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ARCHIVE: Lang Stadium: Scenery Worth Price Of Admission

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Special To The Tribune

Published: March 13, 1977

Updated: 02/12/2008 06:56 pm

ST. PETERSBURG - New Lang Field Stadium, major league in everything but seating capacity, was officially baptised yesterday with appropriate fanfare that included some of the greats who played in its predecessor.

Baseball's most outstanding 7,800-seat stadium anywhere - a scaled down version of St. Louis' Busch Stadium - was opened 30 years to the day from the dedication of Lang I.

An overflow crowd of 7,706 attending those ceremonies on March 12, 1947.

Yesterday, the attendance of 7,729 was almost the same, but that was the only visible similarity between the opening of the sparkling multi-colored $3.5 million gem of a diamond on the Tampa Bay waterfronts - and that of the cement-steel structure that was built in post World War II days for $3.2 million less.

Lang I, located on the same spot, was torn down 18 months ago because of terminal rust and age, after having been the spring base for 10 championship teams.

The difference between the old and the new was no less dramatic than that between a model T and a Datsun, as was vocally indicated by those who have seen both stadiums. The reaction to the new stadium with its sparkling aluminum seats was Four-Star approval, and the appraisers including such honorees as Stan Musial, Mickey Mantle and Whitey Ford, who knew old Lang from the ground up.

"Great, beautiful, best minor league park in baseball."

"Better than some of the old major league parks - great view from any seat."

These remarks from Hall of Famers, 20 of whom were in attendance, and fans alike.

And also the modern stars. The St. Louis Cards, for whom Lang is home base for spring training, and the New York Mets, who play their games there, completely approved the new facility with its concrete catacombs, similar to those at Busch Stadium and which include air-conditioned dressing rooms.

A far cry from old Lang, whose dressing rooms were in an exterior clubhouse, which now has been turned into a baseball museum.

But while this means the players no longer must go between the bleachers and grandstand to reach the field - thus removing some of the warm intimacy of Lang I - the new stadium provides a closeness in other respects.

For one thing, with the only obstruction in the poleless stadium the backstop screen, the stadium is a foul ball bonanza for fans who now can snag balls going into the open stands. The grandstand at old Lang was completely screened.

It was also completely roofed, in contrast to the sharply angled cement roof of Lang Stadium which is more esthetic than practical. However, yesterday's fans didn't appear to mind the virtual shadeless aspect of new Lang. Said one, "that's what we came to Florida for, the sun. And only one case of sunstroke was reported."

Today, the stadium will be introduced to the New York area with the televising of the Mets-Cards game and it will be a rainbow-like eyeful for New Yorkers - with colorful sailboats on the blue adjoining Tampa Bay, providing a dazzling background for the bermuda grass stadium with its blue (for Mets), red (Cards) and white seats.

The scenery alone is worth the price of admission.

This article originally appeared in The Tampa Tribune-Times, March 13th 1977

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