The Conical Glass: A ray of hope

Sunday, October 12, 2008

A ray of hope

I must admit that I haven't been following baseball this year, but I can't help but root for the Tampa Bay Rays to go all the way to the World Series. The previously hapless team, whose woes are hilariously detailed in this Slate.com article, is an unlikely candidate for the postseason. They usually stink, and play in one of the ugliest stadiums in the major leagues, which has resulted in almost comically low attendance; indeed, last night's game against the Boston Red Sox was the first time I've ever seen Tropicana Field at capacity. Whenever they played the Giants, you could practically see the tumbleweeds blowing through the stadium.

The dome over Tropicana Field, which sits at a jaunty angle, is a prominent landmark on the St. Petersburg skyline. The park was completed in 1990 with no tenant in sight -- the city fathers hoped to entice a major league team to relocate to St. Pete -- but the Rays, an expansion team, didn't move in until 1998. By that time, the retro movement in baseball parks, typified by Baltimore's Oriole Park at Camden Yards, was in full swing, and Tropicana Field already seemed outdated. In fact, the Rays would love to move to a new, more attractive facility, and one has been proposed for the downtown waterfront, but according to this June article, the plans have already been scuttled. When I was in St. Pete earlier this year, the newspaper was filled with cranky letters to the editor denouncing the plans to replace Tropicana Field. One wonders if things might have been different if the Rays had actually been a winning team then.

Perhaps the team's losing ways changed as a result of their dropping the "Devil" from their name a year ago. Introducing the franchise's new look, the owner, Stuart Sternberg, said: "As we enter our second decade of play, it is important that we express a classic, crisp, traditional baseball look. These new marks will have a positive effect on the franchise as we progress towards new levels of achievement and success." Who could have guessed that he'd be right? After all, this was a team that finished last in the AL East nine years out of ten. Why were they so bad for so long? Could it be... Satan?

I am a loyal customer of the stadium's sponsor, Tropicana (although when I'm in Florida, my parents always make fresh-squeezed OJ, which is infinitely more delicious -- I'd be too lazy to make it myself at home, though). I drink the Grovestand variety with "Lots of Pulp." It comes in two different types of containers, a carton or a larger plastic jug, and fortunately, one of them always seems to be on sale at the Safeway. A couple of weeks ago, I got a dollar-off coupon in the mail for the new "easy-pour" pitcher. Since OJ is a staple, coupons for it are fairly rare.

When I came home with the jug, Joe immediately noticed that the "new" packaging contained only 89 ounces of juice. This was a reduction from the old quantity of 96 ounces. Of course, the price was the same (although I did save a buck due to the coupon). What a rip-off! Looks like Joe wasn't the only one who noticed. With all the free advertising they're getting as a result of the Rays' postseason, maybe Tropicana can give us our 7 ounces back.

posted by 125records @ 7:03 AM

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