July 7, 2017
After some nice family time up in Amelia Island, we drove across the state of Florida and arrived in Tampa Bay. Our hotel was on the Tampa side, but for the game we had to cross over a long bridge to get to St. Petersburg where Tropicana Field was.
Thanks to my pre-trip research, we got to park for free because the Rays offer free parking to cars with more than four passengers encouraging carpool. We’ll certainly take it! Walking in to “The Trop” there’s a mosaic type floor filled with sea animal drawings preparing fans for an under the sea, or under the dome experience.
First things first we had to go see the famous Ray tank in right center field, where there are real live devil rays swimming around that people can pet. I was a bit hesitant to actually touch the rays, but it was so cool to see rays so close. Next was a visit to the Ted Williams Hitters’ Hall of Fame, also located within the stadium. One highlight in here was catching a spelling mistake on a display; they misspelled Derek Jeter’s name as “Derrick.” Anyway, this was a fun exhibit, especially since it’s open to anyone with tickets to the game.
As we continued to walk around The Trop, we were having a grand ole’ time. We got free slurpees at the kids area, saw Raymond the mascot’s hangout lounge and walked by the famed Game 162 corner, where Evan Longoria hit a walk off home run on the last day of the season to defeat the Yankees while clinching a playoff spot over the Boston Red Sox. That’s one of my favorite baseball memories ever, as just before Longoria’s homer, Robert Andino lined a walk-off single giving my Orioles a win over the Red Sox, which along with the Rays’ win simultaneously eliminated the Red Sox from the playoffs. What a beautiful night, and it’s amazing to see every detail of that night commemorated at Tropicana Field.
We had great seats just behind home, right in the middle of all the action. We happened to be sitting near Mookie Betts’s mom the whole game along with thousands of other Red Sox fans invading Florida. Before long I got hold of a macaroni and cheese “bat,” which had the pasta stuffed into a crust that looked like an ice cream cone, and it was so good. During the game, so many things I had seen for years on TV were suddenly right in front of me, like DJ Kitty and the always ringing cowbells that Rays fans use.
The Red Sox won, but the atmosphere was really fun. Although there are clear problems with Tropicana Field, which is why many rank it last among all the stadiums, we had a great time and enjoyed all it has to offer, which if you look past the issues is actually a lot. After years of wondering what The Trop was really like, I had finally found out for myself!