Hours before home opener, Rays fans are ready

Reliever Al Reyes greets fans and hands out cups in the rotunda of Tropicana Field as the doors open for the Rays home opener.  [James Borchuck, Times]

ST. PETERSBURG - Four and a half hours before the home opener, hardcore Tampa Bay Rays fans were ready with stocked coolers, games, barbecues and an array of T-shirts from past seasons.

Ron Kaiser, 49, and his son Pete, 24, landed their favorite parking spot under a tree so thick with spring growth that they didn't need their canvas tent for shade.

They told stories about going to games a decade ago in the Rays' opening years, when Ron pulled Pete out of school to start tailgating under the interstate in the morning for an evening game.

"That was the coolest day," Pete remembers, drinking a Red Stripe and smoking a cigarette. "That was awesome."

They remembered the first and last fireworks in the Trop, when they got smoked out in year two. But just because these fans love the baseball doesn't mean they'll cheer for the franchise's every move.

They wear T-shirts reading "Devil Rays." They boycotted the team one year, when they closed down nose-bleed seats and charged too much for other seats. They have no qualms about voicing their opinions, including about the idea of replacing the indoor Trop with an outdoor, waterfront stadium.

"I like the new look, and there's nothing wrong with the Trop," Ron says. "They cannot build the broiler. They put us downtown in a tent and that's going to be the broiler."

"They think attendance is bad now..." Pete chimes in.

The sounds of Simon and Garfunkel drift over from the Budweiser tent, where two guys are strumming acoustic guitars and harmonizing.

Ron and Pete don't like the new logo, either.

"I'm boycotting that s---" Pete says. "I'm not going to be a sun Ray. I'm a Devil Ray. They went pattycake on us."

The game starts at 7:10 p.m.

--Stephanie Garry, Times Staff Writer