Food
Stacey's nachos were great - they had a ton of topping options (nacho cheese, shredded cheese, jalapenos, tomatoes, taco sauce, onions, beef, chicken, beans, guacamole, sour cream, etc.). They looked great, which was impressive because the stand was run by non-profit volunteers. The featured item in Tampa Bay is the Cuban sandwich - it was so popular, they made it available at every major concession stand. It was a reasonable $5 for one half and $9 for the full. The bread may look burnt, but trust me, it was very crispy and was a good blend of flavors. Though the quality has probably diminished when they began mass producing them. We also bought a special souvenier "all you can drink" soda for $9, a value considering the regular soda was $7. They also featured name-brand locations like Papa Johns and Outback. The food was good, but the prices were a little high, but the concession lines were extremely quick, but...Stadium
The drive to St. Petersburg from Tampa requires you to cross a land bridge for several miles. The view is unparalleled. It sure beats passing burnt down buildings and empty lots on the way to Comerica Park.
The walk up to the stadium was lined with palm trees and the opening rotunda was pretty cool. Once you start walking through the stadium, however, the negatives of the Trop become evident.
One of the main arteries was a small hallway that seemed to be circus themed. They also had a few carnival games that NOBODY was playing. You have to give them credit for trying to make the stadium engaging, but it didn't work. Does this look like a major league park to you?
The most famous feature of Tropicana Field is the Ray tank in the right field just beyond the fence. We waited in line to pet the rays for a few minutes, but gave up quickly since we had just pet rays at the Tampa zoo two hours earlier. I am glad we didn't wait any longer because we were able to get to the tank another way and, unbeknownst to the people in line, they weren't letting people touch the rays at the time so they could rest. It is a fun idea, but they were being far too protective of the tank and not enough people get to experience it. The Tampa Zoo and the Georgia Aquarium were both letting groups of 10-20 people at a time touch their rays. Putting the tank in the main entrance would have been much more effective, even if they didn't allow fans to touch the rays.
This was my first experience in a dome for a baseball game and I can't imagine a better environment for a game. The air conditioning blew right down on us. The upper deck sits pretty low, so you feel a little closer to the game. The astroturf field looks fine, but the warning track really looks like carpet. Fan Experience
I've got to give it to the Tampa fans - the ones that showed up were among the best in baseball. Again - the ones that showed up. The attendance was 16,800 for a Friday night game, which is 47% full. The Tigers game against the Red Sox that same night had 34,000 fans and was 83% full. My favorite pre-game feature was the "Oblivious Cam" - they would put someone on the scoreboard and wait until they noticed. The longest was over 40 seconds (and they still didn't notice). Once the game began, though, the fans were great. A lot of people brought cow bells and a "public service announcement" was played to instruct fans when to ring them. Surprisingly, the answer wasn't "always". They were pretty loud every time David Price had two strikes against someone and didn't need prodding during key moments. Everyone at the game got "Big Game #33" t-shirts, although few people wore them. I had to look up that this was James Shields. They had the typical "costumed person race", "hat shuffle", etc., but they also had a unique game by Chick-fil-a. They let a fan control one of the stadium cameras and gave them 15 seconds to spot a Chick-fil-a cow mascot in the stands. Although it didn't always work, it was obvious that the front office staff were devoted to trying anything they could to entertain the fans.
Overall
It's a shame that more people don't go to Rays games because it is an enjoyable environment and they have some players you can get behind (Price, Longoria, Damon, Upton, etc.) The stadium had some very odd quirks, but I think it is one of the more memorable stadiums in the league (now the only non-retractable domed stadium in the league now that the Metrodome is out).
