Tropicana Field Fan Host Authors Book About Life In The Stands

ST. PETERSBURG, FL — For Bruce Reynolds, many of his favorite moments from working as a fan host for the Tampa Bay Rays have nothing to do with the team or the games’ results.

For him, the stories that unfold in the stands are the ones that stand out the most: a father and son preparing for a deployment, a visually impaired boy running the bases to a cheering crowd, and, occasionally, donning a giant foam taco hat.

Reynolds, 74, has spent 17 seasons as a Rays fan host at Tropicana Field soaking in moments like these. He’s included some of them in a book, "There Is No Place Like Dome: A Fan Host’s Unofficial View from the Top of the Trop to the Stands with the Fans.”

He’ll appear at an author book fair hosted by Pages & Perks at the Cordova Inn, located at 253 2nd Ave. N., in St. Petersburg, on Sept. 26, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Readers will have the opportunity to meet Reynolds and other local writers.

As a fan host, he’s spent years helping fans find their seats, answering questions and doing whatever he can to turn an ordinary trip to a baseball game into a memorable one.

For Reynolds, writing the book was less about chronicling the Rays’ wins and losses, and more about capturing what happens around the game, particularly the unpredictable interactions between fans and the people who work at the stadium.

“I decided that I was going to keep it from my perspective, and I was going to share from things that were either humorous or heartwarming,” Reynolds told Patch.

He wanted the book to be an easy, entertaining read rather than a controversial one - especially given the tenuous future of Tropicana Field. The Rays’ last game at the stadium will take place at the end of the 2028 Major League Baseball season. Current plans call for the team to build a new ballpark in Tampa.

“I didn't want to get into any controversy. I didn't want to get into anything radical,” Reynolds said. “It just didn't seem to be the place. It just seemed like it should be easy and informative and fun - fun was really the idea.”

A Maryland native, he earned a master’s degree in divinity before working in churches in several states, including Florida.

He and his wife, Jeanette, came to the Tampa Bay area in 1986, landing in St. Petersburg. During his time here, Reynolds has worked with various churches, including Feather Sound Community Church.

In 2008, the couple went to a Rays Fan Fest thinking they might volunteer as community ambassadors for the team. Instead, they discovered it was actually a hiring event for the Rays.

Both were baseball fans and thought it sounded like fun, so they accepted jobs as fan hosts.

Jeanette eventually left the job after several years because she was also working full time. Reynolds decided to stay — and 17 seasons later, he’s still at it.

He grew up as a Baltimore sports fan and still roots for the Orioles, but his connection to the Rays grew quickly after he began working at Tropicana Field.

His first season was 2008, when the Rays went from one of baseball’s struggling franchises to an American League pennant winner and World Series contender.

“I take credit for all that because it was my first year,” Reynolds said.

His real job at the stadium, though, has little to do with what happens on the field.

Fan hosts help people navigate the ballpark, answer questions and enforce seating rules. Reynolds says one of the most important parts of the job is figuring out what each fan wants from the experience.

“Some people are there for an escape. Some people are diehard fans,” he said. “Some people don't want to talk at all, and some people will chat with you like you're your best friend.”

Over the years, those conversations have turned into friendships. He’s kept in touch with many regulars, and has attended weddings and funerals involving people he met at games.

“I've made a lot of great friends, and what I would call my baseball family,” Reynolds said.

He’s also known for finding his own unique ways to make games fun for fans.

Kane’s Furniture has long run promotions tied to when Rays pitchers record 10 strikeouts in a game. So, Reynolds created his own traditions for them.

Depending on the promotion, he might race down the stairs wearing a pizza hat, a burger hat or, eventually, a taco hat while waving a homemade flag. At one point, the promotion involved Wawa subs, requiring his wife to make him a foam-rubber sandwich hat.

“It was my attempt to lighten the atmosphere,” he said. “Let's have fun. Let's enjoy this.”

That philosophy is central to the book, as he includes plenty of funny stories, such as a fan who was convinced a 10-strikeout promotion meant he had won a sofa or an incident where Reynolds’ accidentally pulled a condom from a fan’s pocket while trying to check his ticket.

But there are also heart-warming stories that have stayed with him for years, long after the games ended.

One involved a father and son who were supposed to attend a game together before the son was deployed to Afghanistan. Reynolds helped give them a special memory of their night at the Trop, including Rays hats and a baseball.

A month later, the father returned to the stadium alone for a game. He had his deployed son, who was wearing the hat he’d been given and holding the ball, on a video call from the stands and handed the phone to Reynolds to say hello.

“He said, ‘I can't thank you enough. This is just like a piece of home for me,’” Reynolds said.

Another favorite memory came from a Family Fun Day event, when children were allowed onto the field to run the bases.

Reynolds noticed a visually impaired boy carefully making his way down the steps with his parents, using his cane. When the boy realized he’d reached the field, his face lit up.

His parents let him run the bases independently, using his cane.

Reynolds stopped the line so nobody would accidentally get in the boy’s way. As the child made his way around the bases, the crowd began cheering.

“By the time he ran to third, people cheered like he hit a game-winning home run,” Reynolds said. “I still get to thinking about a day that boy will never forget, and I won't either.”

It’s these moments that remind him how important his job is.

“I can't impact what's going on on the field, but I can impact your experience, perhaps,” he said.

Reynolds realized about two years ago that he wanted to compile these and other stores from Tropicana Field in a book for baseball fans, partnering with St. Petersburg Press on the project. In addition to his own experiences, he also gathered stories from fellow fan hosts and included about 10 of them in a chapter called “Extra Innings.”

The book came out on opening day of 2025.

Reynolds has been moved by the reception of his book.

Readers have sent him photographs of the book in places ranging from the Caribbean to Greenland and Alaska. A copy also became part of the National Baseball Hall of Fame's library collection in Cooperstown, New York, he said.

Reynolds stressed that he never set out to write an award-winning book or sell thousands of copies.

“I didn't do it for any of that. I just did because I thought it was fun, and I had fun doing it,” he said.

That attitude seems to be at the heart of both the book and Reynolds’ approach to being a fan host.

“People won't remember what you say. People won't remember what you did, but they'll never forget how you made them feel,” he said, quoting a saying he has long tried to follow.

For Reynolds, that means recognizing that every person walking into a baseball game may be having a completely different experience — and sometimes a few minutes of conversation or a quick joke can become part of their memory.

“Every game is its own unique way,” he said. “Every fan, in some ways, is their unique way.”

Reynolds said he doesn't know yet what his future with the Rays will look like, particularly as the future of Tropicana Field continues to evolve.

For now, he's taking it one season at a time.

“17 years is long,” he said. “I've never guessed that I would do this for 17 years, but I keep liking to do it.”

And, at 74, he said the job keeps him young.

“I really like the people,” Reynolds said. “I like hearing their stories.”