TAMPA, Fla. -- Tampa Bay Rays owner Stuart Sternberg wants to make a historic neighborhood in Tampa the next home of the perennially low-drawing baseball team, which wants to shift across the bay from St. Petersburg.
Sternberg said at a news conference Friday the Rays will focus their new ballpark search on the east side of the bay at a 14-acre site in Ybor City, just north of Ybor Channel.
It's the first time the team has publicly stated its preference for Tampa over St. Petersburg, its home since the franchise started play in 1998.