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Rays lost Philly hotel but dropped into lap of luxury

Some of the fallout from the extended World Series stay in Philadelphia was that the Tampa Bay Rays found themselves without a hotel after Game 5 was suspended on Monday night. The hotel they were initially staying in, a Westin, had booked the rooms that the Rays expected to vacate so the baseball team was forced to scramble for new digs.

So as this story of logistics began to seep out, there was talk about how the Rays were forced to find refuge as I heard one commenter describe it at a hotel "somewhere in Delaware," as if the Tampa Bay players were being shipped to a bungalow motel in the sticks.

Here's the reality: These guys are staying at the Hotel du Pont in Wilmington, Delaware.

Anyone who has made the trip north on I-95 knows that it's an easy cruise from Wilmington to the South Philadelphia sports complex. And anyone familiar with the Hotel du Pont knows it to be one of the ritziest places on the East Coast with all kinds of stars from travel guides.

Tampa Bay manager Joe Maddon was certainly impressed. His take: "I got to my room last night and I couldn’t believe it. If you’re going to have to have a postponement, you might as well stay here.”

So while the characterization of the Rays as displaced refugees may be an interesting news peg, many of us would love to be inconvenienced in such a way.

Comments

I stayed at the Hotel du Pont years ago for a business trip. It was the first and perhaps only time I've ever had a telephone in the bathroom.
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Jason,
Did you make any calls to the bullpen.
-- Bill O.

and you guys get paid to write this stuff.....

Bill,
I didn't think the Rays would have to stay in some motel either. While Delaware was a curious choice, Philly, a big city, didn't have another hotel that could accommodate them?

Probably more likely, there wasn't another hotel nice enough and had enough rooms.
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Rob,
My understanding is that they needed something like 80 rooms or more and that's why they couldn't find a hotel in Philadelphia.
-- Bill O.

The price of rooms at the du Pont I don't find it surprising that they would have 80 empty rooms mid-week!

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About the blogger
Bill Ordine has been a reporter and editor for more than 25 years and during that time has covered Super Bowls, major murder trials, township zoning board meetings and bat mitzvahs. In his time with The Baltimore Sun, he has been an assistant city editor, pro football writer, poker columnist, enterprise sports reporter and now blogger -- which may indicate his editors have yet to find a job he can get right.
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