Rays Tropicana Field Opening Day

Rays Trop Opening Day

Mark Corbett: [00:00:00] 

Welcome to BaseballBiz On Deck. And it is opening day for the Tampa Bay Rays in Tropicana Field. Hey Mat. How you doing brother? 

Mat Germain: I'm a busy guy. Mark likes taking you by the horns.

Mark Corbett: Oh gosh. You know, I was wondering about how the rest of us, we'd be feeling pulled [00:01:00] in today to Tropicana Field and was wondering how everything was gonna play out. Things did pretty well today, man. I, I, I turned on, actually first, I'm listening to the radio earlier today and I'm hearing scuttlebutt again about the, the stadium coming from a.

Ken Hagan saying, oh, things are looking really good. It's like, yeah, okay, but let's, let's get to the fun of the day. Let's talk about opening day at Tropicana Field. And lo and behold, it was excitement. , The first game after, I think it's 561 days a game is being played there.

And what, almost over 900 plus games, Shane McClanahan, it takes the mound there. It was just an amazing feat. The excitement in there. It was throbbing, it was pulsing. Uh, people were just unbelievably, tied into this. So, and looking at the folks of the trop, it looked, looked pretty, pretty good. I mean, as, as always, there's gonna be some seats that aren't there.

But I could tell you, Mat, when I was hunting for some [00:02:00] seats this morning. The lowest I could find price wise was, was $162 for a seat. And by early afternoon it was $260 a seat. So they were, uh, selling them out pretty well and things were good. So that kinda gives you an idea of what was happening with that.

Mat Germain: The, the capacity is 25,114, I think, and that's what they announced as the attendance. So that, that's a good sign. 

Mark Corbett: Yeah, it, and it was, it was good to see the folks in the stands and to see the excitement and hear the reverberations in there. And some of the unique things to, as I, my understanding is that the roof now doesn't have two layers, uh, on there as far as, you know, protecting what they have now.

Actually allows more light into the field. So the trop seemed more well lit than you would anticipate for a day game. Mm-hmm. So that was pretty cool. And 

Mat Germain: that's interesting. So do you think [00:03:00] that that provided a different contrast for the outfielders that were fielding the balls when they got up in the air?

Like is it wider than the old version, making it tougher to pick up the balls when they go up? 

Mark Corbett: I don't know. I mean, 'cause it is, it is gonna be different. And it looked, it looked clearer. I mean, almost if you think in the past, when I think of the Trump, I think of almost a yellowish light. Mm-hmm. Now, I don't think that it looks fluorescent now, but I, I think it is brighter.

How's that impacting them as far as getting back to the warning track and being able to judge? Well, there was some good place. May today, huh? It wasn't. Okay. You saw the highlight from the other day. Who was the gentleman with? With the angels? Yeah. 

Mat Germain: Joe Adel 

Mark Corbett: Adel. Oh my gosh. Let's talk about that for a minute.

Have you seen that kind of much fun in a game? That was fantastic. 

Mat Germain: Yeah. He made that first catch and then, he pimped it a little tiny bit, but not much. [00:04:00] He was just like, okay, this is awesome. He did it once, he did the second one and that one, he kind of, you know. He puffed his chest out a little bit more.

He was more pumped. He was like, two, I got two. And, and so he was excited. The crowd was excited. They're like talking about it, oh, you don't see that every day. Same outfielder. You know, it very similar looking way. Took the ball back from over the fence. Uh, I, I would say jumped a little bit higher on the second one than the first one, but the.

Third one was the highlight reel one, because not only does he go over the fence, tumble over it, and then flip up with a glove in the air with , the ball still in it, uh, in his glove. And, uh, and he jumps up and he's just standing there looking at the crowd and pounding on his chest. And that is a moment where you're waiting for, as a fan of major leagues or of the angels, because it's just, it's that.

Rarity of the moment where it's a third, you know, home [00:05:00] run, stolen in the game and they end up winning the game. One, nothing on top of it. So, you know, you literally can say he stole the game from the Mariners, which is outstanding. 

Mark Corbett: That kind of excitement, I just. Thrill as any baseball fan, whether you are an Angels fan or not, to see that kind of performance, I think everybody would stand up and applaud that.

Mm-hmm. But today's game was interesting because every run did count. Mm-hmm. And the rays were looking good. I, I tell you what, I did not anticipate seeing a home run from centric mullets and 

Right. 

You know, so that was, that was fresh and exciting. And there was somebody on base base, so that was two of the R bs.

Then you The other ones, pardon me. The other ones I wasn't as amazed by. I mean, I, I expect sometimes to see something from Junior Caminero. I mean, it's only, it's his second home run of the year, which is a, I love that. And Jonathan Aranda as well. [00:06:00] So at each of these cases, they had somebody else I believe, on base and we're able to go ahead and bring those runs in.

So that was exciting. Let's see. The cubbies came up because if a Aranda. If he hadn't done brought in that extra two runs in the seventh, it would've been a tied game after the Cubs came up. 'cause the Cubs put, that would've been put us at four and the Cubs put up another run.

Mat Germain: I think when, when, like, you know, I, I missed the game. Like I've, I had to digest it after the fact, 

Mark Corbett: right?

Mat Germain: So unfortunately I can't speak to what happened on the field. So I'm looking at the box score. What I see is every Rays except for two got hits. 

Mark Corbett: Yeah. 

Mat Germain: Taylor Walls was back in there, got a double, he chipped in, you know, offensively. The bottom of the lineup were all productive. They each got a hit except for one guy.

