The locals at the Charlotte Sports Park, spring training home of the Tampa Bay Rays, tell legends of the centerfield steak and cheese sandwich. They stuff their faces and crowd around the tiki bar for a little liquid refreshment while, satisfied and happy, they root for their favorite team. It's no wonder people make the drive here: The park, with its lush, manicured grass, 5,100 fixed seats, group party areas plus picnic areas and standing room for more than 1,000 extra people, is a baseball paradise.
When the Rays moved spring training out of St. Petersburg's venerable Al Lang Stadium to Port Charlotte's newly renovated sports park in 2009, much grousing was heard. Would it be a tough sell to get fans to make an 80-mile-plus trek southward, considering some of them had trouble with the drive across town during the regular season?
In fact, bolstered by the excitement of the 2008 World Series run, 2009 set the high-water mark for Rays spring training attendance, averaging 6,513 in the new digs. This was a 19 percent increase over the previous record, in a year when the average spring training attendance was down 7.7 percent league-wide. Would that boost prove to be a flash in the pan, falling off after the Rays failed to make postseason play in 2009? Nope: 2010's spring training saw the Rays' average rise to 6,531.
Midway through spring training 2011 — averaging 5,436 through the first eight of 16 home games — it looks like those numbers are due to decline. But there are still home games to be played against big-market teams like the Red Sox, Yankees and Phillies. The game against Boston on March 10 set the bar at 7,332 for a Thursday matinee — in the rain; it's conceivable that the Rays can match or improve upon their previous peaks.
Fans are at the park early to take in batting practice, cheering loudly for offseason additions Manny Ramirez and Johnny Damon. They bring their gloves to catch foul balls. They sing along to "Take Me Out to the Ballgame," and stick around long after the starters have been pulled.
Those in attendance might bump into the Port Charlotte Hooters girls before they host a dizzy bat race on the field between innings. They can try a sample of Land O' Lakes grilled cheese from the trailer that's touring spring training in 2011. In the gimmicky world of minor league ballparks, such promotions are admittedly, um, cheesy, but par for the course — and part of the fun.
Port Charlotte resident Jay Miller loves the boardwalk in the outfield — and, yes, the steak and cheese. He's a big supporter of the Charlotte Stone Crabs, the Rays' local single-A affiliate, and thinks the park is simply fantastic after the makeover.
But locals aren't the only ones in attendance.
Robert Cleaver of Clearwater, attending his first spring training game, is a season ticketholder. He doesn't mind the drive to Port Charlotte and is thrilled with the park, calling it "cozy." Long-time Rays fan Joe Korpiewski, also from Clearwater, said the drive wasn't bad for his first spring training experience.
Terese Flanigan is a huge sports fan from Naples. Her family has season tickets for the Miami Dolphins. They attend NASCAR events and will drive across the state for the Rays. She loves the grass seating in the picnic areas and doesn't mind the hour-plus trek to get to the park.
"I just can't imagine [people] with a ballpark in their town not coming," she says.
Stadium staffer Richard DeNard speculates that roughly half the crowd is from out of town, and a quick survey reveals that a good deal are from the Bay area.
Glenn Rodriguez made the drive down from Plant City, also for his first spring training game. He was at Joe Cracker's sports bar — down the road from the park — for some pre-game action. While he made the trip on the weekend, Rodriguez doesn't get out to as many regular season games at the Trop as he'd like.
The reason? The drive.
"If it was at the [Florida State] Fairgrounds, I'd have season tickets," says Rodriguez.
Charlotte County resident Michael Vansyckle agrees that the Rays need a new regular season stadium because baseball is meant to be played outdoors. He would choose a game at CSP over Tropicana Field "in a heartbeat." He feels one of the best parts of spring training is fans' access to the players; watching fellow baseball enthusiasts get autographs at the team bullpens is an example of why he thinks baseball is, by far, one of the most fan-friendly sports. He planned to check out the Baltimore-Detroit game in Sarasota, a trek of more than an hour; he doesn't think it's too much to ask.
"For baseball? Shit. It's worth it."
This article appears in Mar 17-23, 2011.