What went wrong?

Those three words are never good to hear. But they are indeed the headline of the St. Petersburg Times's coverage of the 10th anniversary of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays.

Now, I'm loyal to the Devil Rays like I was once loyal to the Angels. They were a team I enjoyed supporting, and would go see when I lived in proximity to them, but who never did well enough that I ever expected they'd go anywhere.

In any case, it's sad when a baseball team fails so miserably (no winning seasons, and all of three sold out games, in seven years). But while the writers of this article seem very down about the Devil Rays' prospects, it seems to me they're missing a larger picture here--isn't baseball in general not doing so hot? How much of the Devil Rays' problems is their fault, and how much can be attributed to the troubles of Major League Baseball in general?

I'm no avid sports fan, so I can hardly answer that question. But it does seem highly relevant.

(side note: check out the random quote from U of C economist Allen Sanderson in one of the articles in the series)