Tropicana Field

After visiting a record of 5 new parks the 2010 season, I only went to one new park last summer and it doesn’t exactly count because it was Hammond Stadium, the Twins spring training facility in Fort Myers, FL. Now I’m living in a new state though, and hoping to get a couple new stadiums this summer and will follow my 2010 tradition of sharing a synopsis with you on each visit. 

The first time I drove past Tropicana Field, I couldn’t believe that it was a baseball stadium. In the comfortably warm days of March, it seemed impossible that one would ever want to go indoors. Now I understand that it gets hot, but so does Texas and Arizona! The name of the field is rather small, but I think they tried to make it a bit more baseball-y by adding bats, balls, and the MLB logo onto the oddly shaped structure.

I attended 4 Rays games in a row and I figure that must be more than most of the fans here. The first game was with my family. My dad recently tore his Achilles Heel, so he’s pretty handicapped in his boot after a painful surgery. After easily parking, but struggling to the door, I was impressed at the prompt service a stadium employee offered my dad as they walked out to him and offered to get him a wheelchair to wheel him inside to the gate where the rest of us would be entering.

By the time we made it to our seats, the game had just begun. I felt like I was back in the Metrodome. The blue seats and high white ceilings took me right back to that field I grow up in in Minnesota. Many Rays fans boldly carried brooms to their seats, anticipating sweeping the Yankees, and actually got to use them after a solid performance. In Minnesota you can’t bring brooms or really anything else for that matter, in St. Pete’s you can bring brooms, coolers, and who knows what else.

My next 3 trips to the field were to watch my beloved home team. On the series opener, I appreciatively observed that when the National Anthem started, everyone outside the stadium stopped and removed their caps. The speakers were blaring and I was impressed that everything all but stopped in the rush to get in to see the game. Kudos to them. Tickets were a bit higher than I anticipated for a mediocre team in a mediocre park, but we sat in a new place each game and enjoyed all of the views. They have a Papa John’s area that is essentially a bar lined up right on the field. Definitely hope to sit there eventually!

The Twins won game one, but the enthusiasm of the Rays fans was pretty strong all weekend. They were up and standing for the easiest of plays and cheering the roof off on the big ones. Each game of the series had a give-away and the food was tasty. First time I opted for something other than a hot dog at a baseball game. Corn dogs!

I've never seen Mauer play first live! He made a great diving catch too.  

Anyway, that’s about it. Sunday was family day and filled with kids, but even they seemed to pay attention (everyone but the kids in front of me) to the game. Probably lowest ranking of parks I've visited, but the excitement inside put great effort into making up for any of the flaws.