Tampa Tribune: Baker bristles at Rays move from St. Pete

Will the Tampa Bay Rays be coming to downtown Tampa?

Not if St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Baker has anything to say about it.

A group studying whether the baseball team should leave Tropicana Field has included three sites in Hillsborough County - downtown Tampa, the West Shore district and the state fairgrounds east of downtown - in a list of potential locations for a new stadium.

Since the Rays withdrew plans for a waterfront facility in downtown St. Petersburg last year, the A Baseball Community coalition, which is headed by Progress Energy CEO Jeff Lyash, has been searching for a new home for the Mayor League Baseball team.

Until now, the coalition has not publicly raised the option of moving across the Bay, and the revelation could reignite old-rivalries between Hillsborough and Pinellas officials.

Baker said he thinks the coalition has strayed from its original mission by expanding the search to locations outside the city. He is vowing to challenge, in a courtroom if necessary, any attempts by the Rays to move away.

“Our expectation and intention is that the Rays will continue to play in St. Petersburg,” Baker said. “I think it’s a pretty clear position.”

plus, Sonnanstine is the odd man out