matthewweaver.com | mlb ballparks | tampa bay devil rays

Ballpark:
Built in 1990, Tropicana Field became the home of the expansion Tampa Bay Devil Rays in 1998 after a long fight to bring Major League Baseball to the Tampa-St. Petersburg area. The domed stadium, originally known as "The Suncoast Dome" and "The ThunderDome", was constructed to lure an existing baseball club to Florida's Gulf Coast and several teams nearly took the bait. The Chicago White Sox were about to move before an 11th-hour deal produced a new Comiskey Park and the Cleveland Indians and San Francisco Giants went through the same courting process before landing stadium deals in their cities. Finally, the Tampa Bay area was awarded the expansion D-Rays...probably to keep the city from attempting to bring a team from another city.

In 2008, the team renamed itself the "Rays" to, evidently, make sure no one confuses them with a Satan worshipper cult. The way they have played over the years, one would think the fans were already in Hell! ;^)

Nicknamed "The Trop", the park is oddly shaped (it kind of looks like a flying saucer landed in the middle of St. Petersburg) and has a translucent fabric roof supported by several rows of cable-suspended catwalks. The main entrance to the stadium takes fans through a large "mall" of restaurants, including an Outback Steakhouse, and shops. Though it seems tacked on as an afterthought, the concourse is nice to have, as there is not much space in the dome for these kinds of diversions. The architecture seems illogical and done "on the cheap." In fact, accessing certain seating areas can be an arduous process, such as the second deck in right field. Known as "The Beach," this section has its own entrance due to the strange architecture. The team has made that deck into a special section, complete with palm trees and other tacky Florida themes, to make it seem like it they meant to isolate it from the rest of the park. Center Field houses a "Batter's Eye" restaurant hidden behind dark glass and the entire outfield wall is covered with a tacky jumble of advertisements and scoreboards.

On a positive note, the park's management can be considered innovators, as Tropicana Field was the first ballpark in the Majors to install a FieldTurf artificial surface. Seen most often in football stadiums, FieldTurf realistically imitates real grass and is a quantum leap over the old style AstroTurf. Toronto and Minnesota have followed Tampa Bay's lead and installed this type of surface in their domed stadiums. (Also, for the last season at old Veterans Stadium, the Phillies played on this type of artificial turf.)

Unfortunately, the park has several big problems which give it an less-than-Major-League feel. The catwalks ringing the field often are struck by pop flies and home runs, causing numerous ground rules arguments. The lighting is poor and the acoustics are terrible - though maybe they were shooting for a Florida theme by making it sound like a seashell in there! The crowds are sparse, since the people don't like to go inside during nice summer days, and the ballpark was built in sleepy St. Petersburg instead of the more-bustling Tampa.

The pizza is great and I ate many slices during my two visits there, but that alone won't save Tropicana Field from a "D" rating.

How to get there:
From downtown Tampa and the Tampa International Airport, follow Interstate 275 South toward St. Petersburg. Take the Tropicana Field exit onto Florida Route 595 and go East. You can't miss the park...just look for the flying saucer!

City:
The city of Tampa is growing and vibrant with lots to do. However, St. Petersburg is the slightly run-down, rather boring "stepchild" of the Florida Gulf Coast family. The roads leading from Tampa and the beaches, such as Clearwater, are severely lacking, so traffic is a big issue.

Stuff to do while there:
I would avoid St. Pete entirely - except for the games, of course - and stay either in Tampa or near the beach. I personally spent my time on the white sands of Clearwater Beach, but downtown Tampa is full of things to do as well.

Story:
It was raining when I arrived in Clearwater Beach on Saturday April 9, so I drove to St. Petersburg and walked up to get a ticket. Even 30 minutes before a weekend game against a contending team, I was able to purchase a single seat in the 5th row, just 2 sections down from third base. That is a sad statement on their attendance. There were many Cleveland fans at the game and a nice couple formerly from Cleveland took my picture and chatted with me during the game.

On Sunday, I used my previously purchased tickets to sit in the Club seats in the second deck behind home plate. The club was similar to other ones in the Majors, except it was smaller and a little lacking in some of the luxuries seen at other venues. This is consistent with the sub-Major-League feel of the park.

Fun facts:
Not only was Tropicana Field the Major League Baseball first park to install FieldTurf, it was the first to have a full dirt infield with an artificial surface instead of cutouts at the bases only.

Tropicana Field hosted the 1999 NCAA Basketball Final Four.

The stadium used to house the Tampa Bay teams in the National Hockey League and the Arena Football League until the St Pete Times Forum was built.

Before the name change in 2008, the team is the only one in Major League Baseball with 4 words in its name...Tampa Bay Devil Rays. Now that's reaching!

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Matt stands near the third
base line at Tropicana Field
April 9, 2000

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The "sauce pan" shaped dome
April 9, 2000

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Indians pitcher Dave Burba fires
to Devil Rays CF Gerald Williams
April 9, 2000

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A view of the infield from
the mid-level club seats
April 10, 2000

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A look at "The Beach" in right.
April 10, 2000

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The West exterior of The Trop.
April 10, 2000