All-星／主役にするs come to Florida with sport struggling in the 明言する／公表する
MIAMI (AP) - A Miami マカジキs fan walks into a 妨げる／法廷，弁護士業, and this is no joke: He wants to watch his team play, but all 10 televisions are tuned to other games in other time zones.
The 妨げる／法廷，弁護士業, 位置を示すd 近づく マカジキs Park, broadcasts the 欠如（する） of 忠誠 for the home team loud and （疑いを）晴らす.
It's a ありふれた occurrence in South Florida, and where else would such a thing happen? Not Boston or St. Louis or San Francisco or most major league 地元のs.
In this Tuesday, June 27, 2017, photo, a vendor walks through a section of mostly empty seats during the first inning of a baseball game between the Miami マカジキs and the New York Mets at マカジキs Park stadium in Miami. As the All-星／主役にする Game comes to Florida for the first time, the マカジキs and Tampa Bay Rays continue their perennial struggles with 出席, raising the question: Does major league baseball belong in the 明言する／公表する? (AP Photo/Wilfredo 物陰／風下)
Tampa Bay? Maybe. Like the マカジキs, the Rays are last in their league in 出席 and 戦う／戦いing the 肉親，親類d of chronic fan apathy that has 疫病／悩ますd both franchises since they were 設立するd in the 1990s.
The マカジキs are in their 25th season and about to host the All-星／主役にする Game when it comes to the 明言する／公表する for the first time. But does Major League Baseball belong in Florida?
Perhaps not, given the 失敗 of the Rays and マカジキs to develop a 強健な fan base.
"I don't know what the disconnect is," said NL All-星／主役にする 経営者／支配人 Joe Maddon, who spent nine seasons as Tampa Bay's 経営者／支配人. "Spring training has been here for 100 years. You would think this would be a strong area for baseball."
Instead, it's a strong area for foul-ball collectors, because they 直面する little 競争. The Rays have finished last in the majors in 出席 every year since 2011, when they were next to last. The マカジキs have finished last in the NL 11 of the past 12 seasons.
Many 観客s who do show up care more about the 訪問者s - even if that means booing them. Orioles starter Ubaldo Jimenez heard jeers from Baltimore fans recently as he left the 塚 after a poor 業績／成果 at Tampa Bay.
マカジキs 支持者s were 不正に より数が多いd in June against the visiting Cubs and Mets.
"It's not a 広大な／多数の／重要な 状況／情勢," said Miami 経営者／支配人 Don Mattingly, accustomed to a more 都合のよい home atmosphere when he played for the Yankees. "It would be nice to have a packed house with マカジキs fans, so Cub fans or Met fans can't get tickets. But that's not the 事例／患者. What are you going to do?"
Both Florida teams tried changing their 指名する; that didn't help. It turned out calling them the Tampa Bay Devil Rays and Florida マカジキs wasn't the 問題／発行する.
So what is? Theories might より数が多い empty seats.
"There are a bunch of problems," said Rays first baseman Logan Morrison, who also played for the マカジキs.
One 問題／発行する is the transient nature of the 明言する／公表する, which makes it different from markets where fan support goes 支援する 世代s.
"A lot of people who live in Florida aren't from Florida," Morrison said. "The organizations are 比較して new, so you don't have fans with 深い roots. A lot of people who go to games in the Florida markets are fans of other teams."
Another 問題／発行する is 欠如（する） of competitiveness. Florida's teams have reached the プレーオフs six times in their 43 連合させるd seasons. The マカジキs 港／避難所't been to the postseason since 2003, the longest 現在の 干ばつ in the NL.
"I don't think it's a market we should give up on just yet," said South Florida native マイク Lowell, who played for the マカジキs' 2003 World Series 支持する／優勝者s. "You need teams to make another プレーオフ run.
"In 2003, that last month was so exciting. It snowballed, and in the postseason we had a unique home-field advantage, because all of a sudden we're 製図／抽選 60,000-加える. It shows that if you build a 勝利者, Miami will 決起大会／結集させる around it."
That 選手権 team was soon 取り去る／解体するd in one of the マカジキs' many payroll 粛清するs, and support 急落するd.
