TAMPA BAY, Florida, USA (AP) — Junior Caminero opened the narrow white door of his new and spacious locker, and the Tampa Bay Rays third baseman found a bat that Giancarlo Stanton had left behind.
On the other corner, pitcher Shane Baz had no idea he was at Aaron Judge’s spring training residence.
“I haven’t found anything yet,” said the Rays pitcher. “I’ll take anything.”
Why the Rays don’t have a stadium?
Homeless after Hurricane Milton destroyed the roof of Tropicana Field on October 9, the Rays began their season as tenants at Steinbrenner Field, the spring training home of the New York Yankees, facing the Colorado Rockies this Friday in the final Opening Day game of Major League Baseball.
The Rays replaced over 3,000 signs and images in the stadium with a capacity of 11,000 people during a 120-hour renovation after the last home spring training game of the Yankees ended on Sunday at 3:33 in the afternoon.
By the time of the first pitch on Friday, shortly after 4 in the afternoon, banners spelling out “R-A-Y-S” covered the “Y-A-N-K-E-E-S” signs on the first and third base stands, and large photos of Shane McClanahan and Taj Bradley were displayed on the back of the scoreboard, visible to entering cars.
A chandelier with the intertwined “NY” in the spacious Rays locker room was covered with a square canvas that featured the yellow, blue, and white colors of the Rays with “Home of the Rays” written on each side. The replica of the frieze from Yankee Stadium above each locker was also hidden, and a carpet with white letters “TB” was on the floor leading to the showers, concealing tiles that read “The Bronx” and “New York,” intended to emulate a subway.
The wardrobe staff found a touch panel and changed the 12 thin ceiling lights that imitated the Yankees’ stripes from white to deep blue.
Nebulizers were installed in the dugouts and the padding on the benches was replaced along with the bat and helmet racks.
But there were reminders that this was a stadium built for expanded spring training rosters: most of the Rays players had two lockers. Only 39 out of the 77 lockers were occupied, including 25 out of the 51 surrounding the walls.
The sign for “Executive Offices of the New York Yankees” was engraved on the doors of an office entrance, and the statue of the late Yankees owner, George Steinbrenner, as well as the display of retired New York numbers outside the stadium remained unchanged. The Yankees logos were in place at the end of each row in the seating area. A “TB” replaced a Yankees sign at the top of the scoreboard, and the letters “George M. Steinbrenner Field” remained below.
Since their dressing room was repurposed as the visiting manager’s office, the referees were moved to a trailer attached to a corner of the left field, near a city street.
The Rays players enjoyed much more luxurious facilities than they were used to at the Trop: a two-level weight room, three therapy pools with water-level TVs, red light therapy in the sauna, four batting cages, and an indoor/outdoor dining area.
“It’s almost too much,” said pitcher Zack Littell, getting ready for his start on Saturday. “There’s so much space. I think if you had to complain about something, it’s that you have to walk a really long way to get to places.”
Some players changed their seasonal rentals from the St. Petersburg side of the bay to the Tampa side, shortening their commute. Rays manager Kevin Cash said that his ten-minute trip to the Trop was now a 30-minute commute.
When he opened a drawer in his new desk, Cash found a handwritten note from his counterpart Aaron Boone.
“He just said, ‘Enjoy it. I hope you have good health,‘” Cash recounted, expressing his gratitude.
“This one was quite elegant. Some of the things that Tito leaves behind are not as elegant,” he said, referring in a playful tone to the new manager of Cincinnati, Terry Francona.
Although the visitors’ dressing room is narrow, it is not uncomfortable. Additional space was created by moving the coaching staff room to what had previously been a storage area.
“They have done everything possible to make this feel like a Major League ballpark,” said Kris Bryant from Colorado.
Tampa Bay has played 2,148 games at the Trop, including postseason games, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. The Rays’ previous outdoor home games were a couple of series in Kissimmee, Florida, in 2007 and 2008, games against the Yankees moved to Citi Field in New York in 2017, and in San Diego during the neutral site postseason games in 2020.
Last year’s calendar at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg averaged just 16,515 spectators, ranking 28th out of 30 teams, with opening day being the only sold-out game.
The Rays withdrew this month from an agreement for a new stadium proposed at a site adjacent to the Trop, and MLB is analyzing where there would be an attendance advantage for a new stadium on the Tampa side of the bay, such as a proposed site in Ybor City.
“I think fans have always wanted baseball in Tampa Bay instead of St. Petersburg,” said Littell.