The Trop, Tropicana Field Tampa Bay

The Scoreboard

After walking on Miami Beach in the morning and scorching my back in an hour’s time we headed up to Tampa Bay. We drove through the everglades which was beautiful in it’s own way.

The Live Rays

We got about an hour and a half outside Tampa when we hit awful traffic and they shut down I-75 and were routing people off the highway. We were stuck in traffic for about 45 minutes and lost another 30 minutes on the detour. Crossing over the bridge to get to St. Petersburg (which is where the stadium actually is) was beautiful. The bridge was beautiful and the water was very clear. We were late for the game which along with getting so sun burnt frustrated me.  The drive over the bridge really helped to calm me down though, or I might’ve had a miserable time at the game.  We didn't miss a whole lot though, only the first inning and I was relieved it wasn't more. 

View From My Seat

The Trop, as they call it, is a dome, it doesn't even have a retractable roof it’s just a straight dome, one of only two remaining in the majors. Many people think that this place is a dump. It is different and it’s not a pretty sight from the outside. Once inside it can be difficult to get around in the stadium having to go up and down stairs or escalators to get all the way around the stadium.  While we were there as is the norm in St. Petersburg there weren't many fans in attendance, which made it easier to get around.

Old Truck in the Stadium

There were tons of food options and plenty of fun things to do while inside and on the concourses. You could go pet the live Sting Rays that they keep in a large tank above right center field, or climb on a giant foam play glove or bat. They also have the Ted Williams museum in the ballpark and I got to see some of it which was very cool, however they closed it before I could go upstairs were most of the good stuff was located. I begged and pleaded with the workers to let me and that it was my only time but they had none of it. I was disappointed because it is supposed to be one of the best baseball museums outside of Cooperstown.

Ted Williams Locker in the Museum

The game was fun. The Rays were playing the Tigers. The Rays had one of their best pitchers, James Shield on the mound but he had an off night and was not able to really do all that he wanted with his pitches. Miguel Cabrera one of the Tigers superstars had 4 hits including a home run to put the Tigers on top 5-2. The Rays team has many of their good hitters on the disabled list at the moment and they are having a difficult time scoring runs.

The Bullpen

One of the neat things about this stadium was that we were very close to the action for a good price. Tickets for Rays games are easy to get and are cheap. We sat down the right field line near the corner and had a good view of everything and the Rays bullpen was very close to us. It was fun to watch the relief pitchers warm up from so close.