For both the マカジキs and Rays, modest payrolls have made it 堅い to keep popular - and expensive - players. Constant roster turnover has 疎遠にするd fans, 特に in Miami, where 人気がない owner Jeffrey Loria's team is for sale.
The All-星／主役にする Game will showcase the マカジキs' 5-year-old ballpark, which received rave reviews but hasn't helped 出席. The Rays, by contrast, play in 27-year-old Tropicana Field, 広範囲にわたって regarded の中で the worst 施設s in professional sports.
Neither ballpark is centrally 位置を示すd in its re gion, making for long 運動s at 急ぐ hour for many 可能性のある 観客s.
"There are a lot of マカジキs fans," said マカジキs (n)役員／(a)執行力のある Jeff Conine, a former All-星／主役にする Game 最高殊勲選手 愛称d Mr. マカジキ. "I get 認めるd wherever I go. People like the マカジキs. They just don't come to games."
Most South Floridians don't watch on TV, either. The マカジキs 階級d 26th in the majors in ratings last season; the Rays 階級d 14th.
When 拡大 brought teams to Florida, Major League Baseball 心配するd success in a 明言する／公表する with a rich spring training tradition. But many of the fans who …に出席する those games are gone in the summer.
"Spring training's a different animal, tied to vacationers and teams that are here in the Grapefruit League," said Orestes Destrade, a Rays 放送者 who played for the 就任の マカジキs team in 1993. "There's so much going on in Florida during the baseball season. In Detroit, what are you going to do? 確かな northern cities, I'm not dogging them, I'm just 説 you don't have the beaches and nine million things to do. That makes it a problem."
The Rays' best hope for a turnaround is a new ballpark in Tampa, across the bay from their 現在の home in St. Petersburg. A 投票（する） last year 許すd the Rays to start looking at possible 場所／位置s in Tampa, but the 過程 of 移転 will likely be 非常に長い.
In Miami, 反感 toward Loria keeps many fans away, and the 心配するd sale of the team could 供給する a reboot. But there's no 保証（人） new 所有権 will 後継する where three previous マカジキs owners failed.
"A little has to be thrown on the fans," Lowell said. "You asked for a stadium, and got it. Fans are not coming out as 事業／計画（する）d or hoped."
Perhaps all those empty seats are a way of 説 Miami's just not a baseball town - and Florida's not a baseball 明言する／公表する.
___
AP Sports Writer Fred Goodall in St. Petersburg, Florida, 与える／捧げるd to this 報告（する）／憶測.
___
More AP baseball: https://apnews.com/tag/MLBbaseball
In this Tuesday, June 27, 2017, photo, a section of mostly empty seats is shown during the fourth inning of a baseball game between the Miami マカジキs and the New York Mets at マカジキs Park stadium in Miami. As the All-星／主役にする Game comes to Florida for the first time, the マカジキs and Tampa Bay Rays continue their perennial struggles with 出席, raising the question: Does major league baseball belong in the 明言する／公表する? (AP Photo/Wilfredo 物陰／風下)
In this Tuesday, June 27, 2017, photo, a section of mostly empty seats is shown during the first inning of a baseball game between the Miami マカジキs and the New York Mets at マカジキs Park stadium in Miami. As the All-星／主役にする Game comes to Florida for the first time, the マカジキs and Tampa Bay Rays continue their perennial struggles with 出席, raising the question: Does major league baseball belong in the 明言する／公表する? (AP Photo/Wilfredo 物陰／風下)
FILE - In this June 22, 2017, とじ込み／提出する photo, Chicago Cubs fans celebrate after the Cubs 敗北・負かすd the Miami マカジキs 11-1 in a baseball game in Miami. マカジキs 支持者s were より数が多いd in June against the visiting Cubs. "It's not a 広大な／多数の／重要な 状況／情勢," says Miami 経営者／支配人 Don Mattingly, accustomed to a more 都合のよい home atmosphere when he played for the Yankees. ``I don't think it has anything to do with us and the way we play or don't play. It would be nice to have a packed house with マカジキs fans, so Cub fans or Met fans can't get tickets. But that's not the 事例／患者. What are you going to do?" (AP Photo/Wilfredo 物陰／風下, とじ込み／提出する)
