The Trop!

On the day after the Reds clinched the division, we went to the Trop the day after the Rays clinched a playoff birth. They're still fighting it out with the Yanks to see who wins the division (and home field) and who gets the Wild Card (and Cliff Lee).

Interestingly, it was the Rays last home game of the year and the team gave away 20,000 tickets for free. But this was our only chance at a game at the Trop, so we went in for decent seats. My mother-in-law was with us (we're actually in Fla. celebrating her 75th birthday) and she doesn't get up and down stairs super great so we got handicap tickets. (You can check out my facebook page for the view from our seats -- and the cool hat I got.) We were on the top row of the lower section, but up higher than the section, so we could see over everyone, even when they stood up, which they did a lot. Plus, we had extra room and pretty comfortable seats.

The game was pretty ho-hum, with the Orioles winning 2-0. The Rays couldn't get to Kevin Millwood at all, in spite of playing their regular line-up in the hangover game (except Longoria, who is hurt). They got a couple of chances late, but couldn't break through against the Orioles pen. The Orioles have been really good the last couple of months, and last night was no exception.

The crowd was crazy last night with the horns and the cowbells. They literally cheered every strike. The venue was odd to say the least. The roof of the dome seemed really low, and I could definitely see where balls could get stuck in the cat walks although none did last night. It didn't really have a big-league feel to it, but the crowd was very enthusiastic. That place will be nuts during the playoffs.