Tampa Bay

An Introduction

July 4th means baseball. This was the year I was looking to wrap up all the remaining stadiums, which unfortunately left no convenient geographic areas to hit. I had a bunch of spares to pick up, and I just had to pick a direction, and hope the best, although I did manage to plot a course that at least made some sort of sense, at least until I started jumping between the Midwest and East Coast towards the end.

On Never, Ever Leaving on Time

It was a little humid when I arrived.

Friday, June 26, 2009

Tampa Bay, FL


Outside the Game:
My flight out to Florida got moved up an hour and a half, so I had to leave work early the day I headed out on my trip. While this sounds like a good thing, it actually made me work longer on Thursday night and get in early on Friday to make sure that all my work was shored up to the point that I would be able to leave without them contacting me the next day. I had already worked 43 hours for the week by the end of the Thursday, so coming in early Friday morning was just about enough to put me over the edge.

But at 4 PM, away I went. There was a minor amount of traffic, but the problems didn't really start until I got to the airport. The first inkling that my flight out for this trip was going to be like all the others was the fact that I could not check in at one of the kiosks. I waited on the Delta line, then got told to go to the Northwest line, and then the woman at that counter went to talk to somebody in back. For those of you who don't travel much, that is never a good sign. But despite all that, I was able to get my boarding pass, get through security, and get to the gate all before the plane started boarding. It was not without casualties, however. A rainstorm on the way to work had me take my umbrella I had packed, and on the way to being shuttled from one line to the other by a nameless string of functionaries, I managed to leave my umbrella someplace. Since I was heading for sunny Florida, it wouldn't be that big of a deal, right?

My dad, who traveled a great deal in his youth on business, always told me you need three things to get out on a flight: a plane, a crew, and a runway. Although it seems deceptively simple, there's a ton of truth to the platitude, as 90% of delays are caused by either a plane not making a connection, a flight crew not being there, or losing your runway takeoff slot due to any number of issues. This night, we had a plane, a crew, and a runway slot.

Then, the thunderstorms started. Within visual distance of Not Shea stadium, I watched as it turned to not-visual distance of Not Shea stadium. Because it was thunderstorms and not just rain, all the ground crew got pulled from the tarmac, so we didn't get fully fueled. We pulled back from the gate about on time, but the rain had caused a slight delay in the airspace used by three NY-area airports, and we became the 43rd in line to take off. How long is it for 43 planes to take off in front of you in bad weather conditions? About two and half hours on the tarmac, now that you ask. Our pilot was about as cool with the situation as can be expected, but even with his influence, there were people just on the cutting edge of rioting by the time we eventually took off. The flight, though bumpy in places, continued without incident, touching down about three hours or so late. In-flight entertainment was provided by a young, pretty Eurotrash couple to my left that kept using their electronic devices even when threatened with fine and removal from the plane, and the passive-aggressive couple sitting next to me complaining about them, especially the apparently racist wife who went back to the stewards several times to tattle on the Eurotrash.


The Accommodations:

DoubleTree Tampa Bay

As with my last trip, I staggered out to get my rental car, drove to the nearby DoubleTree hotel (though, thankfully assisted by the dulcet, calming, British directions of the TomTom this time) and crashed with just enough time to get some late room service sent up to my room. The room was very well appointed, with a deck overlooking the pool.

I thought it might be a nice idea to go out on the deck to have my dinner, but the thick condensation on the glass deck door should have been a warning. Upon opening the sliding door, I was blinded by my glasses completely steaming over and nearly took a header off the rail. I quickly retreated inside and ate my dinner right by the newly appreciated air conditioner.

On A New Perspective

Tropicana Field, 2009

Saturday, June 27th, 2009

Florida Marlins vs. Tampa Bay Rays
Tropicana Field
Major League Baseball, Interleague
Tampa Bay, FL
7:05 PM


Outside the Game:
I had all day to kill before the brief ride out to the Tropicana Field for the game. I had no real agenda for the day and decided to see where fate took me. Fate arrived in the form of torrential tropical showers that covered the area slightly after I finished breakfast. I bought a replacement umbrella and was inspired to go to the aquarium, located on one of the endless bays that dot the area. My new umbrella got quite a workout very quickly, as the parking lots for the aquarium are an inexplicable distance away from the aquarium proper. When the sun game out, it was a scorching wasteland of asphalt. In the rain, it was needlessly long and sloggy -- unless they were attempting to make the area outside the aquarium into an aquarium itself, in which case they have succeeded mightily.

It never rains in Florida.

I used a kiosk that everyone else seemed to be ignoring to buy a ticket without waiting at the ticket booth line and retreated ironically into the aquarium to get dry. It was a very kid-friendly facility, geared to families. There was the de regur touching pool and Finding Nemo-inspired exhibits, as well as areas on coastal mangrove ecosystems, the ever-present devil rays, and a quite interesting exhibit on the history of home aquariums. The "big window" display they had was better than most, and an odd touch were rocking chairs by the exhibits for you to sit in to view them. Quite relaxing, really.

Fish wall

I grabbed some lunch (next to the surreally inexplicable "NYPD Pizza" place -- I wasn't aware they were licensing) and then when the weather cleared up, I went onto the USS Liberty, an active WWII-era Liberty ship docked next to the aquarium. For those not up on your merchant marine history, the Liberty ships were the most rugged transport vessels produced during WWII, as opposed to the Victory ships, which were mass-produced tin cans used to move cargo as fast as possible. The USS Liberty was still an active vessel, so the crew were all Coast Guard personnel, and they were every anal about signing in and out of the ship. Touring the ship was quite involving, but easily the highlight was a Navy advisory from the 50s on what to do in the event of a nuclear attack on Tampa Bay. (Answer: keep hosing off the decks to clear fallout and run away from the port and any other ships as fast as possible.)

