On the Beach in St. Pete....

From the gulf side of the state, we have been in St. Petersburg, the home of the Tampa Bay Rays. Even with rainstorms in the afternoon, the Tropicana Field covers the field and allows play under any conditions. But when I was on the field yesterday, you could hear the raindrops pounding on the roof of this place - it made quite the noise.

With those acoustics, the volume of the crowd and their cowbells can make it very loud during game play. The amount of reverberation in the building is amazing, but I suppose that is considered to be a home team advantage. I would say the ray tank in centerfield also offers a touch of the atmosphere that surrounds the Tampa - St. Petersburg area with of course its proximity to the water here.

I have included some pics of the field and our base of operations for the few days that we are working. Many of the crew folks that we see here have worked with us in spring training in Winterhaven. This trip in is a little bittersweet in that now we will see our Florida friends only on the Tampa series during the regular season versus the extra time we spend with them in the spring. As it is around the country, there are some very talented people in this area and their work over the years has been much appreciated. I will definitely miss seeing them more often.

Check out the pics and look for info from Toronto upcoming this week!

On The Road Again......

After the All-Star break, it is time to gear up for the second half of the season. There is still plenty of baseball left before we hang it up for the year. Off we go traveling again on the road - this trip has us in Minnnesota, Tampa, and Toronto. This is our last trip to the Metrodome this season visiting with the Twins - and that could be a good thing.... They are a pesky ballclub to face - especially here in their building. We will be saying goodbye for the summer to the fine folks we work with up here at the Metrodome, and be back for their final year of baseball in the "Big Baggy" in 2009.



Tampa is our next port of call and Tropicana Field. The Rays have been pushing for a new stadium to be built in their area, but the ability to garner public support for the funding has not worked out so well. So for now, it will be indoor baseball until a further resolution can be achieved.



And then it is off to Toronto, which is always a favorite place to visit. The third dome on our trip here, the Rogers Centre, or as it was known as the SkyDome sets off the skyline of this great Canadian city. The best part of this is that we will be enjoying a day off in the city that offers great restaurants and an outstanding waterfront area. Our schedule used to have us visiting these cities twice, but with the re-formatting of the schedule for interleague, we don't visit these cities but once a summer.



The trek continues with pictures on one of our more scenic trips for the year!