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Get Away

Devil Rays bolster Trop lineup with fun

Kids can play games, design posters and baseball cards, and learn more about the inner workings of baseball.

By SHARON KENNEDY WYNNE
Published August 10, 2006

ST. PETERSBURG

The field of play at Tampa Bay Devil Rays games got a lot larger this year.

The team added nearly a dozen areas at Tropicana Field where kids can paint banners, play vintage video games, make baseball cards, pet a stingray or find out what pine tar feels like.

The activities are a free or relatively inexpensive way to kill time before the game.

"It's really been a big hit with the kids," said Darcy Raymond, vice president of the team's new Fan Experience department. "The whole idea was to make the whole fan experience seamless, so it's not just a trip to a ball game. It's really about driving home the magic of baseball."

Most of the activities are on the "boulevards" to the left and right of the main rotunda in the Trop. But be warned: The doors open two hours before the game, but most special areas close by the fifth inning. This is not a treat to save for the seventh-inning stretch.

The Arts Center's "Bats, Balls and Brushes" has been one of the more popular stops. Kids can create artwork to go on the wall there or make banners and signs to take to the game.

There also is a mayor of Left Field Street with a microphone who asks kids easy trivia questions - "What is a home run?" - and hands out prizes. For more of a challenge, try the Baseball Trivia Challenge, which has a podium, microphone and buzzer.

Kids can learn the science of baseball and get a chance to be on TV through exhibits run by Great Explorations and MOSI, Tampa's Museum of Science and Industry.

For those who want in on the action, the Mountain Dew Extreme Zone features stickball ($3 to hit 15 tennis balls with a stick) and video game systems - Xbox 360, Nintendo 64, Atari 7800, Sega and others (for free).

Want something to take home? Make your own baseball card ($5) or have your name engraved on a Louisville Slugger bat ($29 to $49).

For a hands-on experience, pet a stingray in the touch tank. If the line is long (only 50 people are allowed in for each 10-minute slot), avoid a wait by picking up a time card and coming back. For more touchy-feely wonders, wander into the Feel of the Game area, which features a replica of a dugout and locker room, some field turf, a rosin bag, pine tar and Carl Crawford's cleats (no word on how they smell).

Fans haven't been the only ones enjoying the new exhibits, Raymond said.

"When (Rays outfielder) Rocco Baldelli was on the disabled list, he did art with sunflower seeds and Styrofoam cups and it's on display at the Arts Center area," Raymond said. "And we have paintings the kids made, so we're starting to build this whole wall of art from players and fans."

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The Devil Rays' next home game is at 7:15 p.m. Tuesday against the Toronto Blue Jays. For more information, go to www.devilrays.com.

[Last modified August 8, 2006, 13:38:53]