Well on Saturday night I was in St. Petersburg, Florida to watch the Boston Red Sox take on their kryptonian-nemesis in recent times, the Tampa Bay Rays. I was fortunate enough to have nabbed 2 front row seats along the third baseline off of StubHub.com and it was worth every penny for the up-close and personal experience. I feel compelled to mention StubHub, despite the fact that Robert Kraft despises them, because my girlfriend and I ran into two other Red Sox couples that were complaining about not being able to get better seats whenever they shop through Ticketmaster. StubHub offers season ticket holders the chance to sell their tickets to games they will not be able to attend at a slight increase over face value. I've been able to get front row seats to Red Sox games and the ACC Championship, as well as luxury box seats to a Bruins game.
We got to the "Trop" 2 hours before the first pitch, strolled around the stadium to check out the place and really get a feel for it (I have been to Tropicana Field three times before, but never thought to check out the commodities aside from the beer vendors and restrooms). The outside of the stadium is a vast expanse of nothing, rich with closed businesses, desolate housing developments, and a total lack of identity. Truly a far cry from the neighborhood surrounding Fenway Park, which is alive with bars, stores, cart vendors, and others attractions. Inside of the stadium, they've got a lot of the same features that you will find at other professional sports stadiums, and not much else to go above and beyond that. Once you get onto the field it's much the same. An atrocious dome encompassing a medium sized grand-stand, meager outfield seating, and half-empty luxury suites (Kind of sounds like the new Yankee Stadium, minus the dome). The only place worth sitting is close to the field, where you can really get down there and close to the players. I must admit that I look down upon a stadium with no real bull pens, but when you're within reach of Jonathan Papelbon and Jason Varitek, it's a pretty cool experience.
The third base side at the "Trop" is the side to be on for Sox fans. There are only one-third of those God-awful cowbells on the third base side, and Rays fans are outnumbered on that side by at least three to one. Rays ownership knows this too, because you will notice the vendors that set up on the left side of the stadium include a "Monstah Lobstah" stand that sells giant lobsters from the coasts of New England, and an "Irish Pub" beer stand that sells Guiness & Smittys. It feels good for me to be on the third base side, because I am a native New Englander that relocated to Central Florida about four years ago, and I really miss home. To find myself surrounded by Bostonians screaming at Jacoby to "Run wicked hahd and steal home!", and to enjoy the instant brotherhood that comes with seeing a Phil Plantier jersey and trying to replicate that just-about-to-sit-on-the-toilet batting stance with another guy, really gives me a warm fuzzy feeling.
The Sox were finally able to get the better of the Rays at that game, which was their first "W" over them since the season-opener. I got to see a lot of solid offense, some interesting pitcher/batter duels, I shagged a foul ball, I saw a goofball flip over onto the field trying to do the same, and I got to witness how neatly trimmed the back of Jason Varitek's hair is (I mean, there is no way he doesn't visit a barbershop at least once a week). After the game was in the books, and the players cleared the field, my girlfriend and I were making our way to the exits, until we came across a sports bar in the stadium that was full of Red Sox fans cheering and screaming. As we got closer, we realized that they were watching the end of the Celtics/Bulls game seven match-up. As we muscled our way into the crowd to get a better look at the screen, I noticed a sports-radio commentator for the Rays that was set up right near the entrance. No doubt the radio station's intention was to have this commentator discuss Rays baseball with a restaurant full of Rays fans, but this particular night they would have no such luck. The radio commentator was having a very difficult time hearing his radio callers over the cheers of excited Bostonians as the clock dwindled and it seemed apparent that the Celtics were finally going to put the baby-Bulls to bed. At one point when the crowd quieted down for a commercial break, the radio commentator took a moment to explain the vocal crowd that was surrounding him, which made the crowd break into even more cheers, and eventually into a stirring rendition of one of Red Sox Nation's favorite tunes: "Yankees Suck! Yankees Suck! Yankees Suck!"
All-in-all, a trip to Tropicana Field for a Sox-Rays showdown is a lot of fun. You are guaranteed to see two teams that are pretty evenly matched (for as long as the Rays can afford their young talent, and until the Yankees throw millions of dollars at Joe Maddon to lure him away), have a strong fan-base on your side even though your visiting another park, and outside of the baseball games Tampa offers a ton of stuff to do. Being a native of the area, I invite all of Red Sox Nation to make the pilgrimage every now-and-then to Tampa-St. Pete, visit Busch Gardens, hit the beautiful beaches, and bask in the glory of our own little home-away-from-home.
