1614 Jaydawg Guest4889 (IP: 68.59.55.101)^994 Re: Marlins will meet with officials in Portland, OR about possible relocation next week [Reply to #1614] 1/7/06, 8:08am I agree with you to an extent Jaydawg. However, I personally don't want to see that happen. I believe a lot of it has to do with baseball not having a salary cap. The rich keep getting richer & the poor keep getting poorer. The Marlins & Devil Rays fall into the poor category unfortunately. This even after the Marlins having 2 world series titles. But, what happens after the Marlins win a World Series? They have a big firesale in the offseason because they can't afford to keep those players, which in turn disgusts a lot of their fans & they lose interests the following upcoming season because they couldn't afford to resign the guys who won them that World Series. A franchise like the Yankees on the other hand, if they win a Worls Series, or even if they don't, they can just reload every season & still easily sign a lot of the guys they have returning. The Yankees can cherry pick the free agency market. THIS IS WHAT IS WRONG WITH BASEBALL! This is why teams like the Marlins & Devil Rays stay poor & can't win, or even have a chance to win from year to year. And, we all know what happens when professional sports teams don't win. They don't draw in fan support. Fans don't buy season tickets. Sales at the gates go way down. This in turn leads to the owners of these such franchises not making any money & possibly losing money. A lot of it is just puting a winning product on the field, but how can you compete with teams like the Yankees win they monopolize everything. A lot of that reason is because is there is no salary cap. Teams like the Yankees can cherry pick the hot free agents off teams like the Marlins & Devil Rays. It's just not right! Honestly, even though this may be shocking or sound crazy to most people, I love going to watch the Devil Rays in their own stadium, Tropicana Field. It is in a dome. It is comfortable, air conditioned, very plush believe it or not. Ticket sales are pretty cheap at the gate. You can almost sit anywhere you want. Concessions are very reasonable, in comparison to the other stadiums of major league teams I have been to. Parking is pretty easy. I don't want the Devil Rays to leave. It is a fun place in my opinion, & also surprisingly conveniant to watch a major league baseball game. The Devil Rays have the right idea in a very hot & humid Florida. Now if they can only put a consistantly winning product on the field, which we all know will probably never happen because major league baseball & the way it is currently structured will never allow that to happen. A salary cap would solve a lot of problems I believe with the Florida teams & teams like the Royals, Tigers, Padres, etc. I've been to Dodger Stadium, Turner Field in Atlanta, & Tropicana Field. I must tell you that from just a plain out convenience & comfort standpoint, I enjoyed Tropicana Field the most. No disrespect to Dodger Stadium, or Turner Field, there fields are prettier & better manicured than Tampa's. But, try watching a baseball game in Atlanta in mid July. It's too damn hot & it sucks. I'n sure LA & Miami would be the same way probably. That is what the Trop has over everybody! [Guest4889 (IP: 68.59.55.101) from Unknown/??] Replies: 1624 1625