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Tropicana
Field
One Tropicana Drive
St. Petersburg, FL 33705
888-326-7297 |
Tropicana
Field is a domed stadium in St. Petersburg, Florida, which has been
the home of Major League Baseball's Tampa Bay Rays since 1998. It
has also served as the host stadium for the St. Petersburg Bowl, an
NCAA-sanctioned college football bowl game since December 2008.
- Tropicana
Field is the world's only professional sports facility that features
live cownose rays. The Rays Tank presented by VisitStPeteClearwater.com
opened in 2006, and is located just behind the right center field
wall. Through a unique partnership with the Florida Aquarium,
there are over 30 rays that fans can touch and feed throughout
the game. The 10,000 gallon tank is one of the ten-largest in
the United States. If a player hits a home run into the tank,
then the organization will donate $5,000 to charity - $2,500 to
the Florida Aquarium and $2,500 to the player's charity of choice.
- Tropicana
Field is the only Major League park to feature an artificial surface
and all-dirt base paths. It features natural-looking FieldTurf.
All of the other parks that currently feature an artificial surface
have only dirt cutouts around the bases and at the pitcher's mound.
Only four other artificial turf ballparks have ever featured all-dirt
base paths: Houston's Astrodome (1966-1971); San Francisco's Candlestick
Park in 1971; Pittsburgh's Three Rivers Stadium in the early '70s;
and, most recently, St. Louis' Busch Stadium (1970-1976). Chicago's
Comiskey Park had all-dirt base paths with an artificial turf
infield and grass outfield in the early 1970's. The Rays installed
a new FieldTurf in 2007.
- In 2007,
the Rays added four new video boards to Tropicana Field. The main
video board in right field is 35 feet high and 64 feet wide, making
it more than four times larger than the previous board. This ProStar
video board from Daktronics will provide video content, highlight
pitching matchups, and show pitch speeds, pitch counts, and other
detailed statistical information. There will also be two 10 by
50-foot strip boards below the main board which will have batter
and pitcher statistics. In addition, the Rays will unveil a new
video board above the Batter's Eye Restaurant in center field.
This board will have an in-game box score and will provide statistical
information in a baseball card style format. The Rays will also
continue to use a matrix board in left field which has out-of-town
scores and crowd-pumping images.
- Tropicana
Field is home to a number of interactive areas for kids of all
ages. In the Left Field Street area, fans can participate in a
baseball-themed game show, take their picture on a Topps baseball
card, have their name inscribed onto a Louisville Slugger bat,
touch and feel real game-used equipment, and broadcast play-by-play
of baseball highlights. Left Field Street also features the Mountain
Dew Extreme Zone where fans can play stickball in a unique area
that is designed to resemble a New York street alley. Fans can
also enjoy the latest modern baseball video games, or they can
play old school video games from Nintendo and Atari.
- In 2007,
Right Field Street was renovated to include numerous activities
for younger baseball fans. Kids can experience the magic of baseball
in the Rays Baseball Carnival, a real working carnival that includes
plinko, spin the wheel, ring-a-bat and skee ball. In addition,
fans can take their swings against computer images of real Major
League pitchers in a batting cage or test their arms in the speed
pitch, both found in the T.G. Lee Rookie Challenge area of the
Carnival. Right Field Street also features popular kids-themed
areas such as "Bats, Balls, and Brushes", "St.
Petersburg Times Pressbox" and "The Science of Baseball."
- Centerfield
Street features the Cuesta-Rey Cigar Bar, baseball's first in-stadium
cigar bar, as well as the Batter's Eye Restaurant, located, appropriately,
in the "batter's eye" in center field. The specially
tinted windows of the restaurant make up a 130-foot-wide hitting
background, yet still allow patrons of the restaurant to watch
the game. Also found on Centerfield Street is the Centefield Brew
House, the Power Alley Pub, the Rays Team Store, and the MLB Alumni
Office.
- The Ted Williams
Museum and Hitters Hall-of-Fame moved to Tropicana Field in 2006
and is also located in Centerfield Street. Fans can view an array
of different artifacts and pictures of the "Greatest hitter
that ever lived." These memorable displays range from Ted
Williams' days in the military through his professional playing
career. This museum is dedicated to some of the greatest players
to ever "lace 'em up," including Willie Mays, Joe DiMaggio,
Mickey Mantle, Roger Maris, and Sadaharu Oh.
- The pre and
postgame radio shows for all home broadcasts originates from the
Centerfield Brew House.
- Seats behind
the backstop are some of the closest in the Major Leagues - only
50 feet from home plate.
- The Checkers
Bull Pen Cafe, located directly behind the Rays' bullpen in the
right field corner and offers picnic-style seating.
- Ebbets Field
was an influence for Tropicana Field. The ballpark's grand, eight-story-high
rotunda entrance is designed from the very blueprints used for
the rotunda at Ebbets Field, built in 1913.
- Fans can
enter the rotunda by following a 900-foot, tropical-theme ceramic
mosaic walkway. The walk is the largest outdoor ceramic mural
in Florida and one of the five largest in the United States. Made
with 1,849,091 brightly colored 1x1 inch tiles, it depicts the
sun, sea and beach.
- The roof
of the dome is lit orange after the Rays win at home, symbolic
of the ballpark's title sponsor, Tropicana Dole Beverages.
- Tropicana
Field features the world's second-largest cable-supported domed
roof (Georgia Dome is the largest). It's made of six acres of
translucent, Teflon-coated fiberglass and it virtually supports
itself with 180 miles of cables connected by struts. Opposing
forces of tension and compression keep the roof in an arc. Tropicana
Field's roof is slanted at a 6.5-degree angle, dropping from 225
feet above second base to 85 feet at the center field wall. The
slanted roof reduced the overall construction costs and decreased
the volume of air under the dome by 16.8 million cubic feet. Accordingly,
that reduced the amount of air that requires climate control treatment.
It is built to withstand wind of up to 115 miles per hour.
- There are
four catwalks located above the playing surface at Tropicana Field.
They are labeled the "A", "B", "C"
and "D" rings with the lowest ring the "D"
ring. The "D" ring ranges from 59 feet above the playing
surface in CF to 121 feet behind home plate. The "C"
ring ranges from 99 feet in CF to 146 behind home plate. The "B"
ring ranges from 142 feet in CF to 173 feet behind home plate.
And, the "A" ring ranges from 181 feet in CF to 194
feet behind home plate. If a ball strikes the A or the B ring
in fair territory, the ball is in play. If a ball strikes the
C or the D ring in fair territory it is a home run.
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Former
names:
Florida Suncoast Dome (1990–1993)
Thunderdome (1993–1996)
Location
1 Tropicana Drive
St. Petersburg, Florida 33705
Broke ground
1986
Opened
March 3, 1990
Owner
City of St. Petersburg
Surface
FieldTurf with dirt infield
Construction cost
$130 million
Architect
HOK Sport (Kansas City); Lescher & Mahoney Sports (Tampa); Criswell,
Blizzard & Blouin Architects (St. Petersburg)
Capacity
45,369 (1998)[1]
38,437 (2007)
36,048 (2008)[2]
35,041 (ALDS/ALCS)[3]
40,473 (ALCS/WS)[4]
Field dimensions
Left Field: 315 ft (96 m)
Left-Center: 370 ft (110 m)
Center Field: 404 ft (123 m)
Right-Center: 370 ft (110 m)
Right Field: 322 ft (98 m)
Backstop: 50 ft (15 m) |
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