By Michael Saffer
August 9, 2021
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Each year my family goes to Florida for a few weeks to recharge our batteries before the next school year begins. While planning for this year’s trip, I noticed the Yankees playing at both Tropicana Field and Loan Depot Park back-to-back.
On Thursday, July 29, we went to Tropicana Field in St. Petersburgh. This stadium gets its fair share of well-deserved criticism. Balls get stuck in the catwalk. The ceiling is WHITE…yes, the same color as the baseball! I am not sure who designed or approved that. I will be reviewing this stadium through the lens of kid-friendliness, cost, and overall game experience.
Kid Friendliness:
My daughter is eight years old. She likes baseball as much as I do but cannot sit through a three-hour game. Kid friendliness is critical when I bring her places. Tropicana Field has an interactive stingray tank in centerfield. Kids are encouraged to pet stingrays as if they are in a glorified science lab wonder in their eyes. When I asked my daughter what her favorite part of the game was, she told me it was the stingray tank.
Kid-friendliness is a theme that resonates around this park. Children are encouraged to play corn hole and Rays Jenga on an outdoor patio area upon leaving the stingray tank. Mascots frequent the area to take pictures with the kids while they play.
Cost:
Perhaps the next section of my review is subjective, mainly since I am used to the prices at Yankee Stadium. I will start with parking. General admission parking is 20 dollars, and we parked about 60 feet from the main entrance to the park. Tickets to the game were 35 dollars. We sat in the last row of the right field-level, approximately 50 feet from the right fielder. Food was reasonable when compared to what I am used to paying in the Bronx. My wife, daughter, and I got food and drinks combined for less than 50 dollars.
Game Experience:
Despite balls hitting the catwalk, the white dome, and the boat horn for every homerun, I found Tropicana field to be an intimate place to see a baseball game. The stadium was clean and bright. The staff was friendly. Having walked around, it appears that there is a good view from wherever one sits. Even though the Yankees got rocked 14-0, my family and I enjoyed our time at Tropicana Field.
Overall, despite the catwalk that affects play, the white ceiling that makes the ball hard to see, and the 14-0 blowout we enjoyed our time at the Trop.
In my next post, I will review my experience at Loan Depot Park.
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