Florida Politics - Campaigns & Elections. Lobbying & Government.

Janelle Irwin TaylorSeptember 27, 2018

Angela Birdsong, the Democrat challenging Republican Hillsborough County Commissioner Ken Hagan, launched an ad Thursday criticizing Hagan for not putting taxpayers first. The ad takes Hagan to task for prioritizing a new Major League Baseball stadium over things like affordable housing and fixing the county’s transportation network. “I’ve spent months meeting with voters and listening […]

Jim RosicaSeptember 14, 2018

The Florida Bar now is seeking to disbar a former judge who accepted baseball tickets from a law firm representing a woman whose personal injury case he was presiding over. Circuit Judge John F. Lakin, elected in 2012, quit the bench in March 2016. He served on the 12th Judicial Circuit, which serves DeSoto, Manatee […]

Joe HendersonSeptember 13, 2018

It is nearly mid-September and the Tampa Bay Rays are playing meaningful baseball games. They still have an outside shot of making the playoffs. Being the wise baseball sage that I am, I certainly saw this success coming after the club ran off all its high-priced talent in an offseason purge that at the time […]

Joe HendersonJuly 10, 2018

I’ll admit something right up front. I had to suppress a gasp Tuesday afternoon when the Tampa Bay Rays unveiled the sticker price for the baseball stadium they propose in Ybor City and hope to play in by 2023. $892 million! That’s about $200 million more than I expected, but I guess it’s roughly in […]

Joe HendersonJuly 9, 2018

The Tampa Bay Rays know how to put on a show, and I’m positive there will be no shortage of “oohs” and “aahs” Tuesday when they roll out the design and, importantly, a cost projection for what they hope is a new stadium in Ybor City. Owner Stuart Sternberg has dropped enticing hints about the stadium […]

Joe HendersonFebruary 12, 2018

The long-awaited announcement last Friday that the Tampa Bay Rays have chosen Tampa’s historic Ybor City as the place they’d prefer for a new stadium brought the inevitable question of how much the public should pay for the massive project. I have an idea: How about nothing? I am not against professional sports. I love […]

Joe HendersonNovember 16, 2017

I assume Tampa Bay Rays owner Stu Sternberg was trying to make a joke Wednesday when he said his organization might come up with $150 million to help pay for a new ballpark in Tampa’s Ybor City that will cost a lot more than that. I say that because I literally started laughing as I […]

Jim RosicaOctober 11, 2017

House Democratic Leader Janet Cruz of Tampa is traveling to Puerto Rico Wednesday “to deliver 30,000 pounds of much-needed relief supplies, including food, water, and medical necessities,” her spokesman said. Cruz is working with “Major League Baseball, the Tampa Bay Rays, and the Moffitt Cancer Center,” according to Anders Croy, communications director for the House Democratic Office. […]

Scott PowersApril 12, 2017

Apparently there’s nothing like a home-away-from-home for baseball fans wanting to take in Florida spring training. Airbnb, the leader in marketing vacation rental home, announced Wednesday that all 12 Florida cities that host spring training camps and stadiums for Major League Baseball teams saw remarkable spikes in bookings during the baseball spring training that ended […]

Joe HendersonMarch 16, 2017

It is not unusual when a Major League Baseball team signs a Cuban defector. There is a lengthy list of players who fled that island nation so they could barter their skills for the considerable cash that comes with playing in the United States. Usually, those stories have been treated as valiant escapes from a […]

Tag: major league baseball

Angela Birdsong says Ken Hagan puts baseball over people

Rays tickets could lead to disbarment of former Bradenton judge

Joe Henderson: Tampa Bay Rays are winning, fun. Will it matter?

Joe Henderson: Cost of Rays new stadium: $892 million! Yikes

Joe Henderson: Rays ready to unveil stadium design, but at what cost?

Joe Henderson: Public’s bill for Tampa Bay Rays stadium? How about zero?

Joe Henderson: Let’s hope Stu Sternberg was joking

Janet Cruz heads to Puerto Rico on aid trip

Baseball has been very, very good to Airbnb

Joe Henderson: Miami trial shines light on smuggling Cuban baseball players to U.S.