The Tropicana Field experience: Watching a Tampa Bay Rays game

Tampa Bay Rays

Tropicana Field

San Francisco Giants @ Tampa Bay Rays

Date of Game: Saturday, April 13, 2024

Time of Game: 4:10 PM, EST

Final score: Giants - 11, Rays – 2

View from section 210, Row E, Seat 1

I was surprised to find out that Tropicana Field is an indoor stadium. I mean, it makes sense because it is in Florida, I just don’t think I have ever been to a baseball stadium without a retractable roof. It limited the aesthetics of the stadium. No sunset or skyline photos either. Speaking of aesthetics, the outside of the stadium wasn’t too picture worthy either. What I did love about Tropicana Field (“the Trop”), was its accessibility. We parked in lot 5, and it was a quick walk to an entrance. Screening was quick and painless and there were a lot of workers around inside the stadium to provide directions. Also, because it’s an indoor stadium, the temperature is controlled and set to 72 degrees.

For this game, tickets were purchased the day before the game through the StubHub app. The parking ticket was purchased using the MLB app.

When planning to attend a game in St. Petersburg, FL, I had heard that there can be a lot of traffic. With this in mind, we opted to arrive a few hours earlier than game time and explore the area. My hope was that this would help us arrive at the game on time.  While there was a little congestion on 4th street we arrived in the stadium parking lot 90 minutes before game time. Oops! I had no idea it would be that quick, but it gave us plenty of time to grab our ice cream helmets and get to our seats before the game started.

My partner had already mapped out where to obtain the helmets so we beelined for that first. I guess because it was early in the year, or maybe because it’s Florida, but we were the only one’s on the line. We were served quickly. The helmet was filled high with vanilla and chocolate soft serve ice cream and sprinkles. While we ate our ice cream at one of the snack tables, I looked around to see what other goodies others were eating. A young couple arrived at our table with the biggest plate of nachos I’ve seen in a while. It was the biggest I’ve seen at a baseball stadium. I am kicking myself that I didn’t ask about them specifics about their purchase, it would have great to have that information to share here.

It really was too much ice cream, I couldn’t eat another spoonful, my partner agreed, so we washed our helmets in the bathroom and headed to our seats. Our seats were on the second level between home plate and first. This provided a good view of the entire stadium and a close enough view where we can see the activities on the field well.

The crowd was generally quiet through the game. We seemed to be in a serious baseball follower area; a couple a few rows in front of us had notebooks to record the plays, and the woman also rang a cowbell pretty frequently.  There were others ringing bells also, but they weren’t in our section. From what I’ve gleaned from the internet, the “ringing of the cowbell” started in 2008, shortly after an SNL skit played on the Jumbotron. Since then, Ray fans have brought bells to the games, the team has provided bells as a promotional item, and there are now even guidelines for when the fans can ring the bells at the game.

The teams seemed to be evenly matched through the first several innings. At the start of the 6th inning, is when it all exploded and the Giants starting cranking in runs. Unfortunately, for us, this is when I decided I was hungry, and we went to go get hot dogs before the vendors closed for the evening. We did get to see the developments on the television inside, but it’s not the same as watching it at the seats. We returned to our seats in the middle of the 7th inning, but the damage was done. While sitting at the seats for the remainder of the game, there was a group of people in the section to the left of us that were getting quite loud and shouting things at the infield, especially when the teams were heating up. Eventually, they settled in to watch the remainder of the game.

Through the inning breaks, we enjoyed the mascots, DJ Kitty looks a lot like our own real-life kitty at home, so we were paying extra attention to his shenanigans on the field. While my initial impressions of “the Trop” may have sounded unenthusiastic or cold, it is unfair to compare this ballfield with some of the others I’ve visited. This is still a young ball club, so their game culture is still evolving. Alternatively, my experience may be completely different at another time, or if I sat in a different location. Since my visit and my original draft of this post, I’ve heard that a new stadium may replace “the Trop”. I hope they keep the cowbell.

Some information, such as baseball game information and directions were sought by using ChatGPT.

​Written April 17, 2024

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