PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. -- The new home of the Rays had a special feel Wednesday afternoon, as Charlotte Sports Park greeted a Grapefruit League contingent of 6,028 for a Rays-Reds contest the Rays dropped, 7-0.

This year's opening of the Rays' Spring Training camp marked the return of baseball to Charlotte County for the first time since the Texas Rangers left the site after the 2002 season. The state-of-the-art facility underwent a $27.2 million renovation. It contains over 5,000 fixed seats and has additional berm seating along the first- and third-base lines as well as a boardwalk that covers the outfield -- all of which swelled with people Wednesday.

Wednesday's game was the first Spring Training game at the site since March 27, 2002, when the Twins beat the Rangers, 9-8, in front of a crowd of 3,373.

"I think there's a tangible feel, a difference," said Rays outfielder Gabe Kapler, who has a unique perspective, since he played for the Rangers in 2002.

The Rangers played 230 games in Charlotte County from 1987 to 2002. The last professional game prior to Wednesday's was Game 2 of the Florida State League championship between the Charlotte Rangers and Lakeland Tigers on Sept. 7, 2002.

Prior to the start of the game, the Rays raised a flag in left field to commemorate their 2008 American League championship season.

"The raising of the flag was really cool, obviously," Rays manager Joe Maddon said. And with the new banner flapping in the breeze, the game began with a palpable excitement.

"There was an excitement and enthusiasm and a bunch of Rays fans," Kapler said. "Legitimate Rays fans. There is the Northeast kind of guys with the Rays shirt on, those guys were out there, too. It was nice to see people who clearly followed the whole season last year and let that spill over into this spring."

Maddon still seemed to be soaking it all in after the game.

"Just walking out there today, the way people reacted to our group, it was very special," Maddon said. "You get to the playoffs and the World Series and your whole world changes, in a good way. It's great to see the response. To have this kind of following means a lot to us. Now we just have to keep them interested, and I think we will.

"We really appreciate the support of the people who have come out for us. Obviously we turned the corner last year. We've got this tremendous following now. It means a lot to us. It was a great first day in spite of the score."

The only drawbacks for the day came wrapped in a losing effort and a traffic problem.

Of the loss, Maddon found his usual silver lining when he noted: "Overall, I thought we did a great job on defense; more than anything, really good outfield play. A couple of times we ran the bases OK."

And Maddon liked what he saw from Carlos Hernandez, who is the camp long-shot to claim fifth spot in the rotation. The left-hander started and pitched two scoreless innings.

"I thought he pitched really well," Maddon said. "I don't know what the velocity was, but it looked pretty firm from the side. His fastball, his cutter -- it was good. His curveball he left up a couple of times. But I thought physically, velocity-wise, he looked really good."

Meanwhile, the traffic heading into Charlotte Sports Park was bumper to bumper, causing lengthy delays for fans hoping to attend the game.

Michael Kalt, Rays senior vice president, development and business affairs, said opening a new facility compounded the problem since people were not familiar with procedures and the location.

"There's a bunch of things we can do [to correct the traffic problem]," said Kalt, who vowed the traffic would be much improved on Friday when the Rays play their second home game of the spring.

Some waited in traffic longer than expected, but there was little else to grumble about Wednesday at the Rays' new spring home.