The one guy that didn't get a hit actually got on base with a walk. So all but one were able to reach base [00:07:00] safely, , in the lineup. And Shane McClanahan threw and he threw well for four innings. Like you combine all of those things together and it was a real team, effort.

In this case, uh, Chandler Simpson's Seal, two bases contributing and, and with the way that he knows how to do it, um, it's a very Rays, win. Well spread out, but like you were mentioning with the home runs, anytime the Rays hit three home runs, I feel like they have a good chance of winning, , and.

Caminero. Hitting his second is encouraging. , Aranda continuing his hot, , start with another home run and hitting his third. , I think also, I don't know if you've been watching, , Baker throw in in the backhand of the pen, but he seems ex. Extremely determined to earn a shot at the closing role.

Oh, yeah. , And it's really nice to see somebody,, get that amped up. Last year when he came over, I felt like he was lacking emotion and he seemed to be trying to find, I don't wanna call it his spirit, but his kind [00:08:00] of mojo. Right. , And when I saw the highlights in this, I was just like, you know what?

Like, this guy's pumped and he's dealing, you know, with confidence, which is what you need as a closer. So, , all in all on paper for me, it seems like a very strong win for the Rays and it's a continuing momentum that they built in Minnesota where they're starting to find their very grays ru groove, you know, in terms of how they win, tightening up the pitching, tightening up the defensive play, and, and being a, a bit of a pesky on the bases team.

Mark Corbett: It was, it was indeed, when you think of all the, uh, different types of activity that brought in that win and to see Shane McClanahan had, , Ryan Bass was asking about his performance at the end of the game. He said, we won. And you could tell he was happy about that, but only so much because.

Being the pitcher that he is, he wanted to do more than four innings. He was wanting to put in more and [00:09:00] he had found himself in a situation where he had to correct some different things he was doing on the mound. And it looked like those things were falling into place. But, you know, I guess the statistics and analytics people said, you need to pull him now, Kevin.

And they did, but he, he seemed to, you know, he's pleased with the wind. At Baker, you mentioned him too. 'cause I mean he did, he did allow a home run in the ninth and that could have been, like I said, consequential. But he also, you know, he was at up there as far as, let's see, his, I mean, did he have, uh, the strike?

Yeah, he had two strikeouts. So two strikeouts in, you know, in the 10th, ninth inning rather. Geez, where am I going? 10th inning. That was last night, wasn't it? Oh, well I'm popping all over the place here. I haven't had enough mountain to Dow yet. Yeah. But you know, though, going back to how things started out, it seemed a little bumpy at the beginning. [00:10:00] Andy Freed was out there with his microphone and gonna be talking a little bit about the history of the TR and welcoming everybody out and had some issues with the mic, you know, and some sound. But those are the kind of things you almost expect with, with an event like this.

, They have some new features as far as the media is concerned in the trop. One of those is they have. Oh, well, there's cameras, it slides across on a wire, you know, you think of like at the Yep. NFL and that sort of thing. So they, that's a new piece. But there was one other mat and I just had to scratch my head and say, really?

Are we, is that, is this something that's going to, oh, look like Veeck's fireworks in the, in the Trop where they've got a live drone flying up around. In the stadium as well, so I can't imagine a drone flying in the stadium. Not to mention people might be a little anxious anyway, seeing that it's taking footage of the game as well.

So [00:11:00] 

Mat Germain: I've been, I've been harping for it. I wanna see more of those. I'd have a half dozen of 'em if it were me, mark, so that I can get any camera angle that I want. Like that's, it's the way of the future. So as long as you have good operations and you've got them, , not over the crowd essentially, um, then it should be fair game.

Like it should be in there to, to give you a different perspective and a more intimate look at the game because we can, we can man manage it now, but I will say that most. Baseball stadiums, like if you think about how close the foul lines are, why aren't there more cameras embedded in the walls? Right?

Kind of like at waist height, so you can get a good angle on everything else. You can even have them zoom in in certain areas if you want. Like those kinds of things. Like stadiums are not temporary, unlike the Trop is sort of, but. Most times when you're building one and when they build their next ones, it's gonna be there for 30, 40 years, maybe 50.

Right? Right. [00:12:00] Longer if they're lucky and they build a historic version of one. But with that in mind, in the next one, they should definitely amp up those kinds of perspectives as well, because I feel like if we're gonna be going ABS, we're gonna be going more and more with. The automated, , calls being made, then we want the more evidence.

Sometimes I feel like there aren't enough camera angles and certain plays, like tags and everything else. I'm like, where are all the cameras? Like, they're not that expensive, you know? Hmm. 

Mark Corbett: When you're talking about that, , it seems like they would be more elevated.

You see some cameras at minor leagues. Placement. Now sometimes it's a GoPro shaking on a fence, but, uh, they, they see the, uh, necessity part there. So you would expect by the time you got to the major leagues that they would have more of that. And I wonder if Mat will see that too, because with the, , addition with, I don't know, more and more robots more and [00:13:00] more having the AI.

Analyze what's happening on the field. If that's something, we'll see more cameras in need for that.

Mat Germain: Yeah, I think the, the other thing to cut that comes out, you know, in my mind in terms of the win tonight by the Rays is the fact that they're at 500. Again, I know we're just 10 games into the season, but we had Josh on, you know, earlier and he was to about 500. That's probably where the rays are gonna be, and he is bang on right now.

Now, having said that, they're not going up against the most elite teams. The Cubs are good, don't get me wrong, like, but the twins weren't expecting to win. They, they've faced, you know, up and down basically each series, 

Mark Corbett: right? 

