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Originally
written July 10th, 2009
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Throughout the course of the 2009
season, my travels weren't being very productive.
I got an early jump on things by going to Cincinnati
and seeing the Great American Ball Park, but then
the whole expanding horizons kind of slowed down.
I visited several minor league ballparks, notably
my Atlanta Braves' affiliates, and made some repeat
trips to parks like Baltimore
and Philadelphia
for social reasons, but the goal of
seeing any more new parks wasn't really moving
anywhere at the time.
Originally,
at this period of time I was tentatively planning
on going to Colorado to see Coors Field and see
the Rockies take on my Braves. But due to the
volatile nature of standby flying and the fact
that I didn't really want to go to a faraway city
by myself changed those plans. But my heart was
still set on tackling a new park at this time,
but I realized that I would have to go at it by
myself. Therefore, I came to the quick conclusion
that something was going to happen, regardless
of it would be a Braves game or not.
The
criteria was simple - stick to the east coast,
and look for a day game. As I did with Cincinnati,
a day trip was more than sufficient at knocking
out another park for my goals. So, looking at
the two eastern divisions, it narrowed my search
considerably, and then I found a game that caught
my fancy - the Toronto
Blue Jays versus the Tampa Bay Rays, at Tropicana
Field, July 9, 2009 at 12:10 p.m..
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My trip started early, really early, since I was
waking up in Raleigh, North Carolina, instead
of Atlanta. Ironically, my flights had me layover
in Atlanta momentarily, but another 90 minutes
later and I found myself getting off on a plane
in Tampa, Florida.
Despite my east coast disposition, Florida's not
a state I've frequently gone to for some reason.
Time wasn't exactly on my side for this trip,
so I didn't have a whole lot of time to waste
just looking around. I didn't even swing by a
giftshop, and pick up a shotglass or anything,
like I tend to do in cities I don't go to often,
if at all.
I
picked up my rental car, and made the drive down
I-275 from Tampa into St. Petersburg. Yeah, that
time thing really wasn't on my side, and I witnessed
firsthand the stereotypical elderly Florida drivers
going at, or below the posted speed limit, and
I had to crank up the aggression just a little
bit to make my way down in a more timely fashion.
As much as I would have liked to have driven around,
or gotten out of the car to walk around the streets
or something, I really was cutting it close. I
don't think I need to reiterate this fact again.
So
anyway, I arrive at the Trop, and I'm immediately
disappointed with the slightly high cost to park
($15). I remember back as far as 2007 when the
parking at the Trop was literally free, due to
the horrific play of the then, Devil Rays. It's
not like I'm in a major city like Seattle, D.C.,
or Boston, and even Atlanta and Philadelphia have
cheaper official parking. But I guess they really
usher the carpooling, because not only would parties
of four not have to split any parking costs, they
wouldn't have to split anything at all, because
cars with four or more, park for free.
The
walk to the Trop is an interesting one, as shown
above, with a pleasant tile panoramic of acquatic
life, with palm trees on both sides. Palm trees
to me are still the ultimate culture change, when
going to a place like Florida or California, since
I so seldomly see them anywhere else in the country.
But I like it. Also, the long walk to the Trop
made me realize why I was so glad that day, that
the Trop is a dome. Florida humidity, and the
visibly high chance of rain made me thankful that
in St. Pete's, baseball is indoors.
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As for the inside, I saw plenty of the
Trop in the 2008 MLB playoffs. Especially considering
how long and grueling every ALCS game against
the Red Sox was. All I could think about was how
not pretty the artificial turf was. Well, seeing
it in person doesn't change it either. The artificial
nature of it makes it look all weird, and shadowy
in certain areas, like looking at the surface
of velvet that was rubbed the wrong direction
or something.
