By Rant On Contributor, Andy Bass
10/8/2021
Is Tropicana literally the worst?? Andy sure does. What do you guys think?
“For some reason, the genius engineers behind this dump,"
I Hate Tropicana Field
As I sit here watching two of my least favorite baseball teams, the Red Sox and the Rays, I was just reminded of something I feel incredibly strongly about. Nelson Cruz just hit a high fly ball to left-center. The Red Sox outfielders drifted back, and then *Clunk* the ball ended up bouncing back towards the infield. It had, apparently, hit off the C-ring of Tropicana Field which, obviously, means that the ball counts as a home run. Because in professional baseball, THE PLAYOFFS no less, let’s go with some grade school malarkey rule of “Oh, if it hit that part of the wall, then it’s a dinger”.
For those lucky unfamiliar people, let me teach you about Tropicana Field. For some reason, the genius engineers behind this dump built it where it is tallest behind home plate and then the roof slopes down as you go towards the outfield. Spare me your arguments for why that isn’t complete lunacy, because then they added in these massive catwalks and lights which created the most insane rules in all of sports. There are 4 “rings”, A, B, C, and D. To try and help simplify, if a ball hits the C or D rings, the lower of the four, it’s a home run. But this also includes the any lights or “suspended objects” attached to the C and D rings. So, you just have to hit a fly ball high enough and just right, and boom, home run, non-reviewable.
Oh, you think that makes sense? Ok, genius, how about this. If a ball hits the A or B ring, the top 2 “rings”, or any lights and stuff attached to those rings, guess what happens. LIVE BALL. For reference, the A and B rings are very high parts of the roof, but parts that can definitely be hit by a pop fly. Let’s say Nelson Cruz’s homer was hit just a little higher and hit the B ring. Then the rules say that wherever that ball ends up going, it’s a live ball in play. It could bounce back and land in foul territory. It could drop straight down and be a base hit, it could carry into the stands for a home run. It could even bounce around and then be caught for an out. It’s complete madness!
… Until you hear the final rule. If a pop fly lands on an A or B ring catwalk and gets stuck or just doesn’t come down and the umpire determines that it was in fair territory, what do you think the call would be? Maybe dead ball where there’s no strike or ball, basically redo the pitch? Maybe automatic foul ball? Nope. That God-forsaken building says you get a double. A DOUBLE!!! Granted, this isn’t a common occurrence for it to happen in fair territory, but in July, just two and a half months ago a foul ball got stuck up there in back-to-back games!
Anyway, this is probably just me venting about the Yankees season over. But consider this my official petition to have that horrendous monstrosity demolished and never spoken of again.
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