Behind the scenes. (Bringing Baseball Home to Tampa Bay)

Baseball fans in the Tampa Bay area don't have much patience left when there's any chance of finally landing a team. That truism was proved once more when the "Bringing It Home!" campaign staged a drive-thru pick-up at the ThunderDome for volunteers picking up campaign materials.

Scheduled on Saturday, July 9 for an 11 a.m. start, 30 cars were already lined up and ready to load up on posters, yard signs, bumper stickers and season ticket reservations by 10 a.m. Some people may find it difficult getting up for one more effort, but not the true believers.

"I don't ever want to get to the end of any of these opportunities and think there was something more we could have done," says Rick Dodge, St. Petersburg's city administrator and long-time ambassador to baseball. "This is a relentless, driven demonstration. It's hard. It's really hard. But this is gonna happen. This is a baseball town. And this is the last campaign."

The current campaign, which runs only through July 31, differs slightly from 1989's wildly successful "Join The Team" program while sharing much of its foundation. Once again, the effort is directed by Anita Treiser, …