Craig Sher: Baseball in St. Petersburg.
October 27, 2014
On October 21, Upper School was treated to their first Willis Leadership Lecture of the year. The theme this year is “Iconic St. Petersburg”, and guest speaker Craig Sher spoke about Baseball in St. Petersburg.
Mr. Sher was introduced by his daughter Stacy, who along with her two sisters went to school all through Shorecrest, and now has a daughter enrolled in an Alpha class.
St. Pete has been home to the Sher family for 33 years, and for 25 years Mr. Sher head the Sembler Company, one of the country’s most recognized shopping center development and management firms.
“He has always made it a priority to be involved in the professional, civic and philanthropic communities of St. Pete,” Stacy recognized. “Even more on topic today, my dad has been involved in Tampa Bay sports - as an owner of the Tamp Bay Lightning, and as a leading member of the ABC Coalition tasked with exploring possibilities for the Tampa Bay Rays stadium.”
“He has always made it a priority to be involved in the professional, civic and philanthropic communities of St. Pete,” Stacy recognized. “Even more on topic today, my dad has been involved in Tampa Bay sports - as an owner of the Tamp Bay Lightning, and as a leading member of the ABC Coalition tasked with exploring possibilities for the Tampa Bay Rays stadium.”
Sher’s interactive lecture had students answering local trivia for bobble head prizes. They discussed what makes a city great to live in and quickly breezed through the history of our area - which would have been easy for anyone who has seen Bill Leavengood’s Webb City the Musical.
Then, Sher brought the topic around to baseball. Baseball on the radio quickly gave way to teams from all over the country practicing in St. Petersburg, which brought tourism to our preserved waterfront. Eventually Progress Energy led the effort to build a stadium despite the Baseball Commissioner not recommending St. Petersburg for a team. In 1988, St. Pete almost got the White Sox, then we almost got the San francisco Giants. In 1998, around the time when most of our Upper School students were born, The Tampa Bay (Devil) Rays finally played their first game.
Then, Sher brought the topic around to baseball. Baseball on the radio quickly gave way to teams from all over the country practicing in St. Petersburg, which brought tourism to our preserved waterfront. Eventually Progress Energy led the effort to build a stadium despite the Baseball Commissioner not recommending St. Petersburg for a team. In 1988, St. Pete almost got the White Sox, then we almost got the San francisco Giants. In 1998, around the time when most of our Upper School students were born, The Tampa Bay (Devil) Rays finally played their first game.
Students, guided by Sher, brainstormed reasons why baseball isn’t more successful in this area. Ideas such as our great climate keeping people active and an inefficient stadium were discussed. But Sher assured us all that, “baseball is a piece of the fabric of St. Pete.”
