While I was at work today, I saw the following Tweet:

I had to read it twice just to be sure I understood it. Someone is telling Hillsborough they can talk to the Rays about stadium plans??? Clearly, that someone is not from the city of St. Pete. Of course I had to read the full story from the Times. Hillsborough County Commission Chairman Ken Hagan requested a legal opinion about the issue and a lawyer gave this information:

Hillsborough County officials can talk to the Tampa Bay Rays about the team’s future stadium plans, so long as they don’t get too specific, a lawyer for the county said Tuesday.

Now, just because Hillsborough is allowed to speak to the Rays doesn’t mean it will happen.

“We’re going to respectfully decline to comment,” Rays spokesman Rick Vaughn said.

And you better believe St. Petersburg Mayor Bill Foster isn’t happy about the news.

“This is more outside interference in something that is between the Rays and St. Petersburg and Pinellas County,” Foster said.

It’s no fun to feel like someone is stepping on your toes, but I hope that someday, Foster will decide that the Rays are a regional asset and loosen the city’s chokehold on the team.

While I was sleeping last night, the Rays lost to the A’s 4-3. The trip to the West Coast continues tonight with a 10:05pm game against Oakland. James Shields will be on the bump for Tampa Bay and Tommy Milone will get the ball for the A’s.

It’s just that time of the year. We think so much about the things that this new calendar year will bring, but we can’t help looking back at what we experienced in the last one.

No, the Rays didn’t win the World Series.  They didn’t make it to the World Series either. But my, oh my, 2011 still wildly exceeded my expectations as far as the Rays were concerned. I think I may have to watch game 162 on a loop the weekend before the 2012 season begins.

MLB.com’s Anthony Castrovince recently wrote about how the Cardinals and the Rays defined last season. I won’t see shiny new rings on our players’ hands next year, but I will always have the satisfaction of remembering the role the Rays played in one of the best nights of modern day baseball.

Over at Rays Index, Cork Gaines is looking ahead. His “12 Days of Raysmas” series is almost over. If you haven’t checked out the posts about what he wishes Tampa Bay will give to their fans next season, I recommend that you take a look before it ends on January 6.

On New Year’s Day, the Tampa Bay Times (wow, it’s going to take a little while for me to not type St. Pete Times instead) ran an article called “What’s the resolution?”

Sandwiched in between the question “After a tumultuous year, will voters decide to change the county commission?” and “How will Pinellas County confront homelessness?” was the query “Can we expect anything to happen on the Tampa Bay Rays issue?”

Read: Will we get a new stadium? » Continue reading “Tampa Bay Rays: Looking Back And Moving Forward”