You know how we all have these drawers — or cigar boxes — of stuff? Photos that aren’t album or cube worthy. Ticket stubs. Commemorative pens that don’t work. A coin from that trip to wherever it was. Business cards that deserve such a filing affront.
Well, the other day I came across a beauty in the lost and profound department. Right under an “I’m Wearing Green Underwear” button. It was a souvenir card — not coincidentally the size of a baseball card — from the opening night of the Florida Suncoast Dome in downtown St. Petersburg. The co-feature was the 43rd annual Governor’s Baseball Dinner and First Major League Alumni Reunion. March 14, 1990.
The card features an exterior photo of the Dome and is emblazoned with the words: Welcome Major League Baseball.
How presumptuous. The facility was built on “Build It And They Will Come” spec to spite the other side of the Bay. And in spite of the misgiving of then Baseball Commissioner Peter Ueberroth. But the Tampa Bay Devil Ray franchise was, indeed, eventually awarded to St. Petersburg and its Florida Suncoast Dome in 1996 — after the city had dropped its antitrust lawsuit against MLB over a squelched relocation move by the San Francisco Giants. And the D-Rays debuted in 1998.
In the context of the Rays continuing as the best team nobody pays to watch and looking at relo scenarios, how ironic to peer back two decades. The back of that Welcome Major League Baseball card had several itemized selling points. To wit:
*Major League Commitment…22,697 season ticket reservations sold in 30 days. *United political and corporate support coupled with a dedicated local ownership group. *Major League Market…The 13th largest media market in America. Florida’s number one metro in America’s 4th most populous state. *Major League Facility…A 43,000-seat baseball showcase — The Florida Suncoast Dome. WE’VE COVERED ALL THE BASES
That was then. This is not.