Game 13: Tropicana Field, St. Petersburg, FL
Kansas City Royals vs Tampa Bay Rays – Sunday, June 16, 2o13
Wow! This was one heck of a Father’s Day!!
We took an early morning flight out of Miami and arrived in Tampa just before 9 AM. We got to the hotel, posted our Marlins blog, and took a shuttle to Tropicana Field, which was about 22 miles away in St. Petersburg. We learned that George “The Boss” Steinbrenner was once a part owner of this hotel. We were, at first, a little surprised to see so many Yankees fans here, but it all made sense as the Steinbrenners lived in the area, and the Yankees have their spring training facility nearby. Also, Jeter has a colossal mansion around here that has been dubbed “St. Jetersburg.”
The ride over the I-275 bridge, with the ocean on either side, was spectacular on this beautiful, bright day in the Sunshine State. We got to the ballpark nearly an hour and a half before game time. For the second time in as many days, we would be seeing a game indoors. The Trop unlike Marlins Park, however, has a permanent roof. We walked around the outside of the stadium for a while and then went in. They were giving away headsets to kids under 14, so we got one of those. While the outside of the Trop was rather plain with hardly anything to see, the inside was simply extraordinary. The big attraction was the Ted Williams Museum and Hitters Hall of Fame. We spent a lot of time there and it was absolutely fantastic. There were all kinds of Ted Williams exhibits and the individual stalls of the most elite hitters in the history of the game, with their memorabilia, have to be seen to be believed. What a fabulous place!
We then walked around the ballpark and somehow, believe it or not, completely missed the famous touch tank with the stingrays in them. We would have found it, had we looked for it, but we did not remember it at the time. Oh well!
We did get some really nice pictures of the field from different angles. The grass looked kind of weird (made sense, since it was not really grass, but astro-turf) but the ballpark itself was beautiful. We really liked this park. It was bright inside and the mammoth roof was most impressive. After making our rounds, we went over to our seats that were just a few rows behind the visitor’s dugout along the third base line.
The game turned out to be a tight and enjoyable contest. As Tribe fans, we were happy to see Roberto Hernandez, formerly known as Fausto Carmona, start for the Rays. Hernandez (that does not even sound right after having known him as Carmona for so long!) pitched for Cleveland for a number of years and is best known for that memorable postseason game against the Yankees in 2007 that he won with swarms of midges flying all around his face. Joba Chamberlain, on the other side, was completely undone by the bugs.
Although Hernandez pitched well in this game, Wade Davis, whom the Rays traded to the Royals last off-season, was simply too good in keeping his former teammates in check. The Royals went up 1-0 in the first on Billy “Country Breakfast” Butler’s RBI single to right that scored Eric Hosmer from third. The lead was short-lived, however, as the Rays came right back in the bottom of the frame when they scored two off Davis. The first run scored when Luke Scott’s double to left brought home Matt Joyce from second and then Scott scored on a Desmond Jennings single, also to left. Davis, who threw 35 pitches in that first inning, buckled down and would not give up another run as he retired 16 of the next 18 hitters. KC, meanwhile, tied the game in the fifth on a solo shot by Jeff Francoeur to left and surged ahead in the sixth, when they posted a pair of runs after two men were out in the inning. Alcides Escobar’s single to left scored Scott, who had doubled earlier, and also moved Fracoeur, who was intentionally walked, to second. The next batter, Alex Gordon hit an RBI single to right scoring Francoeur and making it 4-2 in favor of the Royals. Gordon helped the Royals pad the lead in the eighth, when he hit a sac fly off Rays reliever Cesar Ramos to score Escobar from third. The score was now 5-2. The Rays did put up a fight in the bottom of the ninth. Jose Lobaton, who came into the game as a pinch hitter for Jose Molina in the seventh, launched a homer to right center off Royals closer Greg Holland to pull the home team within two at 5-3. Excitement started to rise in the stands as Joyce worked a walk to bring the tying run to the plate in the form of Ben “Zorilla” Zobrist. Zobrist, however, struck out to end this terrific game.
Although the home team dropped this one, the Rays fans did get some good news. It was announced during the game that Rays starter Alex Cobb, who was struck on the right ear by a vicious line drive the day before, was going to be released from the hospital. Looks like he will be making a full recovery.
After the game, we went back to the hotel, rested briefly, and took a shuttle to Tampa’s Hard Rock Café for dinner. The HRC here is actually part of a sprawling Seminole Casino and had the largest collection of music memorabilia that we had seen yet. It was quite astounding and a bit overwhelming. After having dinner, browsing for two hours, and taking nearly five hundred pictures, we returned to our hotel. This time we stayed up for a while and had the luxury of sleeping in for a bit.
We are now at the airport getting ready to board the flight to our next stop. See you soon!
