Got this e-mail from dedicated TBO.com follower Ray Gonzalez:

“Other than the games at Yankee Stadium and Wrigley Field, the Rays games Monday and Tuesday night were the highest attendance of any other games in MLB for those nights.  Arizona, another team in playoff contention without a long history of baseball, was 2/3 full last night.  I attended both games at the Trop and there seemed to be the exact same ratio of Rays-Sox fans at both games although the 4 runs in the first and 10 run lead by the fourth inning on Monday took the Rays fans out of the game on Monday night.

“I feel that 1) expecting Tampa to compare favorably with attendance in New York/Chicago/Los Angeles/Boston is unrealistic, 2) the headline “Fans Still Not Flocking To The Trop” (in the Tribune) is inaccurate, misleading and sensationalistic and 3) the picture showing one of the few sections in the stadium where open seats were available was also misleading.  Why not report that crowds are the highest ever for weekday games while school is in session (which is true)?  Why not show a picture of the sections of the stadium that were full and rocking?  Why is the glass half empty when it is actually 86-90% full?

“Sports news reporting influences people.  Negative articles on players can influence fans to dislike the player, while positive articles on players influence fans to like players.  Similarly, by reporting negatively on attendance and portraying a picture that is not representative of the stadium as a whole, you influence people to think that the Trop is dead, the players to think that it should be different and the country, who picks up these stories, to think that Tampa does not support its team.

“I believe that the only thing out of whack is expectations.”

MY RESPONSE: I actually agree with some (not all) of your points, Ray. There has been a lot of stuff written lately trashing the Rays’ fans for not showing up - Mike & Mike on ESPN had a field day with it Wednesday morning - but it’s not as cut and dried as you think.

I think Rays’ fans have taken a bad rap this season. Attendance will be around 1.8-1.9 million, second-highest in team history (after the expansion year). Not great, but also not bad considering this is mostly a “walk-up” market. The season ticket base is a little over 6,000. The Rays would like to double that for next season - not an unreasonable goal, considering this season. That would add almost a half-million more fans to the bottom line right off the bat. Season tickets are everything to big-league clubs. Companies buy them and pass them out to clients, employees, etc.

I mean, you don’t think everybody at Fenway Park is there because they shelled out for tickets, right? In many cases, they’re perks.

Compounding the problem here is (here we go again): stadium location. Crowds are generally good on weekends when people can plan a trip, but on weeknights it’s a struggle - especially when they aren’t just being handed tickets for free.

Some have written this week that we don’t “deserve” a team like the Rays here, which is pure crap.

This market is, and always has been, fractured. There are many, many baseball fans here. But unlike Boston and more traditional cities, people didn’t grow up here with a team. This is the first year the Rays have really given local fans a reason to care and it takes time to abandon those old loyalties to the Red Sox, Yankees, and so on. To me, the most interesting stat this year is the TV ratings - up 80 percent.

Compounding everything is a lousy economy (seen the stock market lately?) and all that real-life stuff. Considering everything, I think the fans have responded just fine. Well, except maybe for this Thursday’s game against the Twins. A turnout of maybe 16,000 or so is expected there. That sucks.

I do disagree with my e-mail friend’s point that the media is somehow to blame for this. A story is a story, Ray, and attendance is a major story. To not address it is really not an option.

But give it time. If it’s still like this in a year or two and the Rays have kept winning, then I’ll agree the problem is deep.

Not until.