MLB Ballparks: TROPICANA FIELD
Do you think anyone within the San Francisco Giants and Chicago White Sox organizations regret not moving to Tampa Bay?
Long used as the siren song to entice cities to build new stadiums for existing clubs, the Tampa Bay Devil Rays called Tropicana Field home from their start in 1998. The last classic dome, the faults were obvious from the start.
By the time Tampa got Major League Baseball, all but three stadiums had played on grass. Although domes are not uncommon, the rest are retractable allowing fresh air and excellent sightlines. The Trop offers an artificial surface and layers of catwalks circling under the roofs.
Granted the franchise in the mid-1990s, it never occurred to anyone that there is no easy way to get to the dome from population centers. Yes, Saint Petersburg is not small but, the stadium is in the middle of nowhere. From the start, people stayed away in droves.
Even the years where the Rays were successful, they hardly sold out. Sections of the upper decks were tarped. Still, unless the Yankees or Red Sox are in town, thousands of seats remain empty.
The Rays have fought for years to get out. St. Petersburg insists they stay in the city, but no stadium replacement plan has left the drawing board. Now, Tampa can look elsewhere. Where they go remains a mystery.
A long-term future in the Trop, however, is a non-starter.