After this, it was time to head over to the stadium, which was a short drive away, though over a throughway across the bay at water level that made for some odd driving experiences. A concert after the game insured that exiting and returning back to the hotel was similarly speedy, though the disconcerting travel at water level was even more so at night.


At The Game With Oogie:

The ray tank is real.

As this was the first game of the trip, I splurged on box seats right behind home plate. This seat was in the midst of season ticket holders, and, as a single seat, was the only one in the immediate area that had different occupants from game to game. This placed me in the midst of some of the die hards of the die hards. I got there very early, but when the first two people in my row showed up, and the married couple both pulled out score cards, I knew I was in the right place.

Everyone knew each other, and the section was full up by game time. The regulars immediately took interest in the interloper, and they said that the person who usually ends up in my seat were good baseball fans, so I apparently met muster. I've got to say that this was just about one of the best times I've ever had at a game, which is why the crowd is more than half the experience wherever you go to game. One man in particular reminded me a lot of my late uncle, from the goofy demeanor and slipshod appearance, to the odd cadence of his conversation that worked out perfectly so he would get his sentence in right before he turned back to look at the pitch. It was all-around a good time.


The Stadium & Fans:

Home plate to center field, Tropicana Field

I had actually been to Tropicana Field once before, during my last trip to Disney World, before I had even envisioned my current baseball endeavor. Despite literally sitting one row in front of George Steinbrenner during my last visit, I was completely underwhelmed by the experience. Even though we were in the nice seats, it had all the charm of watching a ballgame in the Javits Center. At its best, the experience seemed antiseptic. But this was back when they were the Devil Rays, and the team played some pathetic baseball, and, to be fair, I was pretty loaded when I went to that game.

The Rays recently undertook a large remodeling effort on the stadium, and the effects showed. No longer looking and feeling like a convention center, the downstairs area, if anything, resembled a comic book explosion of color, with games and activities everywhere. (Well, at least in the main downstairs concourse. It looks like the renovations didn't extend to the top level, which was just as drab and bunker-y as before.) The fact that it was 80's night, with most of the employees dressed up in technicolor and neon paraphernalia everywhere certainly also contributed to the primary color rainbow effect. There was also a "gritty, urban" section covered in graffiti and garbage that turned out to be a batting cage representing the Rays enemies where you can win prizes for hitting garbage can lids adorned with other AL East teams. As part of what seems to be a growing trend of "alumni events" across major league ballparks, Andre Dawson was downstairs signing autographs. (He'd also throw out the first pitch.)

You can get very close up to the players before the game to get autographs. But perhaps you can get a little too close to places, as it was amazing the stuff they just left lying around.

One of the other big revamped attractions was the Ted Williams Museum and Hitting Hall of Fame. It is a separate entity from the Rays, but it is housed in the stadium and is free with admission. The downstairs was mostly about Ted, and it had some neat things (such as one of his lockers from Boston), and some not-so-neat things (such as a statue made of his famous fishing photo). The second level is mostly about the best hitters in the history of baseball world-wide and some more stuff about Ted. It was well worth the look and a bargain at twice the price.

There are also actual rays in a tank in center field where you can line up to go in and touch and feed them for $4. I just looked.

As may be indicative of their surging fortunes, the stadium was largely filled with enthusiastic fans. This was the case the last time I went, but Tropicana Field was then filled with enthusiastic fans of the visiting team, the Yankees. (As this was an interleague game against their intrastate rivals, the Marlins, there was in fact a minor contingent of Marlins fans concentrated along the third base side.)

A majestic national anthem exhibition with a bald eagle flying around the stadium during the music quickly became slightly less majestic as it decided it was done with this crap and landed on the awning of the center field bar and refused to move. The annoyed officials eventually led the chagrined handlers out onto the roof in the back to quietly retrieve the bird.


The Game:

First pitch, Marlins vs. Rays

The Rays were trying to get back in the race for the AL East, and the Marlins, by virtue of playing mediocre ball while the rest of the division was having a "who can lose the most games" race, were making their way into the NL East race. To rub salt in the wound, former Mets ace prospect Kazmir was starting for the Rays. Regardless, the Marlins jumped out to an early lead, with a manufactured run and a dinger, but by virtue of a homerun and three straight hits, the Rays tied in up in the bottom of the fifth. Both pitchers settled in, holding each other scoreless. But in the bottom of the ninth, a single, stolen base, and passed ball led to a walk-off sacrifice fly that sent the stadium into conniptions of joy.

I was told by fellow fans about a couple of interesting statistics regarding the game. The Rays were undefeated on Concert Nights (Pat Benetar would be providing a free concert after the game), and the Rays ended the game just one home run shy of being the first team in history to go 100/100 on home runs and stolen bases before the All Star break (the combination of power and speed is a rare combination in baseball).


The Scorecard:

Marlins vs. Rays, 06/27/09. Rays win, 3-2.

The scorecard was part of a free program given out when you entered the stadium. It was booklet-size on good paper with more than enough room for an AL Game.


The Accommodations:
I was at the airport DoubleTree again. I went down to their breakfast buffet and had just about the largest breakfast I can remember: sausage, biscuits, oatmeal, grits, cereal... it goes on. I was apparently pretty hungry.

After the game, I just came back and crashed because of my early flight the next day.

Click here to see all the photos from this trip.

2009 The Rest