Having been there, I can say that the Trop could certainly use an upgrade.

And by upgrade, I mean a well-placed implosion.

The calamity that was free parking at the Trop was easily the worst part of my trip there, and that's saying something.

This is a club with a bright future playing in a facility whose best days were behind it the day it opened.

Agreed. It seemed the worst stadium in the majors they day it opened. Heck, there were probably some better AAA stadiums.

Ironically, the Rays' spring training field, Progress Energy Park, is a very nice open-air stadium right on the waterfront in downtown St. Pete. It's probably big enough to handle most of the Rays' present crowds, too (heh).

Build a new park if you want...just don't expect us (Florida residents) to fund it. Use the money you've saved on payroll.

“It’s sort of like living in a house or an apartment,” Sternberg said. “At some point, it just pays to move rather than fix it up.”

Especially when you're not the one paying to move.

Happily, Florida has seemed pretty solid so far in not giving into this corporate welfare scheme. And there ain't nowhere to move to.

“It’s sort of like living in a house or an apartment,” Sternberg said. “At some point, it just pays to move rather than fix it up.”

And in 2027, you can!

Weep for the unsubsidized millionaire.

Agreed. It seemed the worst stadium in the majors they day it opened. Heck, there were probably some better AAA stadiums.

I once saw games at the Trop and Victory Field in Indianapolis on back-to-back days (don't ask) in the summer of '02; everyone in my group agreed VF was better. In fact, just expand VF and move the Rays there right now! Ladies and gentlemen, your 2008 Indianapolis Arrows!

#3, I believe they'll actually be playing some games there this season.

My parents said the same thing about me when I was 17.

#3, I believe they'll actually be playing some games there this season.

I think its Orlando you're thinking of.

I once saw games at the Trop and Victory Field in Indianapolis on back-to-back days (don't ask) in the summer of '02; everyone in my group agreed VF was better. In fact, just expand VF and move the Rays there right now! Ladies and gentlemen, your 2008 Indianapolis Arrows!

Wow, not often I see someone actually remember the proposed name for an Indy MLB team. Can't recall which businessman was
trying to get an expansion team.... It would cost a chunk to make VF "major-league" ready, but I bet it is tractable. With
folks like Lucas hanging around, probably feasible to get the cash for naming rights. I recall some of the proposals for
fitting a baseball diamond into the Hoosier Dome being rather outlandish. I think one version ended up with an awfully
truncated foul line, at least with regard to the "minimums" that used to be in play for park design.

There seems to be a typo.

“At some point, it just pays to <s>move</s> have Florida tax payers help me get richer rather than fix it up.”

There, all better.

The Rays are actually playing some games next week in a spring training stadium, but it's in Orlando (the Braves' spring park). And, oddly enough, the Rays are moving out of Progress Energy Park in 2009 to a renovated park in Charlotte County.

I have tickets for the first Orlando game (on May 15), and I'd like to go to the other two, but I am well past the days when I could justify going to three games in three nights. Orlando's ballpark is beautiful, modern, and harmonious, but it doesn't have a major-league capacity.

I hope the Tampa Bay ownership can ethically and equitably get out of the Tropicana lease at some appropriate point. While my opinion of the park is not as negative as many people's, I'm not sure that I've been to a less asthetically pleasing ballpark at any level of play. Even single-A Lakeland, Florida is a nicer place to go.

less asthetically pleasing ballpark

Aesthetically, of course. It occurred to me that this is probably the only board I've posted on with no edit feature.

Sawney Snows -- I agree with your take on the park. It's not a horrible place when it's got some people in it. On the nights when there's 9,000, it's pretty bad though. And, in comparison to the other parks around the league, it's certainly in the lowest bunch. I don't think that it's so bad that it would keep people away once the Rays start putting a winning team on the field (I hope, at least).

I'm headed to the 2nd Orlando game...looking forward to it...never made it up there during spring training.

Trade some outfielders to Steinbrenner for cash.

Doesn't a Fla. park HAVE to be a dome? Hot as Hell, frequent rain, mosquitoes the size of Volkswagens -- all these add up to dome. Considering that domes all suck as a genre, is the Trop really that bad relative to other domes?

Doesn't a Fla. park HAVE to be a dome?

Many Floridians, whether native or not, become used to the heat. When I lived in Ohio, my tolerance of cold was tremendous, but 80 degrees was uncomfortably hot and 85 was positively sweltering. Now a 95-degree day is nothing; I actually often find it pleasant. But 60 degrees is winter-jacket cold.

I don't know the rain patterns of the Tampa/St. Petersburg area, but in Orlando, most of the annual rain comes during three or four months in the summer. It'll downpour for about an hour each day, practically every day, and that'll be it till the next day. So unless the game happens to be going on around the time of the downpour, there is no issue. And in April, May, and much of September, there is practically nary a drop.

Hurricanes are another matter, but no one's playing in a hurricane, dome or not. But Walt Disney World might still be open.

There may be the occasional weather pattern that wipes out too many games in too short of time, but that can happen anywhere, and uglifying a stadium by slapping a dome on it for that reason is like letting the tail wag the dog. A more compelling reason, to me, would be the appeal of air conditioning.

I had way more problems with insects up north than I've ever had in Florida.

And yes, Tropicana really is that bad compared to other domes. I've been in three (Georgia Dome, SkyDome, and Tropicana) and I'd put them in that order, with big gaps between each one.

Traderdave: I think the big problem is that it was one of the last (if not the last) non-retractable dome built. Then SkyDome came on the scene, and everyone realized how great that could be (well, relatively speaking). I agree though, they do need a dome, just...a better one.

I misread "Sternerg" as "Stenberg", saw the word "St. Petersburg", and thought to myself, "Huh. An article on Russian constructivism."