(198/366)
This morning a group of us drove out to Tampa to go to the third game of the Red Sox – Rays series. After a zippy two and a half hour ride we parked the car and headed towards the stadium in a crowd of Red Sox and Rays (but mostly Red Sox) fans. Yes I am wearing ridiculous orange shorts.
One of my goals in life is to visit all 30 Major League ballparks and watch a game. I was doing pretty good for a while, until all the teams decided to tear down their ballparks and build new ones. Here’s my list so far:
- Fenway Park, BostonRed Sox
- Yankees Stadium (the old one), New York Yankees
- Veterans Stadium (replaced by Citizens Bank Park), Philadelphia Phillies
- Shea Stadium (replaced by Citi Field), New York Mets
- Wrigley Field, Chicago Cubs
- Safeco Field, Seattle Mariners
- Camden Yards, Baltimore Orioles
- Nationals Park, Washington Nationals
- Tropicana Field, Tampa Bay Rays
So…I’ve got a long way to go.
The game itself was pretty good. The Sox won 7-3 which means we are momentarily above .500, but still tied for last place in the AL East. I have to say, watching a game in a dome is weird. For one thing, I had goosebumps. At a baseball game. In July. In Florida. That whole place was air conditioned like nobody’s business. I had heard that the stadium was kind of a bummer and I have to agree. It’s weird watching baseball inside. And because it was a dome, I expected it to be so loud in there. But for some reason the sound damped out and it the crowd sounded rather uninspired. It was a bit dim and kind of spastic too. Also, it took me fifteen minutes to figure out how to go down. There were multiple up escalators to the third level, but not-a-one that went down. There were ample restrooms though.
As with every team lately, there was a race. At Camden Yards it’s animated condiment bottles, at Nationals Park it the Presidents Race, and at Tropicana Field, it’s bottles of Pepsi products. Each bottle has a seating section associated with it, and today Section 305 had Sierra Mist. Sierra Mist came from a huge deficit to round the corner and slip past the other three bottles of Pepsi products for the win. As we were sitting in Section 305, we had a vested interest in the race. To reward our section for winning the predetermined race of giant promotional Pepsi products, everyone in our section was given a coupon for a free 20 oz Pepsi brand soda product. Only redeemable at a supermarket we have never heard of somewhere on the west coast of Florida. My dream of winning something at professional sporting event has come true! (We also all won a free Papa Johns pizza because Rays pictures struck out 10 over the course of the game. This came be redeemed by visiting a local furniture store and showing your ticket stub for a coupon.)
It was exciting to get to see the return of Jacoby Ellsbury (he’s number 2 in the picture), who’s so fun to watch and has returned to my list of favorite Red Sox players and Carlos Pena (he’s wearing the Rays jersey) who is from my hometown. I met him once at a Spring Training game and he was super nice.
Next up Marlins Park in Miami!
Comments
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A lot of people aren’t crazy about Tropicana Field, and it does lack the charm of many other ballparks. But it does have some cool things going for it. It’s air-conditioned in the summer, as you pointed out. It’s also very inexpensive…a good seat can be had for $10, and you can park for free if you have four people in the car. The food is good, Cuban sandwiches and Checkers I believe is still there, and the concourses are colorful and kid-friendly.
It may not be Camden Yards, but it’s cool in its own way.
I’m glad to have gone and had the experience. Camden Yards also has the benefit of being pretty cheap. I think we got $2 tickets some random Tuesday night. Plus, like Tropicana Field you can bring food in which is nice.
I’m originally from Boston, so Fenway Park will always have a special place in my heart, with all of its quirks and outrageous prices. Can’t beat some of the charm of the older parks.
Also, seeing the minute-by-minute recap of the last game of last season on the walls of The Trop hurt a little.
Wow…yeah, I guess that rots if you’re a Red Sox fan, but I have to say, it was one of the most exciting nights in baseball history. I couldn’t believe what was happening going back and forth between games. I was rooting for the Red Sox, even as an O’s fan.
Incidentally you can bring your own food in at just about any ballpark, I’m sure you probably knew that though. If you have any questions about any of the ballparks you’re visiting, drop a line, I know quite a few of them very well and would be happy to help.
Simmie! I didn’t know this was one of the things you wanted to do. We should get on this together…I don’t exactly love baseball but I love food so my goal is to visit every stadium and eat whatever they are famous for!