Rays Fan Bets Entire Gulf Coast That Peralta Won't Finish Fourth Inning, Then Builds Watchtower Over Tropicana Field
A single bettor, convinced Freddy Peralta will not record fifteen outs, has erected a 40-foot observation tower outside Tropicana Field and declared a curfew on all pitching changes until the fourth inning ends.
TAMPA — A bettor who wagered the entire Gulf Coast on Freddy Peralta recording fewer than fifteen outs has erected a forty-foot wooden observation tower beyond the right-field wall at Tropicana Field and declared a nightly curfew on all pitching changes until the fourth inning is complete.
The man, identified by stadium staff only as «the gentleman in the wicker chair», began construction at dawn, hauling lumber up the ramp himself while shouting split-finger instructions at the Rays bullpen. By noon the tower had a roof, a bell, and a hand-painted sign reading «FOUR INNINGS OR THE SUN DOESN'T SET».
Rays manager Kevin Cash confirmed the club has adjusted its routine to accommodate the structure. «We now conduct mound visits by semaphore,» Cash said. «Freddy has been told that if he reaches the fifth, the bell rings and the tower stays up for the winter. He has taken this seriously. He has been throwing in his sleep.»
The curfew, enforced by two retired umpires hired as tower watchmen, requires every reliever in the Tampa bullpen to remain seated and silent until Peralta's twelfth out is recorded. Violators are made to walk the warning track carrying a bucket of rosin bags.
By evening, neighboring businesses had adopted the schedule. A nearby diner now serves only four courses, a hotel has renamed its fourth floor «The Peralta Suite», and the Guardians, arriving for Game 6, were asked to take batting practice in four-inning shifts.
The bettor has not descended from the tower. He communicates by lowering a basket on a rope, and the basket has so far contained one sandwich, a pair of binoculars, and a note that reads: «If he goes five, I will build a second tower.»
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