Looking back at the Trop

Earlier this week I wrote about all of the problems with Tropicana Field. Lar from Wezen-Ball picked up the idea and ran with it. Lar’s thing is to go back and read the contemporaneous accounts of events we only now find to be interesting. It’s a really good thing, and it’s put to use wonderfully here, as he runs down what people were saying about Tropicana Field when it first opened. There’s a ton there, so by all means, read it all, but this is the best part:

“There are some unusual features. The dome roof is sloped and is made of translucent material. Neither is expected to affect play.

The roof slopes from 225 feet high at its peak over second base to 85 feet at the centerfield wall. It was designed that way to reduce heating and cooling costs, and designers are confident balls will not bounce off it.”

In their defense, it was 1990, and Jose Canseco had only just invented steroids a year or two before.