Cleaning up the old place
-
- April
- 23
Tropicana Field is a dump and the Rays really need a new baseball stadium with a retractable roof so they can take advantage of the Florida sunshine.
But owner Stu Sternberg and his staff have done a nice job fixing up the old place. The Trop now has a new FieldTurf surface. Giants Stadium is the only other pro facility with the stuff.
There’s also a huge (35×64) new video board in right field and a party area in left field complete with a sandbar.
This entry was posted
on Monday, April 23rd, 2007 at 2:23 pm by Peter Abraham.
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Peter Abraham
What’s that saying about putting lipstick on a pig?
I was watching a bit of the Indians/Devil Rays tilt yesterday and thought exactly that: What an ugly stadium. I hate fake grass and domes as much as the next baseball purist, but the Trop is the ugliest of uglies.
Pete,
I think there are plenty of teams with new field turf replacing the astro turf.The Blue Jays, Twins, Saints off the top of my head.
to add to Jeff A’s list, the Atlanta Falcons, Detroit Lions. They are all artificial grass in the sense that it is not the late 80s/early 90s astro-turf. Maybe FieldTurf is the brand?
It really does need to be replaced.
didn’t the Patriots put that in as well? I thought most NFL teams with artificial surface now have FieldTurf insead of the old astro turf….?
What did they build that stadium for in the first place ? (assuming it wasn’t built in the 90’s for the Devil Rays)
I never understood why people going to a baseball game needed party areas or swimming pools or ferris wheels.
I was wondering the same thing myself, so I looked it up:
http://www.ballparks.com/baseball/american/tropic.htm
Tampa Bay, for years a popular area for Major League Baseball spring training games, finally got its own team beginning in 1998. It wasn’t easy, however. In fact, the city of St. Petersburg went so far as to build a domed stadium, against the advice of MLB, to lure a major league team. It looked like the White Sox would occupy the new stadium until the people of Chicago voted to build them a new ballpark in 1989. A group of Tampa Bay investors called a press conference in 1992 announcing that the Giants were moving to Tampa Bay, but loopholes in the agreement allowed a local consortium to rescue the team from leaving San Francisco. Several other teams expressed interest in relocating to St. Petersburg, but to no avail. At last, on March 9,1995, MLB granted Tampa Bay a franchise.
Completed in 1990 as the Florida Suncoast Dome, it became the Thunderdome while the Tampa Bay Lightning NHL team were tenants. It was renamed Tropicana Field on October 4, 1996 per an agreement with Tropicana Dole Beverages
Jeff: According to the Rays, only they and the Giants have this particular kind of Field Turf.
“I never understood why people going to a baseball game needed party areas or swimming pools or ferris wheels.”
Somewhere Bill Veeck is smiling.
As a Yankee fan in central Florida, this is the only place I can catch a game, and it IS a dump.
Traffic is also a nightmare; you MUST plan on being at the stadium at least 2 hours in advance or you will miss the first pitch. That being said, the food isn’t bad, at least…
And they ARE the Devil Rays…would you build THEM a first class stadium?
Been there. The place is still a dump.
No where was a bigger dump that Olympic Stadium in Montreal… Youpiee was by far the cleanest and nicest part of that stadium.
I have not yet been to Tampa, but it cannot be worse than the Big O.
Hello? the only MLB park with a cigar bar.
The Trop rules.
I am osrry the Trop is not the best of stadiums, however spending the money to have a retractable roof is stupid. Yes the weather (temperatures) are not too bad now but by the end of next month you will not even be able to open the roof. I don’t care what time the games starts. To sit in the stands and sweat is not fun. Unless you live here all summer you will never understand. I am not complaining because the weather up north sucks. I’ll take the heat anyday, but not to watch a ball game in. It is very nice and comfortable to have the AC blowing. If the Rays ever win the place will be full….I know ever is a big word. I’ll be at the ‘dump’ tonight sitting in the nice AC and hopefully watching a yankees victory
Hell yeah…cigar bar? Sign me up!
The Trop has a Cownose Ray touch tank. That makes it OK in my eyes.