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Located just a few
blocks from downtown St. Petersburg and a short drive from Tampa,
Tropicana Field is the only dome stadium in baseball. Nearly a
decade after its completion Tampa Bay was awarded a baseball team to
play at Tropicana Field in 1998. The quest to build a stadium in the
city began in the mid 1980s as city official sought
to attract a MLB team (Chicago, San Francisco,
Seattle) to the area. This attempt was unsuccessful. Although the stadium
did not have a baseball tenant it
was used for basketball, hockey and many other events. Finally in
1995 Major League Baseball awarded the city a franchise. Named the Tampa Bay
Devil Rays, the team would begin playing at the dome in
1998. Although the stadium had originally been built for baseball,
the organization decided to renovate the stadium to make it more
like a ballpark. It was the last stadium built with a dome and
looks similar to a cookie cutter stadium. The stadium was closed for
17 months while it was renovated. Part of the $85 million
renovations included wider concourses, installation of Astroturf,
clubhouses, dugouts, additional luxury suites, restrooms, elevators,
escalators and administrative offices. The seating capacity was
reduced from 48,000 to 45,000. In 1996, the stadium was
renamed Tropicana Field after Tropicana Juice purchased the naming
rights.
 The Tampa Bay
Devil Rays played their first game on March
31, 1998 when fans filled Tropicana Field to see
professional baseball for the first time. Fans enter the main entrance
of Tropicana
Field through a giant rotunda reminiscent of Brooklyn's Ebbets
Field. Once inside the stadium, visitors find themselves in a
location known as Centerfield Street. Here is the Center Field
Street Brewhouse, the Rays team store, the Capitan Morgan Deck and
the Hitters Hall-of-Fame featuring artifacts of some of the greatest
hitters in baseball. One of the most unique features at Tropicana
Field is the Rays Touch Tank, a 35-foot, 10,000 gallon tank, where
fans can touch rays. It is located just beyond the fence in
right-center field. Upon entering the field area,
fans view a sea of blue seats. The lower level of seats extend from
right center field to homeplate and around to left center field. The
upper level of seats extend
down the base lines. An area of seats
above the lower level in left field is known as the Beach, a section with beach decor and tropical foliage. Tropicana
Field's outfield wall has many nooks and crannies that provides
interesting plays off the wall. Beyond the centerfield wall is the
Batter’s Eye Restaurant. The main scoreboard is located beyond the
right centerfield seats. After the 1999 season, the Astroturf was
removed and replaced by Field Turf, a plastic grass. Since 2007, the
Rays have been exploring the possibility of building a new ballpark
in Tampa or St. Petersburg. Obstacles blocking potential construction include funding
and location issues, however, the Rays are focused on building a new
ballpark in the future. Although the Rays struggled for a decade on
the field, in recent years the team has become a powerhouse in the
American League East division.
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