Question For Anyone Who's Been To Tropicana Field ...

JackWESQ · June 23, 2008 2:00PM

In the June 30, 2008 issue of ESPN the Magazine, Stu Sternberg (the Tampa Bay Rays' Principal Owner) says that the Rays offer free parking. Is he telling the truth? If so, I find this UNBELIEVABLE.

I'm in SoCal, e.g. Dodgers and Angels. General Parking for the Dodgers is $15.00 and $8.00 for the Angels. Of course, these fees are after you've driven two (2) hours from [ ], fighting traffic and burning three (3) to four (4) gallons of gas (one way, of course). And you wonder why Dodger fans arrive late and leave early.

/s/ JackWESQ

OAKESY25 · June 23, 2008 2:04PM

it is true.. it was unreal.. I couldn't believe it
paid $8 for 1st row upper deck behind the plate..
beat that... me and the wife.. $16 including parking

Ahmanfan · June 23, 2008 2:58PM

yea parking is free and it's like a 1-3 minute walk from the stadium right up front. it's awesome and there is plenty of it!
John

JackWESQ · June 23, 2008 3:10PM

Awesome and unbelievable. As noted above, $16.00 barely gets your vehicle through the door ... though not the door to the stadium. That'll cost you extra. And if you've ever been to Dodger Stadium, you'll know how impossible traffic can be. Just imagine if Yankee stadium were in Manhattan, but everyone attending the game had to drive there.

That's it. I need to attend a game at Tropicana Field before I die.

/s/ JackWESQ

packCollector · June 23, 2008 3:17PM

yes parking is free. also , try the home plate club. flew down and sat there last year for a red sox game. cost is the same or cheaper as buying box seats at fenway from an agency and you get free food and beer the whole game and 2 hours before. beat that!

kmnorton · June 23, 2008 4:38PM

Tropicana is, by far, the worst stadium I have ever been to. Seems like you are in a mall when watching a game. I got a foul ball there because nobody else was motivated to go and get it. The attendance had to be at least 5,000. Shame the Expos were "contracted" when this stadium and club is still around.

Just an awful experience.

DerekD · June 23, 2008 9:39PM

The free parking is now partially true. When Sternberg bought the team, he did make the parking free. Now you need 4+ people in the car to get the free parking, otherwise it is $10. Remote lots are $5.

I sure hope Stu can get the team out of St. Pete and put it in Tampa. At least Selig made a comment hinting at that recently. The team still owes $90 million on the lease of that piece of crap, with most of it being paid down in the next 10 years. Building another stadium in St. Pete, like the are talking about, would be another failure. Thankfully, all the old people in St. Pete with nothing better to do are doing their best to shoot it down.

Ladder7 · June 23, 2008 10:22PM

Was there last year, two of us -Free parking. The lot was full of red sox fans. Was weird, many they had a southern drawl, but the were having a blast.

It ain't Fenway... But the pasta bowls were yummy, our seats were right behind the DO, they gave out lotsa freebies, the AC was nice, there was a huge stingray tank and the Sox won 11-3.

OAKESY25 · June 23, 2008 10:47PM

it is a weird atmosphere to be certain.. and the group I was with at one of the games.. ( I saw 2 because it was so cheap )
got 2 foul balls.. + I got 2 in batting practice.. the cow bells will drive you insane.. WTF is that even about??
last year there were so few people there you could literally hear people in the outfield talking loudly..
and pick out who it was.. it doesn't feel like baseball.. but for the price you couldn't beat it
not sure if all domes feel that way.. but not a big fan of indoor baseball...
my wife absolutely hated it.

Goot · June 24, 2008 1:03AM

<< <i>Tropicana is, by far, the worst stadium I have ever been to. Seems like you are in a mall when watching a game. I got a foul ball there because nobody else was motivated to go and get it. The attendance had to be at least 5,000. Shame the Expos were "contracted" when this stadium and club is still around.

Just an awful experience. >>

You must not have been there this season. I'm not just being a "homer" here either. They put about $20 mill into the stadium including bigger HD scoreboards and some other comforts that weren't their before. Also, attendance now is in the 20,000 area and that's not just against the "big name" clubs. I went to see them play Houston the other day and without any promotions the attendance was about 21,000. A year ago that game would've had 14,000 at it.

The real crime is that Pittsburgh has the best stadium in baseball and they average nearly 3,000 people per game LESS than us.

Derek D is right on the money about free parking. I hope we never leave the dome personally. I went to go get somethin to eat during the 7th inning of the game and when I looked out side what did I see? That'd be pouring rain and thunder. You guys that don't live in Florida don't understand just how good a dome is....

Griffins · June 24, 2008 2:53AM

The dome may be functional, but Tropicana had by far the worst lighting I've ever seen in an indoor arena. Amazing that anyone can hit there.
The nite we went (about 3 seasons ago) there were 7200 fans there. The Single A games here pull more than that on a Tuesday nite. I yelled something at Aubrey Huff on 1st in the middle of the game and he totally cracked up. Can you imagine a player being able to actually hear you in the middle of a game at Chavez or Fenway or Wrigley?
I think MLB needs to contract 4 teams, and that would be top of the list.

Agreed on Pittsburgh- by far the nicest park I've ever been to. Too bad the city won't support the team. Put that setting in LA and you'd sell out every game.

CDsNuts · June 24, 2008 2:59AM

Griffins- Stop yelling things at Aubrey Huff. He's trying his best.

Griffins · June 24, 2008 3:25AM

lol Lee. He got picked off 1st early in the game, and didn't even realize it- he was looking off into space and didn't even move, really embarrassing. So when he got on next time I yelled "try and stay awake now" and he busted up.
The Rays had a few tough years until this season- you know it's bad when the team was promoting the manager as the star.

Griffins · June 24, 2008 3:27AM

As bad as Tropicana is though, it's still way above the Oakland Coliseum. That is by far the worst in baseball- and other than Nashville worse than any minor league park I"ve been to.

scooter729 · June 24, 2008 7:36AM

It's $30 to park at Fenway - thank God I have a Boston University parking pass and can park for free! Otherwise it would cost more to park than my ticket costs me!

jrinck · June 24, 2008 7:40AM

<< <i> the cow bells will drive you insane.. WTF is that even about??
>>

Don't question Bruce Dickinson!

lawnmowerman · June 24, 2008 7:51AM

I have been there. That's all I have to say about that.

Question For Anyone Who's Been To Tropicana Field ...

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