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Although this sparse crowd might outnumber some weekday baseball games at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, this group of hearty fans appear to be taking in some summer afternoon baseball at Al Lopez Field.
The minor league Tampa Tarpons began playing at Al Lopez Field in 1957 as members of the Florida State League and enjoyed an affiliation with the Cincinnati Reds from 1961-1987. Tampa captured the league title in their inaugural season of 1957 as well as four years later in 1961, when they were led by a young Pete Rose. Rose hit .331 that season and registered 30 triples, a league record which stands to this day.
Other notable Tampa Tarpon alumni included several key cogs in the 1970s “Big Red Machine” such as Ken Griffey, Sr., Johnny Bench, Dan Driessen, Rawly Eastwick, and Dave Concepcion. Several members of the 1990 World Series champion Cincinnati Reds such as Tom Browning, Rob Dibble, and Paul O’Neill also spent some time wearing the red and white at Al Lopez Field in the early 1980s.
Today, Raymond James Stadium – home to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and University of South Florida Bulls -- occupies the former site of Al Lopez Field.
Built in 1955 at a cost of $282,901 ($2.1 million in today’s dollars), Al Lopez Field served as Tampa’s baseball Mecca for more than 30 years. Named in honor of Tampa native and Baseball Hall of Famer Al Lopez, the 4,000-seat stadium first served as the Spring Training home of the Chicago White Sox until 1959. The following year, the Cincinnati Reds made it their permanent preseason home until 1987.
It was here that Tampa baseball fans could watch future greats such as Johnny Bench, Tony Perez and Pete Rose up close and personal. The Big Red Machine of the 1970s, which won two World Series championships, helped put Tampa on the map as a baseball hotbed. During the summer, as home of the Florida State League Tampa Tarpons, future baseball big-league stars plied their trades in front of the loyal and dedicated fans. Rose, for example, hit 30 triples and batted .331 for the Tarpons in 1961.
The Reds left Al Lopez Field for a new training site in Plant City in 1988, but the Tarpons played one final season as an affiliate for the White Sox. The Tampa Bay area’s quest for a Major League Baseball team of its own helped spell the end of Al Lopez Field, once considered as a site for a new domed stadium. Today, the former site of a Big Red Machine and baseball dreams is still a showcase for present and future stars, albeit in a different sport -- Raymond James Stadium, the home of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
The Tampa Bay Rays’ plans to build a new, $450 million stadium in downtown St. Petersburg should come as no surprise to longtime residents of the area.
Designing baseball stadiums and then debating suitable locations for them is as much a local pastime as the game itself. Only twenty-five years ago this month, rival groups representing Pinellas and Hillsborough counties pitched their designs for stadiums that would serve as home for a to-be-determined team.
On January 26, 1983, the city of St. Petersburg and the Pinellas Sports Authority held a symbolic groundbreaking ceremony at the corner of 16th Street and Third Avenue South. The 66-acre site, known as the Gas Plant, eventually would be developed into Tropicana Field. But on that day, the PSA announced the facility would be called Pinellas Suncoast Stadium. An artist’s design of that stadium evokes the current model being trumpeted by Rays management.
Bill Bunker, executive director of the PSA, touted the stadium’s tent-like covering as being more economical than a traditional dome. And much like the current plan that features a lightweight synthetic polymer sail, it would protect fans from the rain but not the heat.
Earlier that week in 1983, the Tampa Bay Baseball Group unveiled their design for a 46,000-seat stadium on the site of Al Lopez Field next to Tampa Stadium. Like the stadium design on the other side of the Bay, the Baseball Group also envisioned a fabric-covered – but not domed – stadium.
Within six months, however, both groups would alter their plans and opt for covered stadiums. The Baseball Group’s design called for a Teflon roof that would reflect solar heat while relying on open sides for ventilation. The Pinellas group opted for a fully-covered, air-conditioned facility. The debate currently going on in St. Petersburg over open-air versus domed stadiums is clearly nothing new.
So while concepts that were quickly discarded two decades ago are being recycled today, we should fully expect to see the Rays’ current plans in another 25 years – much like the stadium plans of January 1983 – located on the scrap heap of history.
Although this sparse crowd might outnumber some weekday baseball games at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, this group of hearty fans appear to be taking in some summer afternoon baseball at Al Lopez Field.
