decades of failed stadium efforts on multiple sites in multiple cities, and after many cockamamie schemes and threats to move the team, it appears that the Tampa Bay Rays will finally be getting a new home in downtown St. Petersburg.  In the past couple of weeks, the St. Petersburg City Council and the Pinellas County Commission both formally approved their shares of public subsidy for the estimated $1.3B ballpark, which will be one part of an overall $6.5B development of what is known locally as the Gas Plant District.  The ballpark and district will be sited next to and surrounding Tropicana Field, which is the current home of the Rays that will eventually be torn down.  Groundbreaking is expected in January 2025 with an anticipated completion in time for Opening Day 2028.  These dates coincide with the Rays' original 30-year lease on the Trop expiring after the 2027 season.

Some of the metrics of this historic project:

• St. Petersburg is contributing $429.5M to the total project, in the form of tax-exempt bonds that will be repaid through a TIF.  $287.5M of that money goes towards the ballpark, $12M for an on-site wastewater treatment facility, and the remainder towards infrastructure improvements for the overall district.  St. Petersburg is also selling 65 acres of public land to the Rays for this development for $105M.
• Pinellas County is contributing $312.5M to the total project, which will come from an existing hotel bed tax.  Only 40% of that tax is allowed by law to go towards stadium funding, so there will also be some debt incurred by the county to cover the gap.
• The Rays are contributing over $700M towards the ballpark, plus any cost overruns, as well as the development of the remainder of the site through debt, private equity, and outside investors.
• The Rays will have a 30-year lease with two 5-year optional extensions on the new ballpark, including a non-relocation agreement
• Ballpark will be the most intimate in the majors, with only 25,000-30,000 planned fixed seats on primarily 2 levels, and a capacity of around 34,000 for baseball games when factoring in social spaces and standing room areas, as well as a very minimal amount of foul territory.  It will feature a tiered pavilion-style fixed roof and artificial turf.
• Gas Plant District is planned to eventually include 5,400 residential units, 750 hotel rooms, 1.4M square feet of Class A office and medical space, 750K square feet of retail, a separate 4,000-seat concert venue, and 14 acres of green space.  A new African-American Museum will also be built - this site was an historically majority-black area of the city that was infamously displaced by the Trop in the 1980s.  It is unclear how much if any of the surrounding development will be built by the time the ballpark opens - hopefully it is closer to the Atlanta situation than DC.

Aside from the cash grab by a billionaire owner which I've repeated ad nauseum, the two most interesting parts of this ballpark to me are the roof and the site.  I cringed when I saw the renderings that depict the all-too-familiar low slung roof on trusses suspended over the field, as I immediately thought of all the troubles that Tropicana Field is notorious for with batted ball interference.  Many covered stadiums have successfully worked through this issue with extensive studies, but the roof just looks so short in the renderings that I really hope that some people smarter than me are not wasting all this effort just to recreate the same problem.  I also find it interesting that after years of trying to get out of downtown St. Petersburg because of the well-documented issues the site has with access from across the bay, that the Rays are just going all-in on building on the exact same site they are now.  It just goes to show that money cures all ills, and teams will follow anyone who is willing to cough it up.

It feels like I've been following the new Rays stadium process since this blog started over 17 years go, so in a way the end to this saga feels kind of anti-climatic.  I also am not entirely going to believe this is happening until I see pictures of shovels in the ground, but it sure seems to have a more solid foundation that the A's dumpster fire situation.  2028 has the potential to be just the beginning of a very exciting era of new major league ballparks, and Erik and I are ready for it.

STANDINGS AND UPCOMING SERIES AS OF 8/1/24:

Brewers 61-47, +5.0; 3 @ Nationals, 3 @ Braves

Twins 59-48, -6.0, -- WC; 3 v. White Sox, 3 @ Cubs

Orioles 65-44, +0.5; 4 @ Guardians, 3 @ Blue Jays

2024 GAMES ATTENDED:

Erik - 7

Peter - 27