The Trop...Like it, Love it, or Hate it?

by rayweaver on Jul 1, 2008 3:59 PM EDT Comment 13 comments

Sorry if this is a topic that has been covered before, but I'm an infrequent visitor to the site. As someone who has been to more than 100 games over the last few years, I love Tropicana Field. I understand that it's not the same atmosphere as being in an open-air park, but we live in Florida. There are tradeoffs.

No, we don't have the blue skies or moonlit skies directly above our heads while we enjoy the game. No, we don't have any spectacular, classic/traditional architecture to admire. No, the artificial field doesn't look necessarily pleasing in person or on television. But at the Trop, we are not in the 90 degree heat, humidity and rain. No mosquitoes or gnats either. It's a "pleasant 72 degrees" inside, for the most part. I enjoy leaving on my 45-mile trip to the Trop knowing that rain is not going to prevent the game from taking place (incoming hurricanes excluded), unless you count the occassional power failure due to a storm. I'm comfortable when I watch a game at the Trop. I never had to put on greasy sunscreen while attending a game at the Trop. Sure, the place can look like a warehouse to a newcomer used to outdoor baseball, but this year more than ever, you forget about that once the game gets going. I've been to a handful of the other stadiums around the country, and as architecturally pleasing as many of them might be, I'm not there for the architecture. I'm tired of hearing national media (XM-Mark Patrick, Charlie Steiner, ESPN-pick any puppet that got the memo that the Trop sucks) bad-mouth the place. They just don't get it. One trip to cover a series does not begin to allow a media person to understand the Trop and its benefits. And for the love of all that is good, they shouldn't base their opinion of Tropicana's aesthetics on a trip you made to the Trop over 3 years ago or the highlights they caught on ESPN. The place is very different with Sternberg in charge, and television just doesn't translate well.

So, now I want to know what everyone who regularly attends games thinks. The Trop...like it, love it, or hate it?

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If you can't be with the one you love

Love the one you’re with!

by GomesSweetGomes on Jul 1, 2008 4:06 PM EDT reply actions 1 recs

I have no problem with the Trop

and liked it when I bought season tickets for the 1998 inaugural season and flew down from NY for opening day. But I take management at its word that it is unsustainable for much longer and that a new ballpark will have to be built in the not too distant future. Given that, I would like to see it done sooner than later. The issues of heat, humidity, bugs and the like I consider red herrings, especially in the design we saw already.

Also, there is no point complaining about how the Trop is viewed outside the Tampa Bay region. No matter what you think of it, the place appears to be a dump and will always be considered one by all but a few diehards. So long as the Rays play in it, their reputation will be of a team that is playing its games in a terrible facility, and the region will be perceived as one of hick provincials and blase fans who do not care about the image they present to the world.

You may or may not accept it as a legitimate argument, but the design we saw would certainly have elevated the status of the region in the eyes of people everywhere. It is elegant, creative, unique, region-specific and beautiful.

by bobr on Jul 1, 2008 4:22 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Don't get me wrong...

I’m not against a new stadium. I’ll watch the Rays, indoors or outdoors(preferably with a retractable roof). I just don’t get the media. Why don’t they bash the Metrodome or the Rogers Center(Skydome) the same way? I’ve never been to Toronto or Minn., but on TV, it looks the same. Most likely it’s because those teams have produced winners.

by rayweaver on Jul 1, 2008 4:38 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Because the Metrodome is on the way to being replaced and Skydome has a retractable roof.

Also important: having four (exciting) World Series titles between them with noisy, hanky-waving fans affects perceptions. Hopefully the Rays can have a similar perception altering post-season run soon too.

Longlorious.

by RATW on Jul 1, 2008 5:14 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

For Skydome specifically

There are environmental concerns specific to Canada, especially the expense of growing grass.

Do not think that what is hard for you to master is humanly impossible; but if a thing is humanly possible, consider it to be within your reach.

by Orlando Rays on Jul 1, 2008 5:55 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

The Trop

Great Stadium or Greatest Stadium?

by rglass44 on Jul 1, 2008 4:26 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Greatest...

Top Josh Paul Pornos- Big Navi Stroking, 2pitchers1cup, BJ to the Balls

BELIEVE in 08!

by SRQman on Jul 1, 2008 11:48 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I dont know about you

but it was pretty damn cool for us last night when the thunder started picking up in the late innings, and you could hear the loud booms through the dome. There can’t be a louder stadium in baseball when the pit is near full capacity.

by LeftRight on Jul 1, 2008 4:34 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

A little help from the baseball gods of thunder

to help drown out the obnoxious Red Sox fans is always welcome. By the way, did you notice how angry the Sox fans were after the game? Not as angry as some of the Cubs fans I witnessed, but they were bitter about losing. Even better…On top of the loss they had to walk back to their cars in the pouring rain. Personally, I didn’t mind the “slight drizzle”.

by rayweaver on Jul 1, 2008 4:43 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs