Pretty? No, but the Rays call it home

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - The images of the new Tampa Bay Rays stadium unveiled last year were absolutely stunning.

Outdoors, right on the waters of St. Petersburg, sail-like structures floating overhead to provide shade for those hot Florida afternoons and evenings.

Rays Ballpark was going to be everything Tropicana Field wasn't.

Then the dissension started over the cost of the project, and it never slowed down.

Soon the Rays had to abandon plans for a referendum by the end of the year, and the project was put on hold.

It's been called quirky by some, cold by others and an embarrassment by many. Whatever it is, Tropicana Field is going to be home of the Rays for the foreseeable future.

So, with that in mind, let's take a closer look at the Trop on the opening day of the ALDS.

Painting a picture

The first thing you notice when you first see the big dome on the horizon is that it sits on an angle, as if someone shushed it into the ground and never bothered to even it out.

The first thing you notice when you're inside is that this place looks like a bachelor's unfinished basement with a big-screen TV and a lot of bad artwork (in this case ads) cluttering up the walls of the outfield.

The roof inside is the same color as old, white drapes in a smoker's house. The artificial turf somehow is three different shades of green.

It's got catwalks that are in play - Evan Longoria's second home run hit the one known as the C-Ring, causing one scribe in the press box to shout, "Get a park!"

It's got a pool full of stingrays just beyond the right-center wall. Lobster rolls are served in the dungenous concourse in the bowels of the building.

Overall, it's got all the coziness of an indoor golf driving range.

Fans love it?

Rays fans don't seem to mind a bit - witness the little old lady with blue hair (no, really, it was a Rays wig) scurrying through the main entrance with cowbells in hand and a grin on her face.

Or the old guy in a retro green Devil Rays jersey with "Cowbell Kid" on the back.

Just what is it with Rays fans and their cowbells anyway? They ring them so loud and so often that Christopher Walken might want to get a cut of the action.

But if having to play in the Trop is bad news, the good news for the Rays is the usually apathetic fan base has turned the Trop into a real homefield advantage in response to the Rays' elevated play.

When the place is packed, it gets loud, like it was Thursday.

"To play in front of 7- or 9,000 or 10,000 people, you've really got to get that motivation from within," Rays manager Joe Maddon said. "But when there's 30,000 up there and they're on your side, there is a level of adrenaline and support that really matters and makes a difference to all of us."