The
rest of the park, however, since it was one that
I hadn't been to before, I allocated a lot of
time for myself to run around and see the field,
see the interior from every possible angle that
I could care to see from. It also sounds corny,
but I do like the touristy and interesting things
about certain parks that are exclusive to just
that place, so with that in mind, one of the first
places I took a look at was the Rays Touch
Tank, where you can actually touch and
feed live stingrays.
I'm
not going to lie, I thought as a whole, the meat
of the attractions aside from Rays baseball in
the Trop were a tad over the top. I suppose it
has a lot to do with demographic, and the fact
that St. Petersburg seems very family-oriented,
but the seemingly endless array of carnival games,
photo booths, and gimmick food seemed a little
excessive. Sure, they disclaim it as the "Rays
Baseball Carnival," but I guess as a baseball-first
fan, it seems a little tedious to have to dodge
swarms of oblivious children more interested in
playing ring-toss than seeing some talented hurlers
in their own right pitch some gems.
Speaking
of hurlers, on a more positive note, I don't think
I could've possibly come on a better day for a
pitching match-up. The Blue Jays sent ace Roy
Halladay to the mound to hope to avoid
the divisional sweep, while the Rays sent young
phenom pitcher, David Price to
oppose him.
The
game itself was a good one, and I'm glad to say
I was there on that particular day. Both Halladay
and Price were doing what they were expected to
do for the most part, and it was a close game
pretty much the whole time.
An
interesting thing happened on this day however
- despite the fact that the Trop is a dome, designed
to protect fans and players from the elements,
the weather still played a role in the game. It
started around the bottom of the 5th inning, but
there was massive booms of thunder that could
be heard, and on one of my many walks around the
park, I caught a glimpse of the outside, and saw
the skies dark, lots of dark gray clouds, and
began to really worry about my flight out of Tampa.
And
then in the middle of the 7th inning stretch,
there was a momentary bright flash, and then a
couple of lights went out. Looking at the picture
below, would you be able to tell where the power
outage occurred? I'm serious, it's in the picture...
So
anyway, despite the fact that none of the rain
could actually get into the Trop, a byproduct
of the rain storm actually resulted in suspension
of play, for close to 30 minutes. So for the first
time in my personal history, I witnessed a rain
delay indoors. It was at this time, that I decided
that it would probably be in my best interest
to make an early escape, and avoid the post-game
traffic, as well as the potential likelihood of
screwed up flights back to Atlanta due to the
weather and overbooking.
Overall
in conclusion, I hate to say it, but I'm less
than impressed with the Trop. Please don't misunderstand
this as a dislike for the Rays themselves, I enjoyed
watched them play against the Jays, but as far
as ballparks are concerned, the Trop did not really
impress me. The walkways are complicated and mazelike,
the staff a little too pushy and inflexible for
my liking, and the cost of everything was a little
high, all because of likely one winning season.
A good note however, is that I am very impressed
with the Rays fanbase, and it's refreshing to
see so many fans coming in to represent the home
team, whether its wearing apparel, banging Thunderstix,
ringing cowbells, or just cheering their lungs
out. I think the enclosed nature of the Trop allows
for such sound to be amplified quite a good bit.
Noteable
performance(s): Doc
Halladay vs. David Price
was everything that could be advertised. Price
worked his way in, but also out of trouble several
times, and he looked quite good as he delivered
six innings of work, striking out seven, while
only allowing a single run. Unfortunately for
Doc, he allowed all three of his runs, and was
ultimately charged with the loss. A notable mention
goes to relief pitcher Grant Balfour
who came into a high-pressure bases-loaded 7th
inning with only one out, and got out of the jam
without allowing the tying run to score.
Game
Result: Despite
the fact that I didn't stay for the entire game
due to the inclimate weather, and ensuing drive
back up to Tampa to get to the airport, I still
caught the tail end of the game on local radio.
After the game resumed play in the bottom of the
7th, the score didn't change, and the Rays ended
up winning. Tampa Bay 3, Toronto 2.
Additional
Photos:
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