#3/30: Tropicana Field, Tampa Bay

"The upper deck is closed unless we're playing the Yankees."

Wednesday, April 24, 2024

Around this time last year Sports Illustrated ranked all 30 MLB stadiums from worst to best. #30 (the worst) was…

Tropicana Field.

The Trop was built in 1990 but didn’t actually land its major league tenant, the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, until the team was founded by expansion in 1998. Whichever of those years you consider to be its “first”, the ballpark by age alone is neither a modern wonder nor a classic treasure.

Perhaps the two most notable things setting this ballpark apart from the rest are:

• It has the only non-retractable roof in the MLB.

• The seating capacity (25,000) is the lowest in the MLB, if you count the fact that nearly half of its seats (the entire upper deck) has been closed for most games since 2019.

Not exactly a glowing resume.

Even still, this visit was my first of the year to a ballpark I had never been to before. My hotel was only a few blocks away, my ticket in the first row of right center field cost $22, and I got to spend the evening watching a baseball game.

Speaking of right center field… another unique feature of Tropicana Field is its stingray tank. I happened to be sitting right next to it.

That feature was pretty cool, I guess.

Now let’s talk logistics. Gates opened 90 minutes prior first pitch, which seemed to be right after batting practice had ended. I had my yellow “PLEASE TOSS ME A BALL!” shirt on all night, but the chances of getting one before the game were practically zero. There was some opportunity based on where I was sitting, though - balls used by the outfielders to warm up before each inning were tossed nearby, and there always was the chance of a home run coming my way. Ultimately, I struck out. No ball this time. I do think I will be able to buy one from the Rays website in a couple weeks, so fingers crossed!

And the yellow shirt wasn’t a complete miss - it did get lots of nice comments, which was a refreshing shift from the blank stares it drew in Kansas City. The bright yellow also made me very easy to spot from afar. That paid off in the top of the 5th inning:

I was on TV!

More logistics: Most games I plan to grab a local beer at the stadium but the pickings were very slim and I wasn’t in the mood for a boring brew. I have a friend… we’ll call him Tim Borbely… who had the very generous idea of buying me a beer at my next game. This was that next game, and I feel like I cheated a bit by not getting that beer at this stop (spoiler alert - I got one at the next ballpark). Instead I opted for a stadium dinner consisting of boom-boom fried shrimp mac, Doritos, and a cold soda. I ate as I got my scorecard ready, and it really hit the spot. Let’s play ball.

The game itself had plenty of action. The Detroit Tigers scored a run in the 1st inning with an odd combo of a hit, a walk, a balk, and an infield sacrifice. Randy Arozarena responded with a home run for the Rays in the bottom of the 1st, and they scored three more in the 2nd. The Tigers took a 5-4 lead in the top of the 6th, but the Rays immediately responded. They added three of their own that same inning, highlighted by a two-run homer off the bat of Curtis Mead. The Rays held that lead and won 7-5.

Extra Innings

Wanna hear a story about a car rental?

I booked all my travel for this Florida/Georgia leg about a month in advance. The plan was to fly from Chicago to Tampa, then after Tropicana Field I would rent a car and drive across Florida. But I didn’t want some common car. I wanted something different, something fun to enjoy on the road. I ended up choosing an electric car, and the most notorious of them all - a Tesla. I had never even sat in one and thought this would be a great opportunity to try it out. So I woke up that Thursday morning and got an Uber to take me to the car rental center.

And wouldn’t you know it - the Uber driver picked me up in a Tesla Model 3.

I told the driver my plans for the day and then asked “How long have you had this Tesla?” She replied “Actually, this is just a rental. My Cadillac is in the shop.” Interesting as that was, she still had a rental Tesla by choice, so I figured I could still get some advice out of her.

“You say you’re driving to Miami? You’ll have to recharge twice. And if you take the most direct route across the state there are barely any stops.” Turns out I was experiencing the biggest downside to an electric car before even getting the keys. But I’m glad that Uber was a Tesla, because when I got to the Hertz counter I promptly asked if I could switch to an old-fashioned car that runs on gas. They tried to upsell me into a Maserati SUV, then actually gave me a Camaro that I didn’t ask for, but ultimately I hit the road in a nice big 2023 Dodge Durango.

I drove south to Fort Myers and grabbed lunch with a my “dear 2nd mother” Susie Yates. The journey continued from there…

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Next stop: April 26, Miami