With the offseason underway, we continue our tour of all of the different baseball stadiums I’ve been to over the years. This week, we head south to the Tampa Bay area for a look at the Tampa Bay Rays. So, without further ado, let’s take a deeper look at my history with the place now known as Tropicana Field.
Stadium Name: Tropicana Field
Years in Service: 1997 – Present
Visits: 2
Originally known as the Florida Suncoast Dome, the stadium now known as Tropicana Field was built in the late 1980s in the hopes of luring a baseball franchise to the Tampa/St. Pete area. Ironically, the White Sox would have called the park home had the Illinois legislature not approved funding for what is now Guaranteed Rate Field. The stadium opened in 1990, hosting the Davis Cup finals that fall, but was still looking for an MLB team as the primary tenant. After National League owners blocked the sale of the Giants to Tampa-based investors who planned to move the team, the park was used for the local Arena Football team and as the initial home of the Tampa Bay Lightning. In 1995, the area was awarded an expansion franchise, the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, who would begin play in 1997.
After the long pandemic, I decided to take the long drive down to Florida in August of 2021 for a long getaway. After arriving in town on Friday night, I made my maiden voyage to Tropicana Field the following afternoon. The White Sox put up little fight, losing to the Rays 8-4. I returned the following afternoon looking for a better result but instead saw a 9-0 shutout by the Rays.
Due to damage from Hurricane Milton, the Rays will be forced to play their 2025 schedule at George M. Steinbrenner Field in Tampa, the spring training home of the Yankees. A new stadium built in the same location in St. Petersburg was planned to open in 2028, but, if the funding is still in play, may be needed sooner.
