Buck Showalter buys walkie-talkie due to stadium phone issues, will expense it

Take it as a sign the Tampa Bay Rays need a new home and stadium.

Manager Buck Showalter and his Baltimore Orioles are opening the season at Tropicana Field, but he's unhappy with the state of the facility.

The bullpen phones at the climate-controlled stadium didn't work for the second consecutive day Wednesday, but Showalter was prepared after making a shopping trip to purchase a walkie-talkie earlier in the morning.

"It's strange," Showalter told reporters following the contest. "The phones didn't work again tonight. We had to buy a walkie-talkie - it's a challenge. I'm going to turn it on expenses, though. That walkie-talkie is expensive."

Orioles pitchers combined to walk eight batters in the 2-0 loss to the Rays, forcing Showalter to make four pitching changes using his new communication medium. Only 13,569 fans were on hand for the shutout, so Showalter likely could have just shouted to the 'pen when he wanted someone up.

Unfortunately, the Rays aren't having much luck getting approval to search for a new stadium site outside of St. Petersburg.