Tropicana Field: St Petersburg FL

Built in the final dark years of stadium design (1990), the city of St. Petersburg wanted to attract a Major League baseball franchise. Left vacant for a few years, the original occupying team was a hockey team (Tampa Bay Lighting). In 1995 the city’s fortunes changed and the area was awarded the Rays who played their first game at the Trop in 1998.

Often times the butt of many joke, one thing you have to give Tropicana Field is that it is both unique and innovative. It was the first major league park to rip up that garbage known as Astroturf and replace it with Field Turf. Since then every major sporting team with Astroturf has followed suit. While the dome concept receives much criticism from baseball purists, it is a necessity as the heat and humidity of the area are unbearable during the summer months. Since the dome was completed it has seen it’s share of upgrades including a $70 million facelift in 1996 that brought the park up to MLB standards. Brooklyn’s Ebbets Field was the model for a new Rotunda that was constructed during this time (most likely done to appeal to the mass number of displaced New Yorkers in metro Tampa).  In 2006, beyond the right centerfield wall sits a 10,000 gallon live Ray tank (for a small fee you can feed them), which is the ballparks signature. 2007 saw more improvements for the dome as new video boards were installed and the facility continued its tradition as being a leader in synthetic turf when they installed FieldTurfs latest update (FieldTurf Duo).

The food at the Trop offers a smorgasbord of options. Hot dogs, boiled peanuts, cuban sandwiches and a buffet in dead center field called the Batters Eye. Local fast food chain Checkers has a picnic style place alongside the bullpen. While the options are plentiful, the food quality decent. Rick Vaughn who works in the Rays Public Relations department tells us that the signature dish at Tropicana Field is the Gordon Bierch Garlic Fries.  There are a decent number of imports and domestics beers offered but the Budweiser Brewhouse is your best bet for getting a solid brew. Tampa Bay is famous for two things, strip clubs and cigars. The Trop pays homage to the latter with the only cigar bar in the majors at Cuesta-Rey.

Getting to the game is pretty simple as there are plenty of highways and options to get to the park. Parking is simple as well, there is a very decent sized stadium parking lot. As for pre and post game activities, there is one sports bars that caters to baseball fans that is within walking distance of the stadium. Thankfully Ferg’s Sports Bar brings a pretty good game and is worth checking out. Downtown St Pete is not too far and does offer a spattering of good places to enjoy the rest of your evening.

The Ray’s are all about fan value this season. Many games tickets start at $10 and offer free parking with cars that have 4 or more people. The Rays have actually developed a page on their website devoted to their savings this season. Tropicana Field does have some of the best usher staffs in the industry. They hook you with some better seats when the Ray’s are playing in front of a lowly 10,000 fans.

St. Petersburg is a tremendous city with plenty of great actives. The dome was poorly designed the first go around (Catwalks that are in play) but there have been some major updates to improve the fans experience. Eventually city and state officials are going to realize a new stadium just makes a whole lot more sense than perpetually adding more and more lipstick. As the battle over the status of the new Trop continues, we as fans are left with this: a stadium that really does have flashes of brilliance but all in all does not meet our standard for newer stadiums. I do recommend going to a game at the Trop, the 10,000 sq foot Ted Williams museum is free with admission to the game and that alone is worth the trip. Lets just hope the Ray’s can remain relevant on the field and the elected suits have the foresight to give them a place to flourish in St. Petersburg.

Bars: Ferg’s Sports Bar & Grill 1320 Central Ave; The Independent 29 3rd st N; Rec Room 151 2nd Ave N

Restaurants: Grill 121 121 2nd Avenue North; Chaing MAI Thai 1100 Central Ave; Dome Grill Inc. 561 Central Ave; Ceviche Tapas 10 Beach Dr NE

Hotels: Pier Hotel 253 2nd Ave N; Renaissance Vinoy Resort 501 5th Ave NE; Hampton Inn & Suites 80 Beach Dr NE

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