Mat Germain: In terms of, uh, of what were the expectations. And early in the season, any team can beat any team.

Let's face it. Every team's trying to feel out their, their roster, their lineup. They're getting their wheels under them. , But I think it's good for the Rays to get some momentum because when you look across. The A L East right [00:14:00] now, the Js are banged up. There's a lot going on with Alejandro Kirk going to the il.

He's a major piece of their lineup, and without Bo Bichette as well, it puts a lot of pressure on Vladimir Guerro Jr. Who's gonna get pitched around a lot more now, I feel without Alejandro Kirk in that lineup, unless Addison Barger is able to actually come out of his shell again. You know, and perform this year like you did last year.

Um, they're gonna be in a little bit of trouble in terms of run production and their pitching hasn't been extremely healthy either. Mm-hmm. So you look at that and then you look at the Orioles and Red Sox have had surprisingly cold starts. I watched the entire series of the Orioles against the Pirates, and I was not impressed with the Orioles.

Let me tell you that. There's something not. jiving yet with their momentum, uh, some of their defensive plays like Dylan, Beaver's in the Outfields. Terrible, uh, no reads on the el on the balls hit to 'em at all. , Pete Alonso looks [00:15:00] like his timing just isn't there in terms of getting the balls. , Anyways. I could go up and down , their roster, but it just feels like they are looking for something.

A spark. Yeah. A series, you know, that that takes off. And then probably they'll be fine and they'll get back in the swing of things. But you know, it was interesting to see the Pirates dominate them the way they did. Mm-hmm. And really have a certain energy, like you feel a vibe from the Pirates that just says.

We're in it this year, like, and we know it and we're gonna attack every team that we come up against. That's sort of what will help you, gain an advantage early enough in the season that you can ride out , the times when you're gonna be struggling during the year. So it was interesting to watch that going on.

Mark Corbett: It was interesting this morning when I got up and I looked at the MLB standings. And he said we were number two at the time. We were, uh, four and five and that, that put us in the number two slot, the AL East. And it is like, oh, okay.

There's a birthday gift as we open up the new [00:16:00] stadium. Uh, so that was something. But now, like you said, Hey, we're 500 man. We're five and five We're, we're on a three game winning streak. And if we win tomorrow, that'll be two series in a row. Boys and girls. Yes. Pure excitement. I can't wait. Oh, 

Mat Germain: if the rays win tomorrow, both Florida teams are gonna be above 500.

Oh my goodness. That's a little 

Mark Corbett: Yeah, I know, I know. Uh, yeah. I have to catch up again with her buddy Lou, get him back on here. That reminds me Needed, need to schedule time for Brent. To be on the show, get the Brett, the Cardy Show. We get him to talk a little bit more about the Jays. Maybe let, let a couple more games get underneath all of our belts before we had that conversation.

But he's always got a lot of good insights. But I am, I, I was, I was a little dumbfounded to see them. I thought they would be doing better than we were. I mean, we we're even, obviously there's the other day and the Orioles, , Alonso. There's a lot of wake, there's, there's a lot of high expectations on that.[00:17:00] 

But the Red Sox two and seven, come on. 

Mat Germain: Yeah, it's not just that, it's that they have a minus 15 run differential and, and what we had pRaysd the most for them was the pitching. Yeah. So they had gone out and gotten, you know, a sunny gray who was supposed to be a really huge addition to the rotation. Um, they have

Ranger Suarez that they added to the rotation. Garrett Whitlock is strong. They have Garrett Crochet, they have Aroldis Chapman, Bri Vale Bellow. Um, there is no reason for them to be, , struggling as much as they are now. I do remember. I could be wrong, but I think this has happened before with Alex Cora as their manager and,, they came back out of it and they actually did extremely well down the road.

But I feel like some teams just have a hard time starting out. Sometimes it can be like trades that hit them the wrong way. Like Rafael Devers happened. 

. For the Red Sox. And that [00:18:00] had led to a long struggle. Um. This time it's Alex Bregman leaving. So how much of an impact did that have on the team and the adjustment that takes, , place afterwards.

But any, every team is gonna go through those lows and have to adjust down the road. They definitely have the talent to get back into things and, and, you know, a couple of good series and they're right back in it. 

Mark Corbett: Yeah. 

Mat Germain: Um, baseball's such a long season, mark. It's crazy when you think about it. 

Mark Corbett: I mean, and, and we talk a lot about injuries in players and pitchers in 162 games and how many games those players, those pitchers expect to pitch, and how many innings that's going to be, and the anticipation of, of, uh, being able to achieve higher speed all the time to those pitches.

I'm, I'm gonna, I know I'm diverging a little bit here, but I can't help but keep going back to what you've said time and again, and that is expanding the number of players on the roster, , with a, a couple of more pitchers. And I, I think that's [00:19:00] an an absolute. So I know this is a, what we're gonna talk about, the Rays opening day.

I think that is one of those key issues we need to continue to address you know, we, we've had so many different folks on here who. Who can attest to, basically, teams will wear out a pitcher's arm without really any care about that individual. And I'm not saying that you have to love them and everything and put 'em to bed at night, but you have to treat 'em like a human being instead of just a commodity.

And that's, that's what's happened a lot. So. Well, Kevin pulled Shane today after four innings. I wanna have Shane around for a long time. So yeah, that's what it takes. Then go ahead. 

Mat Germain: I think, I think what you notice with Shane is that he's just not locating the way that he wants to. So his, his command is off, right.

