Troxler: There was an interesting chain of events Friday afternoon in the St. Petersburg mayor's race. It was partly my fault, too. Sorry. Originally there was to be a private forum this Thursday for candidates to talk about baseball, no doubt including the topic of a new stadium for the Tampa Bay Rays.

"This is NOT a public forum or media event," stressed the invitation from the sponsoring group, the "Clutch Hitters," an association of pro-baseball business folks around the Tampa Bay area.

Now, make no mistake: the Clutch Hitters is a private group that can run its meetings any way it sees fit. But I questioned whether the candidates had considered the implications of a closed meeting to talk baseball and stadiums — the second "private" candidates' forum held recently, the other being at a downtown condo association.

Column here.