{"id":220670,"date":"2026-04-06T15:46:08","date_gmt":"2026-04-06T15:46:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/220670\/"},"modified":"2026-04-06T15:46:08","modified_gmt":"2026-04-06T15:46:08","slug":"beloved-fan-host-bruce-reynolds-returns-to-tropicana-field-after-hurricane-milton-damage-for-his-17th-season","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/220670\/","title":{"rendered":"Beloved fan host Bruce Reynolds returns to Tropicana Field after Hurricane Milton damage for his 17th season"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p data-v-f1afc186=\"\">ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. &#8211; When the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fox13news.com\/tag\/mlb\/rays-baseball\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Rays<\/a> return home to Tropicana Field on April 6, it will be about more than the baseball game. \u00a0<\/p>\n<p original-article-post=\"\" origination_station=\"WTVT\" data-v-ec26887a=\"\" data-v-f1afc186=\"\">The backstory:<\/p>\n<p data-v-f1afc186=\"\">For Bruce Reynolds, returning to Tropicana Field this season feels personal.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p data-v-f1afc186=\"\">He has spent 16 seasons as a fan host, greeting fans and creating an experience that keeps people coming back regardless of the score.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p data-v-f1afc186=\"\">Last season, he was forced to stay away after <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fox13news.com\/news\/video-hurricane-miltons-high-winds-tear-portion-roof-off-tropicana-stadium-st-petersburg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Hurricane Milton damaged the stadium<\/a>. Reynolds says he learned the roof had blown off while he was out of town, a moment that made the loss feel very real.<\/p>\n<p data-v-f1afc186=\"\">For Reynolds, the ballpark is more than a place to watch baseball. It is built on relationships and shared experiences with fans who have become like family over the years.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p> <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/vlcsnap-2026-04-06-11h19m17s632.jpg\" alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" fetchpriority=\"auto\" data-v-2fe2fe3e=\"\"\/>  <\/p>\n<p original-article-post=\"\" origination_station=\"WTVT\" data-v-ec26887a=\"\" data-v-f1afc186=\"\">What they&#8217;re saying:<\/p>\n<p data-v-f1afc186=\"\">He says the time away made him realize how much he missed those connections and the sense of community that comes from bringing people together for a game.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p data-v-f1afc186=\"\">&#8220;Everybody\u2019s excited. People want to remember the memories they\u2019ve had in that stadium,&#8221; Reynolds explained. &#8220;Now, with the Trop reopening, Reynolds expects an emotional return as fans come back to a place filled with memories.<\/p>\n<p> <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/vlcsnap-2026-04-06-11h18m56s848.jpg\" alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" fetchpriority=\"auto\" data-v-2fe2fe3e=\"\"\/>  <\/p>\n<p original-article-post=\"\" origination_station=\"WTVT\" data-v-ec26887a=\"\" data-v-f1afc186=\"\">Dig deeper:<\/p>\n<p data-v-f1afc186=\"\">Reynolds\u2019 love for Tropicana Field inspired him to write a book called There Is No Place Like Dome.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p data-v-f1afc186=\"\">The book shares heartwarming stories from his years as a fan host and highlights the connections he has made with fans throughout his time at the ballpark.<\/p>\n<p data-v-f1afc186=\"\">Click <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thereisnoplacelikedome.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">here<\/a> to learn more about the book.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"group-source-paragraph\" data-v-4fbf7207=\"\">The Source: This article was written with an interview conducted by FOX 13\u2019s Corey Beckman and previous FOX 13 News reports.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>    <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fox13news.com\/tag\/us\/fl\/pinellas\/st-petersburg\" class=\"tags-tag\" data-v-f1afc186=\"\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">St. Petersburg<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.fox13news.com\/tag\/mlb\/rays-baseball\" class=\"tags-tag\" data-v-f1afc186=\"\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Tampa Bay Rays<\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. &#8211; When the Rays return home to Tropicana Field on April 6, it will be&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":220671,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[47,3817,115,1157,6164,202,204,203,199,201,200,628],"class_list":["post-220670","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-st-petersburg","tag-fl","tag-mlb","tag-news","tag-pinellas","tag-rays-baseball","tag-st-pete","tag-st-pete-headlines","tag-st-pete-news","tag-st-petersburg","tag-st-petersburg-headlines","tag-st-petersburg-news","tag-us"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/220670","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=220670"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/220670\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/220671"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=220670"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=220670"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=220670"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}