By Taylor Landau
“Tropicana Field is a glorified tuna can!” I hear someone say a few seats down from me. I look over and see a man in a pinstripe Yankee jersey with a thick Bronx accent blabbing away to his friend, boasting about how Yankee Stadium is superior in every way. Big crowds, the historic franchise, and being outdoors during every game were his main points as he loudly insulted the integrity of Tropicana Field. It got me thinking, is that what it takes to have the best ballpark in the league?
While almost every other ballpark in Major League Baseball (MLB) is updated and shiny and new, Tropicana Field may actually be the best stadium in the league. It has a bad rep, but it’s an exciting place to watch baseball and certainly a different experience compared to the rest of the division. Tropicana Field has several unique features that make it the best stadium to watch America’s Game.
Almost every stadium in MLB is either an outdoor ballpark or has a retractable roof. Tropicana Field, however, is the exception. Located in St. Petersburg, Florida, Tropicana Field (or “the Trop”) is essentially a big metal cylinder with a slanted dome right on top. It’s no surprise to anyone that Florida gets hot during the summer, which is when the majority of baseball games are played. From May until October, baseball in the excruciating Florida heat would be unbearable.
To avoid the intense Florida heat, Tropicana Field is climate controlled at 72 degrees Fahrenheit all season long. It’s a great escape from the sweltering heat, and it allows fans to enjoy a great game without finding themselves drenched in sweat. Fans don’t have to worry about smelly B.O., the sun shining in their eyes, or the extreme humidity that comes from a sunny Florida summer day. At almost every other stadium, fans have no say in whether or not they will be stuck sitting outside on a hot summer day. Only seven other stadiums have roofs, and it’s up to the operations staff whether or not they will subject their fans to the elements during the game. Rays fans will never have to worry about that at the Trop.
For comparison, the Rays play spring training at an outdoor facility in Port Charlotte, Florida, and while I’ve enjoyed making the trips for those games, the heat puts a big damper on the day. The last time I was there, my mom and I discovered our seats were directly in the sun, and it was at least 90 degrees Fahrenheit. We had to run into the team store to buy hats and sunscreen or we would’ve fried. The game was fun, but the uncomfortable feeling of being stuck to my blue plastic seat while sweat dripped down my back in the sweltering heat made me long for the Trop. My mom decided she’s never going to another Rays Spring Training game again after that unless they somehow end up at an indoor stadium.
While I’m on the topic of the dome, have you ever had tickets to a sporting event or concert, but the weather had other plans? Rain, lightning, thunder, and snow could ruin anyone’s outdoor activities. Rainy season in Florida especially can leave plans canceled or delayed, which would have a huge impact on rescheduling MLB games. But at the Trop, that’s never a problem. The dome keeps out all the elements and allows baseball games to continue on as scheduled. Not only can the game continue, but fans stay nice and dry inside. They don’t need to pay for overpriced ponchos or umbrellas when the rain rolls in. Instead, they can sit comfortably in their dry seats and take in the entire game interruption-free.
My dad and I went to a game at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx a few years ago, and the game ultimately had to be delayed because of the rain. Our seats were soaked by the time we could finally sit down. Luckily, the game wasn’t canceled, but without a dome, that’s always a possibility. The last time I was at a game at the Trop during a storm, my friends and I watched the rain from the safety of the dome and breathed a sigh of relief that we weren’t stuck outside.
Not only are you safe from the elements in the Trop, but the tickets are cheap too. Typical tickets to a Rays game range anywhere from $15 to $100, which is relatively cheap compared to the rest of the league. At Yankee Stadium, a seat behind the dugout starts at around $200 but can go all the way up to $400 depending on the opponent. The same seat at the Trop is typically only $75. Fans at Tropicana Field can enjoy better seats for a great price. The Trop also recently introduced a new student rush program where college students with a .edu email address can get $9 standing-room tickets to games from Monday through Thursday. There are typically many open seats, so college students can slide into a seat as the game progresses.
Being able to see your favorite team without breaking my bank is a huge perk, especially as a college student, and it’s one that not everyone in the league gets to share in. While teams like the Atlanta Braves and the New York Yankees sell $10 tickets every game, the seats are all the way up in the nosebleeds, and it’s hard to see anything actually going on during the game. The Rays actually do not sell their nosebleed tickets until the postseason, so it’s literally impossible to sit in a bad seat.
There’s one more aspect of the Trop that makes it stand out from every other ballpark in the league: there’s a stingray tank in the outfield. Yep, you read that correctly. Out in center field underneath a safety net, there’s a huge touch tank filled where several cow nose rays swim around during the game. It’s an educational touch-tank experience where fans can come and pet the stingrays while the baseball team takes the field. No other stadium in the league has a touch-tank experience, or any animal-related experience in the ballpark for that matter.
The first time I went to the Trop back in 2019, I wasn’t sure if I believed what I was seeing. What kind of sports arena has a stingray tank? It quickly became a source of curiosity, and it was part of the reason why the Trop really stuck out to me in comparison to every other sporting venue I’d been to prior. The same can be said about my friend when I brought him to his first Rays game. Since he’s from Minnesota, he’d never seen an actual stingray before. In fact, he wasn’t entirely sure if they were real or just something from movies. He had a great time watching and petting the stingrays, and it became a defining memory of the game for both of us.
Everyone I know insults Tropicana Field. They call it a tuna can, a garbage dump, a glorified warehouse, you name it. Almost every sports journalist gets a kick out of insulting my favorite team’s home field. But to me, Tropicana Field is just a misunderstood anomaly that you have to experience to appreciate. I will always religiously defend Tropicana Field, especially against New Yorkers and Bostonians who take advantage of the Trop’s perks every season while simultaneously running its name through the mud. Tropicana Field is an unappreciated diamond in the rough, and I wholeheartedly believe it is the best place to take in America’s Game.
This article was originally written for Professor David Wheeler's Travel Writing course at The University of Tampa.
Kommentare