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A new attitude at the Trop

Despite their record, the Devil Rays are seeing fans — and fun — return to the field.

By SHADI RAHIMI
Published July 26, 2006

ST. PETERSBURG — Not much has changed on the field.

The Devil Rays are still losing games. Their payroll remains comparatively meager. And the stands at Tropicana Field still look sparse.But looks can be misleading.Since new owners last fall decreed a number of changes off the field, fans have been trickling back.

Attendance is up 30 percent over last year, when the Rays drew fewer fans than any Major League Baseball team.
They’re now drawing more fans than at any time since 2000.

“We’re really excited,” said spokesman Rick Vaughn. “The changes we’re making are cultural, not just little tweaks here and there.”

When Stuart Sternberg became the principal owner last fall, the Rays launched a strategic effort to win back disheartened fans and lure new ones. Team officials have names for each segment, like “Mindy the Mom.”

The ballpark’s gotten a $10-million facelift that includes a New York-themed batting cage, game booths and a tank stocked with cownose rays.

Concession stands have dropped prices, and people can bring in food. Parking in team-owned lots is free.
And, for the first time, fans can tailgate.

Before Tuesday’s game against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, Shane Futchko, 25, of St. Petersburg, squirted spicy brown mustard on a steaming, slightly burned hot dog.

The temperature climbed, and he and two friends were shirtless. They’d been tailgating for three hours, happy to have completed their final exams earlier.

What’s the best change that’s come with the new ownership?

“You’re looking at it,” said Matt Deachin, 32, pointing a grill tong to where Futchko and Mauricio Polanco, 28, sat in green fold-up chairs.

Futchko said he’s sure good things will soon come to the field now that the former managing general partner, Vince Naimoli, is gone.

Naimoli brought the Rays to St. Petersburg but was vilified for alienating fans and local sponsors.

“Nobody likes a loser,” Futchko said, referring to the Rays’ dismal record. “But since Naimoli’s been gone, you realize somebody actually wants this team to do well.”

Polanco nodded. “Now, there’s some hope,” he said.

The Rays still have one of the worst records in Major League Baseball. At this time last year, they were 36-66.

They’ve improved slightly this season, 42-60 after Wednesday’s game.

It’s obvious the new ownership group is trying, said Doug Lampe.

On Tuesday, Lampe, 51, and about 50 of his co-workers joked, drank beer and ate hot dogs from a grill in the parking lot before the game.

Lampe, a contractor who lives in St. Pete Beach, is a season ticket holder.

This year, he got a nice surprise at his seat: His name was on it.

“It just made you feel special,” he said of the print-out sheet.

Lampe said he loves all the changes he’s noticed: a cleaner ballpark, friendlier staff, free parking and new ownership willing to trade players and spend money for young talent.

But when games are nearly sold out, when the Boston Red Sox or New York Yankees come to town, parking can get “a little chaotic,” Lampe said.

That’s because there are far fewer overflow lots where landowners used to charge a small fee. Fans can park downtown and take a free shuttle to the ballpark instead, Vaughn said.

And there’s the tailgating.

“This could almost be a Bucs game,” Lampe said, pointing to his co-workers, some slightly tipsy. “A lot of them wouldn’t be here without the tailgating. It’s an excuse to party.”

Sometimes, Ralph Couvnoyer, 56, glances around the stands and sees more fans from the opposing side.

“It’s just not right,” he said.

It happened again July 4th, when the Rays played the Red Sox, his home team until four years ago when he moved to Indian Rocks Beach.

“We live here now, so we’re Devil Rays fans,” Couvnoyer said, referring also to his wife, Paula, 51.
Many don’t switch teams when they relocate here, a fact that doesn’t faze Vaughn.

“We’re about baseball fans,” he said. “It’s such a transient area that you have to give fans a reason to root for the home team.”

That reason isn’t the Rays’ record, yet.

So the team hired Darcy Raymond, 32, as vice president of branding and fan experience.

Until the team improves on the field, Raymond said, he’s focused on delivering the “ultimate experience” to anyone who comes to the ballpark.

Watching kids reach into a 10,000-gallon tank to stroke cownose rays, he likened Sternberg to “Walt Disney coming in” to revamp the ballpark.

Without a doubt, Tropicana Field “is way better” than what Adam Crouch, 13, is used to at home in Seattle.

He’s visiting his grandparents in St. Petersburg for a few weeks. They’re Devil Rays fans. He prefers his home team, the Mariners.

But he didn’t mind the perks he saw at the ballpark Wednesday, especially the slippery cownose rays.

“It’s better for the kids here,” he said. “You have a reason to come instead of just the team’s record.”

[Last modified July 26, 2006, 22:53:56]