Bank gives Tampa Bay Rays' high-profile heckler a Bronx cheer

By Stephen Nohlgren, Times Staff Writer
In Print: Saturday, February 21, 2009

Robert Szasz of St. Petersburg cheers during the Tampa Bay Rays’ first playoff game in October at Tropicana Field.
	[CHRIS ZUPPA | Times]

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Florida's anemic housing market does not affect cowbells, but another slice of Tropicana Field ambience may have taken a hit.

Robert Szasz, whose foghorn heckling from behind home plate during Rays games sometimes reaches all the way to ESPN's Sports Center, apparently is in a financial jam.

Szasz, 42, is a developer. Since January, banks have filed five lawsuits saying he has stopped paying on more than $9 million in loans that he personally signed for. Wachovia Bank has served notice that it intends to foreclose on his 7,000-square-foot waterfront home on Snell Isle, which carries a $3.1 million mortgage.

Szasz launches his barbs at Rays opponents from Section 103 in the Home Plate Club, where his typical two season tickets cost $12,400 each.

Can Rays fans expect him back, front and center?

Szasz did not return repeated telephone calls for comment. The Rays declined to comment.

Opening day is April 13 against the hated Yankees.

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Bank gives Tampa Bay Rays' high-profile heckler a Bronx cheer

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