And that's what leads to more walks, but he's still extremely hard to hit. Yeah. So like if it was combined, like a combination of really [00:20:00] high hits and really high walks. Then you start to worry and you say, okay, well they're just seeing the ball a certain way. He's just not locating the way that he wants to.

Yeah, like tonight, he had one hit and four walks. So the walks were eating up his pitches. It. You have to rebuild the arm strength. He's been gone for now, like three years, essentially. Yeah. Yes. And so rebuilding that from scratch is quite a thing to do. I think it's, if anybody needs to be reigned in and kind of harnessed, it's Shane McClannahan because he, his attitude is very , go, go, go, go, go.

No matter what, give it your all and leave it all in the field. That is not good. When you're trying to rebuild arm strength, that is something that you need mitigated and, and I know. He's more mature now than he was before, and I know that just looking at the velocity that he's throwing at, he's not trying to hit the 98, 99s, [00:21:00] one hundreds.

He's working at the 90 fours, 90 fives. That's where he needs to be to have longevity and rebuild that strength. If he does well this year, he does well next year, and then he wants to amp it up in terms of, getting back into that 96, 97 range. Maybe, you wor decide, you pick your moments when you want to reach those velocities, but he doesn't need to.

He has enough movement in late life on his pitches that I feel like he, he could be more of a, uh, John Smoltz style pitcher where he just pinpoints things and adds velocity and takes it away when he wants to, , and, and plays more of that game now that he's a little bit more mature, which is, you know.

For a lefty. I mean, we've seen Chris Sale go through that , and he did extremely well when he was healthy and he actually composed himself and went to the Braves and had a really strong season. That's what I wanna see from Shane McClanahan. I don't want to see him ramp it up [00:22:00] too quickly, get to eight innings, nine innings, whatever.

That would make me sad. Yeah, especially in April, like if you wanna do that in September. 'cause he is feeling good. He's feeling great. And he's going into the playoffs and you want to build up that length for whatever reason, which they really don't need, then, then sure. Okay. Maybe, but in April, like just will ease up, work into it, , and, and see how it goes.

But I'm glad he's on the mound. Like I, I'm really happy for him that he's back out there. 

Mark Corbett: , I know he is and I think we are too. It's, it's gonna take a bit to adjust his head to say, okay, this, this is what they're gonna let me do. Like you said, he is a determined young man and I'm sure he wants to pitch as much as he can, but today we're able to see him do some change up and speed to that.

Maybe a ball would be placed the same as it was in the previous pitch, but instead of 92 , it might be down to 87 or 84. Going ahead and making it difficult for the batter to know when, [00:23:00] when to swing that bat, you know, if, even if it looked like the same pitch that he had previously given.

So it's, it's magic to watch that sort of thing happen and I really, really look forward to seeing him for the rest of the year. So I said, as much as I'd like to see him play more innings today, I think Kevin made the right call. 

Mat Germain: Absolutely. 

Mark Corbett: So, but I will be interested to see how some of these other teams do.

The AL East, especially the Red Sox, who just seemed suffering so much. And like you pointed out, history repeats itself somewhat. And I, I remember, , was it last year or year before when , the conversations with Devers, devs just was not in a, in a attitude where he wanted to play because of when they wanted to move him from, uh, was it from third to first

Mat Germain: I have some news though, that are Raysd related, , which is that the. The Toronto Blue Jays have, like we said before, have been dealing with a lot of injuries. They actually recalled Josh Fleming, uh, lefty, that used to pitch for the Rays and, , and he had [00:24:00] bounced around to , the Pirates as well in between.

But now he's with the Blue Jays and they just called them up because of all the injuries that they have with Cody Ponce and other arms, I think Lauer's sick. He's not exactly on IL for long term, but anyways, so they, they called him up and, and it, I'm happy for him. Like we, we, we kind of look sometimes, at x-rays and what they're doing across the board and I love to see them get new opportunities , when they can get it.

I think people like. Forget that as a 25-year-old with a Rays, he won 10 games, you know, in, in 2021. And he was a big piece that they, we thought that they were gonna have, a little bit longer than what they did. But unfortunately it didn't work out for him. He had tried to kind of go into the pen for a little bit.

So I'm not sure what role he is gonna have with the Blue Jays. He is gonna have him start, or, you know, pop in after an opener or something like that. But, I'm glad, I'm curious to see what he's added since, , he left the rays and the [00:25:00] Pirates and, , and what he can do now that he's, uh, 29 years old and a little bit more mature.

Mark Corbett: It's interesting seeing any player as they progress. So certainly after they lead the Rays, I mean, it's a big part of what we talk about a lot of times those shows, the x-rays, you know, where are these guys now? And, , , thanks for bringing that up. And I'm looking ahead what we have coming here to, let's see, Mat.

So we've got the Cubs here and we win tomorrow. Then we'll take the series. So we'll try to do that. Then the Yankees come and they're coming here to Tampa and we get to, uh, have them here as our guest for three games. Then, uh, let's see, what else, brother? We got the White Sox. White Sox. I forget who they played the other day and they did better.

I thought they would, I'm have to dig a little bit more deeper into that. 

Mat Germain: Think it was the Blue Jays. They did really well against them. I, I think the, the White Sox are going to be pesky against a lot of people in their series. Like they, they [00:26:00] have a, a decent amount of talent that they, they can bounce you if you're not careful.

Mark Corbett: Well, they've certainly had a lot to make up for after last year, and. Let's see. Then we've got the uh oh. Then the Pirates come here. 

Mat Germain: Oh, we're 

Mark Corbett: at 

Mat Germain: the Pirates. We're at the Pirates. 

