It was an accident. Really.

 

I just had a chunk of my house painted recently and as I was trying to reconstruct the displays I had from the early days of the Devil Rays, I had something in a pile I wanted to frame but never got around to it.

 

When I came to St. Petersburg a month before the Expansion Draft in November 1997, I wanted to learn as much as I could about how my marvelous new city finally got their hands on a major league baseball club.

 

I would pick up an item here, another there and then my friend Jeff, who with his daughter and son, may have the most stunning Rays collection of all, introduced me to eBay where I found oodles of pre-1998 artifacts.

 

I never worried how I would build my collection from the day I arrived forward so it was how we all arrived at expansion day that intrigued me.

 

Fast forward to this morning and that stack of unframed items suddenly became relevant today even though what I held in my hands was a quarter-century old. It was like finding a Ty Cobb baseball card, not for its monetary value but for what baseball fans around here have been hearing for the last week.

 

The Rays had intended on breaking their news on new digs about a month after showing off their new name, colors, logo and uniforms. You know, it's all about the timing.

 

Somehow it leaked (imagine that) and the team had to move up their timetable. The barn door had been opened and everything from the positive to the negative has been written on a daily basis since.

 

That is not such a bad thing because any time you can talk about your local team in the offseason is great for the diehard. It also keeps the Rays in the papers and on TV in a month usually reserved for teams with deep pockets trying to sign the next Bambino - the hitter and pitcher.

 

But back to my good fortune and maybe a peek into the future.

 

Back in the day, and in Florida everything is back in the day, the Pinellas Sports Commission was created by the Florida Legislature in 1977 in a quest to bring big league ball to the county. It eventually happened after being a bridesmaid a number of times and a lawsuit that threw fear into those on Park Avenue in New York.

 

Major League Baseball finally acquiesced because there were hundreds of millions at stake. And if you don't believe how much the sport loathed giving the Sunshine State another baseball team, the next time you see the clip of Bud Selig giving "Tampa/St. Petersburg" a franchise, look at his face.

 

That wasn't the first time you would see that puss because it has reappeared many times since but to the best of my knowledge, it made its debut March 9, 1995.

 

With Democrat Bob Graham in the State House and the PSA in action, an eight-page large publication was put out using a pitcher, dressed in red and sporting a uniform that, ironically, said "Tampa" on the cover.

 

It was from 1982.

 

The talk around town was an open-air stadium, with some of the best seats in air conditioned comfort. The plan also boasted a futuristic covering, a sail-like top that can be taken down on sunny days and popped up like an umbrella if inclement weather swooped in on us.

 

Funny thing, that futuristic look was on someone's drawing board a long time ago.

 

Faster than you can imitate Emeril Lagasse, BAM:

 

To view a larger picture, CLICK HERE

 

Look familiar? It should because some of the design features were carried over to the Florida Suncoast Dome.

 

If the above picture popped up today people would say it is an engineering marvel although cooler heads, pun intended, must have prevailed and reasoned that 35,000 fans were not going to sit in the Florida heat night after night just to watch a ball game.

 

Ergo, a domed facility.

 

Whether a stadium of this type is even possible is anyone's guess. There are a number of logistical problems like parking, how to usher cars in and out of the downtown area as there is little room for expanding the current infrastructure, and convincing area residents and politicians if this is just a boondoggle or a viable addition.

 

Even if it passes muster on all fronts, how will the fans react. Summer conditions are not favorable for baseball in this state, just ask Marlins fans on the other side of the state. Native Floridians may be able to tolerate the heat and humidity but not the many who were born to the north.

 

Then there are the inevitable jokes that will come along with it. Will Tropicana want their name on a building that looks like a wind-blown umbrella? Could Rays management call the United Kingdom and see if the PAYE Umbrella Company would be interested.

 

Paye Stadium. Has a ring to it, doesn't it? Especially when some will have to Paye through the nose for its construction and ultimately tickets to the sweat box.

 

Will it be Paye as you go?

 

As they say at Tropicana Field, you sit in 72° comfort. At the proposed new place you can do the same but only if you are fit in the targeted demographics.

 

Don't sweat it. You can always stay home and watch it on your 72" HDTV.