Tropicana Field this season will feature both new turf and improved lightingGETTY IMAGES
A revamped Tropicana Field was "as much of a story as anything" the Rays did on the field on Opening Day, according to a front-page piece by Martin Fennelly of the TAMPA BAY TIMES. The turf was "new and boldly green" and the lighting was "brighter" for the sellout crowd of 25,025. It "seemed more crowded without an upper deck, though they ran out of tarp to cover all the seats up there." The "move to cashless everything, bemoaned when introduced," also saw "few insurrections." However, people in the stands at one point were "using cash to buy beer." One vendor confirmed that "wasn’t advertised," but fans' money "was good." Additionally, at one concession stand where the credit card machines failed, fans were "reportedly comped for their purchases." Rays Owner Stuart Sternberg said that he "expects to take the heat" over going cashless. He said, “We should and I will and that’s OK. … To the people who are not using cash, the speed and the ease is dramatically better." Fennelly notes Sternberg and Ps Yonny Chirinos, Tyler Glasnow and Ryan Yarborough were "among the greeters as fans entered the rotunda in center field a few hours before the game" (TAMPA BAY TIMES, 3/29).
COULD BE BETTER: In Tampa, Marc Topkin notes the Rays "needing until Wednesday to sell out with a reduced capacity" for Opening Day was "not a good sign." Sternberg: "It’s problematic. ... Twenty-five thousand seats, given everything that we are, the way we finished last year, the team we have, 4 o’clock start, it should be a layup to use a different sport’s phrase. But it is what it is, and I always say for the people that are here, the 25,000 that are here, whether they bought their tickets a month ago or they bought them yesterday, we’re going to put on a great show and they’re going to have a great time" (TAMPA BAY TIMES, 3/29).