Mark Corbett: Oh, you're right. We're at the Pirates. We're at the Pirates. My apologies. 

Mat Germain: That stadium mark. I have to get there at some point. Yeah. Like it's just such a beautiful view and, and stadium and a really great atmosphere.

Like, it feels like, you know, the, the players that are there right now having a good time and and doing well are spoiled. 'cause now they have the good team, they've got the fans, , from what I've seen are coming out , , and the stadium is just awesome. Like, I really hope that, um. That momentum for them continues except for the Rays series for that one.

You know, they can lay a goose egg and, and then move on from there. 

Mark Corbett: Oh gosh. You know about a goose [00:27:00] egg. I was planning on going to see the rays in Minneapolis and for a lot of reasons, but primarily I was looking, I said, well, am I gonna be able to get a flight that will actually. I won't be in line longer than Disney to, to get to the ride.

But, uh, that seemed to be working itself out to some degree. But the thing was, man, it was gonna be like ice and snow and I'm sorry, but my street, little Sunshine self did not wanna be there at all., Karen and I went to that one game with the, in Boston a couple years ago, was 42 degrees out.

It's sleeting, you know, at the same time, which is kinda weird, but, uh. I'm just not gonna subject to myself to that kind of cold. I would not mind going up to Target field and seeing, them play. I will be going to see Kansas City later this month with them playing the Angels and that's gonna be pretty cool.

Mat Germain: I enjoyed their stadium. The, [00:28:00] uh, the barbecue in the outfield is outstanding and, uh. And the atmosphere as a whole is, is, is really solid. We, we had a great time chatting with everybody around us. We were mostly military folk, , talking to a whole bunch of different variety of people in outfield, , seats.

The thing that I, that I kind of enjoyed was the, uh, um, I don't know, like you go to certain stadiums and they're, they're kind of, uh. Um, friendlier than most in terms of the, general, , chattiness of everyone around them. And like, nobody, nobody cursed. Everybody was on their own, you know, thing, which was really rare in the outfield.

Yeah. And, and everybody was like of, of the most, uh. I don't know. It was almost like if you went back into the sixties, right? And or the late fifties and everybody's like, oh, golly gee. Oh jaw, oh gosh. Like what? What happened here? And it was just [00:29:00] odd to be honest. Like I was like, geez. This is like being back in Canada.

What, what's going on here? So I, I enjoyed it and I thought the team itself , is always kind of fun to watch the, the Royals, especially now you're gonna get to see Bobby Witt Jr. Go up against Mike Trout. I mean, come on the, those are two faces that you definitely want to get some eyes on. You've got Joe Adell, who's putting on a show now as well.

You're, you're gonna love it. But are, I imagine you also have plans to go to the Negro Leagues, , museum that while you're there? 

Mark Corbett: . Most certainly. That's actually part of why, you know, I make this trip. 'cause I do want to go there and there's just so much, I mean, so much history of the game that we.

Lost over the years, and Bob Kendrick, I think's done a fantastic job to continue to promote, , the history of the Negro Leagues. He's been out there, you know, he's, he's talked on several shows and such that he's keeping people aware and mm-hmm. Especially now that the, the Negro Leagues a couple years ago was integrated into [00:30:00] the Major League baseball as far as stats and people like.

Josh Gibson or other ones or folks that would, many would never even have heard of otherwise. So I'm excited about that. 

Mat Germain: What's cool about that? What's cool about that, that museum is that you feel like you're going down into an underground vault. Like, like this is being kept away in case there's some sort of explosion and things get destroyed.

This will be intact. You'll not have a problem. 

Mark Corbett: Oh man. Well, I'm looking forward to that. Like I said, this past week instead, you know, I went, I saw, I went to Canada or had a 10 minute wait. No, I was at Disney World, everybody and Epcot, so, you know, there I was in Germany. Then 10 minutes later I'm in Canada and yeah, it was, it was great.

You know, they do, it's completely diverging over here, but, but the presentation at Epcot for Canada. It was one of those 360, [00:31:00] you know, RI where you stand and you just trying to keep up with whatever's going on. Yeah. But it was such a great travel log. You know, Karen? So he looks over at me and says, we're going there, aren't we?

We're going there. I mean, it was, boy, I'll tell you what is a great advertisement? Uh. Geez. Knees? No. 

Mat Germain: Did they have any beaver tails? The, you know, at the stand outside, 

Mark Corbett: I didn't see that. I saw some, some totems and some other things as well. Some, uh, first Nation people, things there, but, uh. And 

Mat Germain: for anybody that doesn't know, Beaver Tail is essentially like, imagine a really large, like pizza, like well, half a pizza, uh, of a, of a donut, right?

Flattened. 

Mark Corbett: Okay. 

Mat Germain: And then you, you fry it. And then you put it in sugar or any kind of toppings that you want. Cinnamon nut, meg, uh, whatever it is. Sometimes maple syrup is drizzled over it or maple butter and, and a whole bunch of [00:32:00] stuff that will make it very tasty. But, but, uh, definitely heavy. So when you've eaten one of those, your body's just like your heart is pumping and you're wondering when your energy levels are gonna go.

Mark Corbett: Oh, well, it sounds delightful as we were in Landover, uh, and to, to see the Canada presentation, , you could smell maple syrups somewhere or another. There was maple syrup being used in a recipe.

It's like, this is it. This is it. Oh my, yeah, it was, it was quite something. It's, uh. Yeah, that was, that was the alternative, since we couldn't make it up to Minnesota and I probably, probably did just, well, if not better with the day. 

