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Rays Planning Fond Farewell For Ballpark

Newschannel 8 Photo by Michael Egger.

The Rays want to turn the 7,227-seat ballpark into a 34,000-seat open-air stadium for regular season games by 2012.

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By CARLOS MONCADA

The Tampa Tribune

Published: March 28, 2008

ST. PETERSBURG - With the final out of the final inning of the last baseball game at Progress Energy Park, the city will bid farewell today to 94 years of spring training memories.

The sun-bathed ballpark on the downtown waterfront will close its gates after a 1:05 p.m. game against the Cincinnati Reds. Starting next year, the Tampa Bay Rays will play their spring games at a new stadium in Port Charlotte, about 90 minutes south.

"I will miss spring training. I love going to the games," Mayor Rick Baker said. "So it's a bittersweet moment. We'll lose spring training, but we have our Major League Baseball team."

No one knows for sure whether the sounds of baseball will fill the hallowed grounds again. The Rays want to turn the 7,227-seat ballpark into a 34,000-seat open-air stadium for regular season games by 2012.

If that doesn't happen, the city is considering other uses such as parkland, turning the stadium into a multipurpose building for events or keeping the site as a baseball field.

A smorgasbord of events will highlight the ballpark's finale. Festivities planned include a MacDill-based Air Force flyover, a presentation of the All-Time Al Lang Team, tributes to former St. Petersburg pro teams that called the field home, a free post-game barbecue for all fans in attendance and giveaways.

Since 1914, St. Petersburg has been the spring training home to nine Major League teams. Those teams are the St. Louis Browns, Philadelphia Phillies, Boston Braves, New York Yankees, St. Louis Cardinals, New York Giants, New York Mets, Baltimore Orioles and the Rays.

For the past 83 years, spring games have been played at the park, which has seen many names during that time: Waterfront Park, Al Lang Stadium, Al Lang Field and Progress Energy Park.

Many still affectionately call the ballpark Al Lang.

Park Welcomed Baseball's Greats

Last rebuilt in 1976, the field opened in 1947 to accommodate the St. Louis Cardinals, who had been training in St. Petersburg since 1938.

The park was named for the former mayor, Al Lang, a driving force behind bringing spring training - and such greats as Babe Ruth, Mickey Mantle, Joe DiMaggio, Stan Musial and Ozzie Smith - to St. Petersburg.

"It's sad to think that all these players passed through there and now it's at an end," said Jill Literaty of Seminole, who recently donated to the St. Petersburg Museum of History much of the sports memorabilia that she and her husband, Richard, spent decades collecting.

Jill Literaty said losing the intimacy that fans have with players during spring games and practices will be particularly missed.

"You can go down there, and it's so much more personal," she said. "And when they get here for the regular season, it's just not the same. It's just so much more impersonal contact because of the nature of Major League Baseball. That's going to be a real loss."

Baker said he understands the reasons the Rays chose to move spring games to Port Charlotte, including expanding the team's fan base.

The Rays are the only major league team that plays spring games and regular season games in the same city.

"The ironic thing is when we were seeking a baseball team in the '80s and '90s, we'd probably never anticipated that we would continue to have spring training after a Major League team came out here," Baker said. "But nevertheless, we'll miss it."

History Rivals Any Stadium's

Among the guests will be John and Hugh Fagen, great-nephews and the closest living relatives of Al Lang, who died in 1960 at age 89.

"The baseball history emanating from this site rivals that of any Major League stadium, and none of it would have been possible without Al Lang, who was unsurpassed as an ambassador of baseball in this state," Rays President Matt Silverman said.

Jets from MacDill Air Force Base will fly over the ballpark before the game. Commemorative posters will be handed to the first 6,500 fans. A special on-field presentation will reveal the All-Time Al Lang Team, a roster of the best players to call the ballpark their spring training home.

After the game, fans are invited onto the field for a free barbecue and live music. Children can run the bases and play catch on the field.

Between innings, the Rays will recognize teams that played there. The Rays also will honor the late Tommy Walton, the singing hot dog vendor who entertained fans for nearly two decades.

Reporter Carlos Moncada can be reached at (727) 451-2333 or cmoncada@tampatrib.com.

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