Snow?
My favorite cold-weather moment in Rays history. Elijah Dukes wearing a ski mask. Any think that through?
No one saw that coming when they decided to build an open-air ballpark in Minnesota. Right?
When I was at Ithaca College in Upstate New York, I worked on the Sports Information staff in the fall and spring. During the spring, the upstate colleges have this strange tradition. They schedule tons of games (for my purposes, baseball games) that they know will never be played. One spring at Ithaca, we re-scheduled so many baseball games that our staff ace made around 10 consecutive starts. It was like he was on the softball team.
I was drifting back to my days freezing in the Press Box at Bucky Freeman Field (they also build press boxes without heaters because baseball is a spring sport and, it is NEVER cold in the spring…right?) watching the Rays struggle with the Minnesota weather the last few days. If the Twins want an open-air stadium, that is fine, but they shouldn’t have any home games before July. At the very least, MLB needs to change its makeup game rule. The Rays are back in Minnesota in July. They wanted to play the double-header then. But Minnesota balked and, under the rules, have the right to force the Rays into a freezing-cold day-night twin bill today.
For some reason, I thought MLB would be better run than the Empire 8. Guess not.
And Florida summers are no better for the opposite reason. We would be just as ignorant to suggest an open air stadium here.
To me, the prevalent afternoon rainstorms are a bigger problem than the heat. Unlike snow, heat doesn’t cancel games.
I don’t think anyone has ever suggested that our stadium be open-air. The proposal in St. Pete was retractable and, as I recall, the plan was to have the sail up on hot days, rain or no rain. Plus the concourses were going to be air conditioned. Double plus, we are no hotter in the summer than many other stadiums all over the country. I spent a particularly sweaty evening in Cleveland just last year.
I have to respectfully disagree. I’ve been to hot summer games in San Diego, Oakland, San Francisco, Seattle, Anaheim and LA, and they are all quite pleasant compared to the Tampa/St. Pete area. I’d rather sit for a doubleheader at one of the 6 places i’ve mentioned than go outside in between innings while watching a summer game at an air conditioned Tampa bar.
Most of the journalists who hate our stadium have never been here. What us wring with 72degree and DRY year round?? I spent two hours in 90 degrees in the subway to see a NY Yankee game. And people in Tampa bitch about 20 minutes in their cars to get to a Rays game. Wimps!!
The “Random Posts” column on the front page results in some good comments on old discussions. That said, I have to inquire, is this comment aimed at me?
I am not a journalist.
Also, I would put the amount of time I have spent inside the Trop up against most everyone.
That said, I do bitch about the drive. All the time. So I guess I am a wimp?
A retractable dome would make the most sense here, and I hope if they do build a new stadium that they go that route.
The downside to a retractable roof is regulating the humidity. If you have it open and close it less than 8 hours before filling it with people, it turns into a greenhouse. Houston has that issue.
Cost??? Who would pay for it? We are a small market with no base ball history but LOVE the Rays. I’m sick of journalists who have never been in our 72 degree DRY stadium bitching about it!!
For the record, I was referring to the summer storms more than the heat/humidity…should have been more clear.
That being said, I can’t picture 2.5-4 hours of sloppy asscrackness being a big help of a draw for the casual fans. It’s that “experience” (plus my extreme disgust with the Glazers) that prevents me forking out the big bucks to take the kids to RayJay for Buccaneers games.
“It’s that “experience” (plus my extreme disgust with the Glazers)”
Absolutely agree, I went to one game last season, and the tickets were free. I went to fifteen Rays home games.
I recall that the original proposal in Minnesota was for a retractable roof but the arguments with the local government over funding caused it to be removed. I wonder if any proposed stadium in Tampa will suffer the same fate?