Mat Germain: Is, is there a stadium you haven't been to yet that you're, you're looking to get to, you know, in the near future?

Mark Corbett: Uh, Petco. Petco. I wanna go to Petco, but, well, we'll probably go, I'm trying to think, I can't think of the names of the statements. We will probably [00:33:00] make an effort to get to. Texas this year and see both the Rangers and the Astros. Mm-hmm. And I'm curious to see the Rangers, 'cause I know that the previous stadium had the roof that was like on a, a slide that would slide over or out.

And I think it may be the same sort of design. I believe they built it across the street from the, uh, original one. So that should be interesting. And then of course. Astros, that's, that's gotta be something to see too. So both of those are probably gonna be in the list, but Petco is definitely one I want to go to.

Mat Germain: Yeah, I think I, I'm planning on going to Mile High at some point, uh, but I'm waiting for the Rockies to be competitive, so I, I kind of think, you know, 2042, somewhere around 

Mark Corbett: Oh, oh, you're harsh. You're harsh. 

Mat Germain: If there's any Rockies fans listening, I apologize. I had to take that shot. 

Mark Corbett: Oh, I get it though, brother.[00:34:00] 

Mat Germain: Oh man. No, all honesty. There's like a good dozen, uh, stadiums that are on my bucket list to, to kind of go to and, uh, and hit up. But, but tops among, among them is, uh, is Wrigley Field because it's the one. Of the, you know, oldest ones that I haven't been to. And I, I kind of regret it. I missed it by two days when I was driving through Chicago with , , my brother and my dad.

So I was really mad. I was like, oh man, I, I like, just wanted that to be part of the event of going through. Unfortunately it didn't work out, so hopefully I'll get another opportunity at some point and take the kids with me at the same time. 

Mark Corbett: Yeah, a piece of history like that. I mean, we talked before and I told you about the year we went to Camden Yards, but we also went to Fenway and just Fenway as much as beautiful as Camden Yards is, it's not Fenway is Fenway, the history and all that.

There's, there's nothing like being in a stadium, uh, this has that much history that you're surrounded by. I mean, it's like. [00:35:00] Ghost almost. There's like a vibe that's penetrating through the wood and the steps that you go through there. And you can almost hear the voices of fans from the past, you know, call, calling out for their Red Sox to win a game.

And that part of it is unique. So as much as you may like or dislike the, the stadium itself, there's that history and experience that cannot be matched. 

Mat Germain: I, I don't know how they do it at Fenway Mark, but I, I watched Pedro Martinez pitch there a half dozen times. Yeah. And, and there's a. It, uh, an over top of the field feeling like an intimacy.

Like I remember watching it the first time I was there. I was, I was maybe three rows up from first base and I was watching Mo Vaughn and he felt like he was right next to me. Yeah. Like I, I felt like I was almost the first base. Coach, eh, the, that's how little, foul area there is as compared to Camden, where you do have a [00:36:00] healthy, , foul area.

I haven't done the measurements, but it feels like that. Anyhow. Either that or. The seats are so sunken in comparison that you are a little bit closer. I don't know what it is, but there's something about Fenway that you're right, it, there is a soul to it. You feel it when you're walking around. You're getting concessions.

You're, you're just. And I felt it as well when I went to the old Yankee stadium. I didn't, I did not. With the new Yankee Stadium, I felt, quite the opposite. You know when you walk through a mall like where you can't afford anything because it's so high end. Yeah. That's how I feel. Walking through Yankee Stadium, the new version.

Mark Corbett: Oh wow. You know? 

Mat Germain: They have all these high end stores. You're like in Monaco, right? In Europe somewhere where you're just like, oh, well this isn't for me. I'm supposed to be, I'm supposed to be across the street somewhere. Um. Yeah, [00:37:00] so I'm glad that those stadiums still exist and they should be an example really, if they're able to keep Wrigley and, and Fenway going the way they are.

This is my argument about the Rays. You know, build something historically relevant that is unique enough to draw your attention and give youthat staple. 

Mark Corbett: Mm-hmm. 

Mat Germain: That, that makes it your own. And I'm not sure they're there yet. Like I realize that angle thing and there's, there's value to some of the things that they're putting in.

And honestly, I haven't been inside it, so I can't really judge. Right. But, but there the materials that you're using Mater also, like the IV in rig is that uniqueness? , I'm not saying they should build a wall in left field, but, but there's. Something they could do to make it, , unique enough , and it doesn't really cost much like you ask Wrigley Field, , the upgrades they did, I don't remember how much they paid for them.

I wanna say it's 350 [00:38:00] million to keep it the way that it is. But the original build. Wasn't overly complicated. Camden, I don't believe broke the bank. And look at how unique that one is. The new Pittsburgh Pirate Stadium, same thing. You know, they have the right angle, the right view, the right whatever, like it.

It's about the ambiance that you're creating. When you pop on highlights and you see it, you're like, boom, that's that stadium. Yeah. Boom. That's that stadium, you know, right away. And, and that gives it a sort of historical feel and I hope the rays get that in whatever they build. 'cause I'll tell you right now, I watch a Marlin's game.

I'm not sure I get that. I don't. Like I, I get, it's an indoor stadium and I, you could tell me it's Marlin's or you could tell me it's the Rangers or the Astros, and I couldn't tell between the three. Like all three of those are interchangeable in my mind.. 

Mark Corbett: [00:39:00] Nobody else has that Bobblehead museum.

It just continues to vibrate over there on the outfield. Oh God. 

Mat Germain: Am I wrong? Is there something unique about those that you could tolerate off the bat? 

