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TROPICANA FIELD
St. Petersburg, Fla.
Opened: 1990
Capacity: 43,773
Average Ticket Price: $13.70
Average Cost of Concessions and Souvenirs: $89.01
Pluses:
A fair amount of on-site parking (7,000 spaces); stadium is located directly off the highway.

Minuses:
Unless you have a driver's license, a friend with a driver's license or real good relations with the local law enforcement authorities, you aren't going to a Rays game -- getting to the dome is drive or bust.
Although the Devil Rays have been one of baseball's least successful teams the last decade, Tropicana Field has enough amenities to make any fan's visit worthwhile.
Photo by Nick Laham/Getty Images
Center Field Street (which, not surprisingly, is located behind the center field wall) offers a strip mall's worth of options, including a bank, a travel agency, a billiards hall and a rock-climbing wall; a handful of restaurants surround the field, from the Tropicana Room and its buffet to the café behind the Devil Rays' bullpen; suitable restroom facilities (46) on the premises; disabled access (450 seats) is a bit better than most parks; there are almost 300 points of sale for concessions; eight elevators and seven escalators offer less strenuous access to various levels.
Going to a game in 90-degree weather with gross humidity and the guarantee of a mid-afternoon summer shower is always enticing. And people whine about a domed stadium? True, the Trop has ill-advised catwalks and the loads of empty seats can give it the feel of a library. But there are a lot of things to like about the place. Tickets? Never a problem. Places to go: You can light one up in the Cigar Bar, watch the game from the Batters' Eye restaurant in center field or sit up in The Beach in left field for less than the cost of a movie. Food choices are numerous and range from standard ballpark fare to strange (Grab a Bloomin' Onion from the Outback Steakhouse on Center Field Street.). Once you get to your seats, the sparse crowds -- unless the Red Sox or Yankees are in town -- can be a hidden benefit: a whole row to yourself increases your chances for a foul ball. -- Ryan Hunt  
Much like the exterior of the dome itself, the surrounding area doesn't have a great deal of character. The Trop, which is quickly becoming one of the older stadiums in the majors, was built in an area that isn't overly developed and its location about a mile inland fails to take advantage of the waterside vistas from Tampa Bay. But a short walk across some old train tracks will bring you to Ferg's Sports Bar, which has been a hot spot since before the Rays were born. Good food and cold beer can wash away the memory of another Tampa Bay loss. -- Ryan Hunt  
2005 Record: 55-77 (all statistics through Aug. 29)
Players worth the price of admission: Carl Crawford (.287 average, 12 HRs, 67 RBIs, 37 SBs), Jorge Cantu (.295, 22 HRs, 91 RBIs), Aubrey Huff (.264, 19 HRs, 80 RBIs), Danys Baez (31 saves, 2.72 ERA).  
What an odd mix the Trop offers. On one hand, there's the park's myriad of entertainment options; on the other hand, there's Tampa Bay baseball. It's an overused joke, but there's some hard truth underlying it. The dome offers hours' worth of activities but has all the baseball feel of a Target. And the team, for all of its promising talent, has had all the success of the St. Louis Browns. Little wonder why football is king in this region -- even at the ballpark.  

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