Charlotte Stone Crabs sells items that used to sit in the sports park

People are rushing to own a piece of Southwest Florida sports history. The Charlotte Stone Crabs are selling items from Charlotte Sports Park after the team lost its affiliation with the Tampa Bay Rays.

Many can not believe the Stone Crabs won’t be playing after a decade. They’re packing it up and moving out of Charlotte County. So, people are trying to stack up on memorabilia.

The memories themselves, however, are priceless.

Michael Capner of Port Charlotte says he was surprised to see some of the items. “I didn’t even know this even existed until we came through here,” said Capner.

But he managed to find a picture that’s certainly worth more than 1,000 words. “I was like ‘oh man! I need to have that,'” Capner said.

A decade full of memories for Capner who was a longtime bartender at Charlotte Sports Park. “You can see there’s a big shadow in there. That’s me. You can only see the back of my head but I am kind of excited to have this,” he said.

The Tampa Bay Rays ended its affiliation with the Stone Crabs in December. Now the Minor League team is selling everything.

Tom and Judi Essenburg are from Michigan. “He got a new Stone Crabs hat. Because the Stone Crabs will be no more, and we want mementos,” Judi said.

There are collectibles too. “I got five packs of baseball cards,” said Tom.

Dave Cabott bought a cart he used while working as the stadium’s beer vendor. “When I saw it was still for sale, I thought I am going to have to take it,” said Cabott.

They are getting to take home a piece of history. “They were part of the community and the community was part of them,” said Capner.

All to say farewell to a sports staple in Charlotte County.