Is Ybor City and its Longtime Latino Baseball Roots the Key to Keeping the Tampa Bay Rays in the Area?

Baseball in the Tampa-St. Petersburg, Fla., area is a complicated present built on a proud past. How locals mitigate the aesthetic of Tropicana Field (or lack thereof) against a vibrant, colorful, cigar-fueled history of an area that has produced almost 100 major leaguers is fascinating.

Now, local leaders are building up the area as a place for baseball to stay long term. Can the Rays get a deal done to finally put down permanent roots in a new, adequate facility? The community hopes so, because baseball is part of the soul in Ybor City.

The Past

The Tampa area has a long history and connection to baseball. The first organized baseball team in the area took the field in 1878. Soon thereafter, Cuban immigrants flooded the area as the cigar industry exploded, bringing with them an exquisite knowledge of tobacco and a passion for baseball.

Since then, Tampa has been a part of the history of the game. The Cubs were the first team to open a spring training camp in Tampa in 1913. They were later joined by the Reds, Red Sox, Tigers, White Sox, Yankees and Washington Senators. In the minors, the Tampa Smokers were a founding franchise in the Florida State League in 1919.

For many in the area, like Jason Fernandez, baseball was part of the family.

Today, Fernandez is one of the leading restauranteurs in the Tampa area. He is a proud fourth generation Ybor City local who came back after a few years away to reinvest in the community. He now owns three of the area’s top restaurants in the entertainment district and is working hard to attract locals and tourists alike to spend their time and money in Ybor City.

Fernandez grew up with baseball and food in his family. His great-grandfather was one of the original bartenders at the famous Columbia Restaurant, one of Florida’s most historic establishments. His maternal grandfather, Nilo Priede, played in the Dodgers organization in the early 1950s with the likes of Don Zimmer, Sandy Koufax and Jackie Robinson. The stories he told kept the family captivated as he later traveled the world as an engineer. 

Fernandez, like so many kids, chose to be the contrarian in the family. He didn’t cheer for the Dodgers growing up. He was a Yankees fan.

Ironic, then, that one of Fernandez’s high school classmates – Tino Martinez – would play such an important role in the Yankees returning to dynastic prominence in the mid-1990s. And years later Fernandez would become friends with the late Yankees owner George Steinbrenner; they spent a great deal of time together opening Malio’s steakhouse in Tampa.

Like Fernandez’s life, baseball and food are tied together in the heart of the Tampa community. When the Rays looked to find a location for a new stadium last year (again), Ybor City was an area the team targeted.

“Ybor City is the definition of local authenticity,” team president Brian Auld said at a press conference unveiling a stadium proposal last year. “It is brimming with multi-cultural history. It has an incredible baseball history to tell, too. Jackie Robinson stayed at the Jackson House. Babe Ruth cavorted at the Columbia Restaurant.”

How would the cigar-rolling history of Ybor City embrace a dynamic new stadium?

The Present

On March 9, 1995, the area was granted an expansion franchise by Major League Baseball. The inaugural season of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays was played in 1998. Ten years later, the club won its first American League East title, making it all the way to the World Series behind AL Rookie of the Year Evan Longoria and manager Joe Maddon. Tampa made the postseason in three of the following five seasons.

Over the years more than 80 baseball players from the area have made it to the majors. Teams still call the area home for spring training each year, and young players travel to the city for guidance from legendary coaches like Orlando Chinea, who has worked with stars like the late José Fernández.

However, over the past five years the Rays have finished last in the American League in attendance; they rank 29th out of 30 teams this season, ahead of only Miami. The Rays have finished last in the AL in attendance in 14 of the 22 seasons the organization has existed. Many point to “The Trop,” their home ballpark, as one of the biggest issues holding the Rays back.

Tropicana Park has had almost as many tenants as it has had names. It has housed the Arena Football League’s Storm and Lightning as well as the Rays. It is also the last stadium in MLB that has a fixed roof. Driving up to the stadium doesn’t elicit the same awe as Fenway Park, Wrigley Field or Yankee Stadium.

The Trop isn’t the only issue, however. Many kids, including Fernandez’s, have opted to play other sports. Fernandez has a son who plays hockey and a daughter who chose volleyball.

Hockey has grown in the area in recent years, and for good reason. The Tampa Bay Lightning have done a great job of evangelizing the Tampa area for hockey and are only four years removed from a Stanley Cup Final. Selling hockey in a baseball town hasn’t been easy, but according to Fernandez the commitment of the Lightning and their principal owner, Jeffrey Vinik, is important.

“[The Lightning] embrace the community,” Fernandez said. “They’ve done a fantastic job. They have embraced the community and I feel like they are always giving back. … The things that are important to the community are important to Mr. Vinik and important to the organization. What Mr. Vinik is doing down at Channelside is fantastic. It’s changing the city for the better.”

The Future

This year, the two teams at the bottom of MLB’s attendance rankings are both in Florida. Fernandez acknowledged the ever-present argument that the state is better at supporting college teams and spring training than a full 162-game major league calendar. From the weather to the other options, Fernandez noted that entertainment is always available in Florida, and baseball has become expensive.

“There are so many different options for entertainment even within the stadium itself,” he said. “It’s so expensive. You go to a Rays game and it’s $14 for beer, and that’s not just the Rays stadium – it’s all stadiums.”

A transient population and the feeling of constant rebuilding has amplified the issues that begin with the building. Fernandez, a business leader in the community, also noted that the Rays and MLB didn’t do themselves any favors when there was news of a proposed split season between Tampa and Montreal for the Rays.

With new transportation options, including a speed train between Orlando and Tampa, and the continued improvements in the entertainment district, Fernandez has hopes that the Rays will find a way to get their stadium done and become part of the new foundation of Ybor City.

“Obviously I’m biased in this, but I think the Ybor City location is perfect for a new stadium,” he said. “In my heart I want baseball to grow. I want to figure out how to get more kids involved in Little League – something the Rays do very well. In the Latin community where I come from, baseball is it. It’s been part of our community for more than 100 years and is still very important to our Latin community.” 

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