Mark Corbett: No, there, there really isn't. And, and I, I do too hope that the rays , found something that establish itself with the area. You know, at one point when they were looking at putting it at Ybor and possibly even looking out at the water.

To me, that was something I, uh, this past week I was down at Soto DeSoto, which is south of Ybor, south of, uh, anyway, and I just looked out there at the water, 'cause this was one of the places when they were looking at potentially having a, a ballpark there. I thought, wow, it was just so beautiful. And the sad thing was like so many other things would've displaced a history of a, of a park and recreation of so many players from the past.

But coming back to what you're saying as [00:40:00] far as feeling the spirit of like at Wrigley and being able to, to take that with you, you know, that's something it's, it's more than a ball game. It's more than can architects and owners find a way to instill that in us with whatever they're working on today. I don't know that the rays have that yet.

We'll see. 

Mat Germain: It's attention to detail. Yeah. It's all the finer little things that make it the way that it is. Um, I, I'll just go back to something that you said earlier as well about the rosters and, and the pitchers. , I think the solution there is the day after a starter pitches. 

Mark Corbett: Yeah. 

Mat Germain: He's not available to the team, so that maintains the same.

Amount of active players, it's just that the pitch starting pitcher from the day before or the game before is not applicable to that 26 man roster. So you're not really [00:41:00] adding a 27 ah, you're just discounting the pitcher that through the day before. That way you can add an extra reliever. Right. Um, so I think that is the solution in my mind.

So like no team that I can think of in the history of starting pitching has used the same starter on two to two consecutive games. So you're not losing anything. Right? Yeah. 

Mark Corbett: The. 

Mat Germain: If anything, what it will do, and this is why the M-L-B-P-A should be for it is it means that one more player on each team gets paid Major league money.

Mark Corbett: Yep. 

Mat Germain: So it creates an extra spot. It protects from overuse of relievers and overuse of starting pitchers. So then the manager has. One more weapon that he can use if he's got a warrant pen, if he's got whatever, then he's able to mitigate and not injure anyone and not ask freaking, uh, position players even in a down and out game to come out and pitch.

Right? Yeah. I don't want to [00:42:00] say that we need to make that illegal or, or non, because sometimes it just gets crazy to be honest, but it, you should give them enough ammunition that it becomes irrelevant in my opinion. 

Mark Corbett: I like that. I mean, but, but here, just jumping from that to a moment, when a player, when a pitcher gets a penalty and he's saying, I'm sorry, you're not gonna be able to play pitch for, uh, your penalties 10 games.

Mat Germain: Mm-hmm. 

Mark Corbett: It's two times that he can't get up there. Right. They're not saying 10, you know, in rotation you are saying, so if you're looking at that as a penalty. Why couldn't you take that same philosophy? I mean, 'cause you're not measuring it accurately anyway. I mean, in most cases it, it would be all the two times as all it would be there anyway.

So I like what you're saying. It makes sense to me. So hopefully MLB will pick it up. I like M-L-B-P-A, we know there's gonna be all kinds of stuff with the CBA and this [00:43:00] is as good a time as they, if they're gonna be chewing hard on what's gonna be coming up, this is the time for them to really address.

Some more long-term issues on players' health and that's, to me, what you're providing is an answer. Yes. 

Mat Germain: So I, I hope that they put the salary cap issue on the back burner. 

Mark Corbett: Yeah. 

Mat Germain: And that they address more of the finer things like what we're just talking about right now. Do that first. Right. Bring up the health of the game, do expansion, and then talk about what you want to change in terms of salary cap and everything else.

Mm-hmm. I don't think. It's fair to bring, uh, expansion teams in after you do the vote on the salary cap issue? 

Mark Corbett: Yeah, 

Mat Germain: I think, I think that just, you know, it takes them out of the equation. Like they, they should be included in that decision if they're gonna be part of the league for the next 50 to a hundred years.

Right. Like, it, it's almost like it's, it's. [00:44:00] I don't know, cutting 'em off at the knees, I guess is the best way to put it. 

Mark Corbett: Oh, you wanna come play with us? Oh, by the way, since you're, since you've agreed to join us, we're gonna go ahead and, uh, we're gonna ne kneecap you here right now with a certain new rule.

Okay. Or, 

Mat Germain: yeah, 

Mark Corbett: you've gotta come up with an extra billion dollars, whatever. It's, uh, it's ridiculous. No, I, I agree with you. Hopefully, hopefully they'll see the light of day on that, Mat. Well. 

Mat Germain: Mm-hmm. 

Mark Corbett: You know, just still. 

Mat Germain: So the Rays brought in 25,114 people tonight. 

Mark Corbett: Mm-hmm. 

Mat Germain: What do they bring in tomorrow?

Mark Corbett: Boy, isn't that to tell? Geez. So we're looking at a Tuesday. We're looking at Tuesday evening, and I'm hate to say it, but we'll probably be lucky to hit 17. 

Mat Germain: Mm-hmm. I'm curious because this is the time when you start to measure, right? The impact of the new ownership, the impact of, 'cause we have a vote coming up in a week mark, or a week and a bit, [00:45:00] that's going to be extremely impactful.

Right. If that vote is, has there been any talk about what the repercussions of that vote are? Like if that vote goes astray 

Mark Corbett: Yeah. 

Mat Germain: On the 15th and they don't support, for whatever reason, millions of different reasons they can come up with Yeah. If it goes astray, have they said these are the repercussions of that?

