Tag: Tropicana Field

The Rays finally made their decision on where they will play for the 2025 MLB season and it makes sense

Tropicana Field’s roof was destroyed by Hurricane Milton.

While much of the Tampa-St. Petersburg area avoided the worst of Hurricane Milton. The same couldn’t be said for Tropicana Field, and the Rays were forced to look for a new home in 2025 as a result.

That decision has been made, and it comes courtesy of an AL East rival.

The damage to Tropicana Field’s roof was so severe that the city quickly said it wouldn’t be fixed in time for the 2025 season. And further analysis showed that the damage itself would run up a repair cost of nearly $55 million. Given the Rays’ construction of a new stadium set to open in 2028 and the city’s downgraded insurance policy on The Trop, we might never see that roof get repaired.

Well, the Rays can thank the New York Yankees in the meantime because they are heading to Steinbrenner Field — the Yankees’ spring training facility — this season.

According to the Tampa Bay Times, the Rays elected to stay in Tampa rather than explore options in different markets. As we pointed out last month, the Marlins’ LoanDepot Park could have been a choice for consideration (given the roof and MLB-ready facilities), but that would force players and staff across the organization to relocate.

Steinbrenner Field won’t be without its challenges. For one, it’s an open-air stadium. That will get especially brutal in the summers when the Rays have to deal with heat, humidity and frequent rain delays. The 11,000-seat capacity is tiny, but the Rays should at least be able to reliably fill that stadium — something they struggled to do at The Trop.

They should probably get used to seeing Yankees logos constantly, though. That could get awkward, but this was the sensible choice given the tough circumstances.

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Astros’ Yordan Álvarez accidentally broke the Tropicana Field scoreboard during batting practice

Oh no! Not the scoreboard!

Houston Astros left fielder Yordan Álvarez made himself known at Tropicana Field during batting practice before Tuesday’s game against the Tampa Bay Rays.

Álvarez apparently hit a ball so hard during Tuesday’s batting practice that he broke the Tropicana Field scoreboard in an absolutely hilarious snafu, per MLB.com Astros reporter Brian McTaggart.

This apparently isn’t the first time the Astros slugger has broken a scoreboard. He accidentally damaged part of the Minute Maid Park scoreboard in Houston during batting practice in 2019.

The Astros have to love Álvarez’s range and power at the plate when he’s up to bat, but we’re sure they’d love it if he’d quite literally go easy on the scoreboards from here on out.

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A shallow pop fly completely disappeared in the catwalk at the Rays’ awful stadium

Of course.

It remains wild that a group of engineers and architects came up with an indoor baseball stadium that still isn’t even suited to host normal baseball games. But that’s the story of Tropicana Field.

The Rays’ home park is consistently mentioned among baseball’s worst stadiums, and its low ceiling full of catwalks is a big part of that. Like, umpires have to apply a special set of rules just to account for all the obstructions at the stadium.

On Thursday, those catwalks were on full display.

During Randy Arozarena’s at-bat in the third inning against the Yankees with two outs and a runner on second, the Rays outfielder skied a high pop fly straight up in front of the mound. The Yankees infield tried to camp underneath the pop fly, but the ball simply never came down.

Why does this stadium still exist?

At first, there was some confusion as to how to handle the play. Arozarena was unsure whether or not he was supposed to run to first, and for a moment, it seemed like he just earned the cheapest RBI single you’ll ever see.

But that wasn’t the case.

The umpires would call the play dead, and Arozarena would end up striking out to end the inning.

Just a normal day at The Trop, I guess.

https://youtu.be/1Xu4-czKgVs