Archive for the 'Mosaic Field' Category

Feb 09

Rays Having Second-Thoughts On Sale Of Naming Rights To Spring Training Home

Charlotte County, Mosaic Field, Spring Training, The Mosaic Company Cork Gaines No Comments »

Yesterday we wondered if the Rays would have second-thoughts about selling the naming rights to their spring training field. This, after local environmentalists expressed their disgust with the team’s partnership with The Mosaic Company, a local mining company.

Twenty-four hours later, the Rays have already started backing away from the deal.

Charlotte county was supposed to decide this morning if they would allow the field to be renamed “Mosaic Field.” The Rays asked that the item be removed from the agenda.

Many Charlotte County residents reacted to the Mosaic offer the same way the Indianapolis Colts would regard an offer to rename their stadium “Whodat Field.” Charlotte County Commissioner Adam Cummings called it “an outrageous slap in the face”…So at the last minute, the Rays asked commissioners to pull the item from the agenda…That didn’t quell the controversy, though, and it doesn’t mean the proposal is dead. In effect, the Rays called a time out…Commissioners said they had received more than 100 e-mails objecting to the deal, and a dozen people showed up in person to vent about the Rays’ agreement with the county’s longtime opponent.

The agreement would have meant $75K a year for Charlotte County for the next 15 years.

Once we heard of the complaints from the locals, we were surprised the Rays ever let the partnership get this far. Stuart Sternberg and Co. are a very image-conscious organization, and we have seen them avoid many other situations that were far less controversial than strip-mining and destruction of local wetlands.

Feb 08

Naming Rights For Rays Spring Training Site Not Without Controversy

Charlotte County, Mosaic Field, The Mosaic Company Cork Gaines 2 Comments »

Last week, the Rays announced an agreement with The Mosaic Company to rename the Rays spring training park in Charlotte. In the press release, the Rays said they were looking for a partner “with a strong presence in our region and a demonstrated commitment to local communities…The Mosaic Company has an exceptional track record of community engagement.”

Well, that “community engagement” may include destroying local wetlands and some in the community are not happy with the partnership.

“It’s an outrageous slap in the face,” says longtime Charlotte County Commissioner Adam Cummings. “For years we fought Mosaic’s efforts to expand strip mining in the Peace River Basin. We spent $12 million doing it. Now the Tampa Bay Rays want to put the Mosaic name on our sports center. It’s as if Mosaic is going to get the naming rights for Florida Field and change its name from the ‘Swamp’ to the ‘Clay Pit’ because that is what they do to natural wetlands.”

According The Mosaic Company’s website, they are “the world’s leading producer and marketer of concentrated phosphate and potash, two of the primary nutrients required to grow the food the world needs.

So Mosaic produces the two of the main ingredients in fertilizer that is then used to help grow crops in areas that otherwise might not be able. But they do this at the cost of strip mining in the Charlotte area and possibly damaging local wetlands.

Fair or foul? We don’t know, but if the voices behind this story get any louder, the Rays could have second-thoughts on their new partnership.