Right. Because that's a, that's a Stu Sternberg play. If you don't support this, then I'm taking my ball. Now I'm going home. Right? That's, uh, a little bit of, of, of the play that he would've come up with. So. My, my thought process is this, like, there are probably inner workings going on in the background that we don't know anything about.

So for us to sit here and judge anything about the stadium at this point is kind of crazy. It, it's repeating, we've kind of thrown it all around. We know the Orlando option is very alive and very well. We know that the, Nashville option is [00:46:00] probably very similar.

That they would jump on the, the chance to get a team, et cetera. So I'm very curious in today's political financial climate where the cost of everything is skyrocketing. The ca cost of gas, the cost of groceries, the cost of whatever, to sit there and tell a population that you're going to give them $1.15 billion to build a.

A complex in a city. It seems like a very non Tampa style thing to do, but is is there enough political will to put themselves out there and, and say, yeah, we'll support it? Like what would, what would, how would the counselors there to vote for it be viewed in your opinion? If they did support it? 

Mark Corbett: There is so much controversy about spending even a single [00:47:00] dollar on this project.

Mm-hmm. That anybody that's even looking at doing that they're gonna be held. They, they won't win the next election. Yeah. They're, they're going to be a lame duck. And I, I don't know. I, that's why the Orlando thing does seem like it still has legs. I, I was trying to do a little research earlier to see. Uh, Zalupski what kind of properties he had in, in Orlando.

I, I didn't, wasn't able, able to find enough about it. But it was interesting today too, Mat, there was a point where they had a shot into, uh, up, up there in the stands and actually probably more of a suite, and there was the governor side by side with Zalupski. And they were just chatting away and DeSantis is just laughing.

Another, and Zalupski kind of nodding a little bit here and there, and her slight grin goes across his face and, and thinking, my gosh, what are they talking about? 

Mat Germain: On that point is, is DeSantis more tied to Orlando or [00:48:00] more tied to Tampa? Like every governor has their leniency, right? In terms of. So it's hard to tell like, yes, they could be chummy and happy, and I can guarantee you Stu Sternberg never would've had to send this in his suite.

But what does it mean? Is it an Orlando thing? Is it a 'cause it there it's all real estate driven. Yeah. In, in, in reality. So I still can't wrap my head around it. Like I know. They are. So, um, like I, like I said before, the cost of the franchise was lower than what expansion will be in my opinion. So they got a bargain.

Oh, no doubt. So, 

Mark Corbett: no doubt. 

Mat Germain: In that sense, you know, anything is possible. So it's kind of a weird, a really strange place to v mark and I'm, I'm looking forward to a potential resolution, but I'm kind of cringing at it. Continuing on, like you just saw today, a new roof on the, on the stadium. They, I [00:49:00] don't think St.

Petersburg would bat a eye if they said, you know what, we're gonna stick it out till 2030 and we'll figure it out. Right. Like it could happen. Yeah. They could say, we just did some upgrades. We'll do a little bit more, we'll add a little bit and then we'll see what happens at 2030. So I, I don't know, mark, are we gonna be sitting here in 2030 having these conversations about this stadium?

Mark Corbett: No, no, no, no, no, no. Hopefully we'll be that life will have changed somewhat by then, but I do want to take, take this moment though, to thank Stu Sternberg and St. Pete for all they did to try to keep the TR going and St. Pete and the people there, and the new owners as well, to be able to make this opening day a reality.

Mm-hmm. And all the hard work it took, whether it be. People climbing up on the beams and laying down, uh, new, uh, tarp or whatever, uh, fabric they have up there, or the people in the front offices and, and [00:50:00] certainly in the middle of a transition of ownership. I think that, uh, a bit of a herculean effort to, to have gotten us to where we could have that opening day today.

And I just wanna say thank you to all the folks who made that possible. 

Mat Germain: That's outstanding, mark and a very good point. All those St. Petersburg, uh, counselors who had options to be quite honest in terms when they pulled the plug on things and they could have, you know, I think there's previous mayors in St.

Petersburg that would have pushed to throw tantrums, right? And, and not. Do things as smoothly as what took place. Takes a lot of maturity , to do that and a lot of forthright, , application of, of, , funds and, and going gritting your teeth and saying, yep, this is what we agreed to. This is what we're gonna do.

So 56 million is nothing to see sneeze at, to throw into a stadium for, uh, the, the few years that they'll have it the way it is. If ever the rays do move out of the, the Trop uh, mark. I, I want see a permanent [00:51:00] fixture of Cirque de Soleil there. It's the per, it's the perfect stadium for it. They have the roof exactly the way a circus would want it, like put a permanent one there, like make some use of it and draw people in with that.

Mark Corbett: I love it. I absolutely love it. All right. You got any other goodies to share, Mat? 

Mat Germain: No, I'm, I'm packing after this, so, uh, I'm, I'm gonna be busy for an hour or more yet. 

Mark Corbett: Alright, my friend. Well, I wanna thank you all again for joining us here on the, , opening day of the Tampa Bay Rays. Hope you enjoy the game.

You've got a chance to see. If not, uh, find someplace you can and, uh, rewind, whatever. Even find the, uh, what's the little abbreviated games. Those are always kind of fun if you miss 'em the night before. So check those out. Well, Mat, thanks again buddy. It's always great being here with you. 

Mat Germain: Always great, mark.

Thanks for having me. And uh, hopefully we get above 500 by the time we meet again. 

Mark Corbett: Amen. Alright. Alright everybody, thanks again and we look forward to talking with you again real soon. Alright brother. See [00:52:00] Bong. Do it again. 

Mat Germain: Bong!