7/31/2009 - Tropicana Field - MLB Ballpark #28

2009 Game #26 - Kansas City Royals at Tampa Bay Rays

Final Score:  Rays 8, Royals 2

Hot Dog - 3/5

Okay, I think I’ve figured it out.  About domes, I mean.  You know, why they’re lousy places to watch baseball games.

A dome, as a venue, has no soul.  It’s like my old Sperry Top-Siders in that respect.  It’s hollow and empty inside (literally, which helps with the air conditioning).  The Trop is no different, although the Tampa fans do try their hardest to make it a good location to watch a game.  For a relatively new fan base, they’re a pretty good one.  They aren’t the most game-savvy (screaming out, mistaking a routine pop up for a home run), but they are really excited to have a good team.  Most of them probably don’t even hate their stadium.

Besides having its roof bolted on crooked, Tropicana Field is perhaps best known for it’s four rings of catwalks.  Each has its own ground rules (if a ball hits one, it’s in play; if the ball hits another, it’s a home run; if a ball hits a third, it’s foul; ugh), which have to be thoroughly explained before each game to opposing teams.   

Oh, and the foul poles, which are normal height, are continued again up in the catwalks… very weird.

The stadium looks okay from behind home plate… It looks like most real ballparks look (at least it’s not a standard curve wall in the outfield).  The concourses make you dizzy, with varying colors and textures painted on the miles of drywall and drop ceiling.  It would perhaps be better if the Trop came to terms with the fact that it’s an indoor arena.  Not even Gepetto could fix this one (but I’d bet he’d pet a devil ray out in the tank).

Well, I guess it could be worse… It could be the Metrodome.

If you’ve seen a Devil Rays game on tv, you’ve heard the cowbells.  These fans really took that one SNL skit to heart.  If a Rays pitcher gets two strikes on a batter, they ring their bells; if a Rays fielder catches a ball, they ring their bells; if a Rays hitter successfully ties his shoes, they ring their bells.  I had to forcibly restrain Karyn twice.

The game was a good one for the home team.  They were ahead early (yeah, Tony’s old pal Sidney “Aruban Knight” Ponson started for the opposing Royals) and won big.  At one point, the Rays hit three triples in three consecutive innings.  The best part was that Rays starter David Price also was starting for my fantasy baseball team… chalk up a “W” for me (not that it matters).

No, I’m wrong.  The BEST part of the evening was that it was “Hip Hop Night” at the Trop.  Aw, yeah…  The “first pitch” was thrown out by that evening’s post-game performer Flo Rida.

Yes.  He’s a rapper named “Flo Rida.”  Let that sink in a bit.  Flo.  Rida.  Really.  Somehow, the thousands who remained after the game for his concert didn’t realize just how lame a name that is.  Heck, he might be the most talented musician to come out of the Sunshine State, but with that name…  Wow.

So to wrap up:  Great fans, lousy park, game over.

-Rich