In the wake of catastrophic flooding from Hurricane Harvey, Major League Baseball has moved this week’s Houston Astros–Texas Rangers series to Tropicana Field, home of the Tampa Bay Rays.
According to Astros president Reid Ryan, however, the series didn’t have to move to Florida as he was trying to negotiate with the Rangers to move this series to Arlington in exchange for a September Rangers-hosted series to be played at Minute Maid Park, but Texas refused.
Why would the Rangers refuse some free PR and an obvious sign of good faith in the wake of a terrible natural disaster?
Season-ticket holders – of course. Always got to look out for that bottom line, right?
Well, not exactly if some of the online reaction is to be trusted as an accurate barometer of most peoples’ thoughts on this whole matter.
In the wake of the social media backlash, Rangers GM Jon Daniels defended his club’s decision not to swap home series with the Astros, telling the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, there was no avarice intended behind the decision.
“We were prepared to make the event all about hurricane relief and helping our neighbors,” Daniels said. “It had nothing to do with looking for a competitive advantage. That’s an inaccurate portrayal.”
According to Star-Telegram reporter Jeff Wilson, the Rangers offered to give all profits from a proposed Arlington series, scheduled to start Tuesday, to the Astros.
Taking a step back and looking at this entire situation between the two clubs, Rangers outfielder DeLino DeShields sent out a long message on Twitter reminding people that at stake right now is something “bigger than baseball,” reminding everyone to keep their thoughts with the people caught in the devastation that has rocked South Texas.
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