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<\/p>\nThe Road Ahead | A Tampa Bay Rays special from WESH 2 Sports<\/p>\n
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. \u2014<\/p>\n
In just a few days, postseason baseball will be back at the Trop for the first time since 2023. <\/p>\n
The Rays are looking to get back in the playoff win column and win their first postseason series since making it all the way to the World Series in 2020.<\/p>\n
A lot has changed just in the last year.<\/p>\n
Two days after the Rays closed the book on a disappointing 2025 season, the team was sold to a new ownership group.<\/p>\n
Damage from Hurricane Milton<\/p>\n
Since then, they returned to the Trop after playing last season at the Yankees’ spring training facility in Tampa while repairs were made after damage from Hurricane Milton.<\/p>\n
When the Rays returned to the Trop this season, it wasn’t the same one they last played in 561 days prior.<\/p>\n
Every inch of the stadium saw some sort of touch-up, from the roof to the clubhouse, and upgrades to the fan experience.<\/p>\n
At the peak of the project, roughly 300 workers were on-site daily. They were honored in a pre-game ceremony for their efforts. <\/p>\n
The new roof allows for more natural light into the stadium. The players noted that it made it easier to track fly balls.<\/p>\n
Each player’s jersey features a patch with pieces of the original roof sewn into the fabric. <\/p>\n
It’s a tribute also available on jerseys sold in the team store.<\/p>\n
The renovations extend well beyond the roof. Crews also replaced the sound systems, lighting and video board, along with new artificial turf, clubhouse carpet and lockers. <\/p>\n
For the fans, there are new luxury suites, a speakeasy, grab-and-go stands, and new menu items. <\/p>\n
And, of course, there’s a familiar sight in center field: The touch tank.<\/p>\n
The seven stingrays who call this special spot home are the same seven rays who were in the tank when Milton ripped the roof off the building. <\/p>\n
Full week off <\/p>\n
The Rays are skipping the wild card round for the first time since 2021, giving them nearly a full week off. <\/p>\n
Getting multiple days off in a row doesn’t happen much in baseball; sometimes it can be a good thing, sometimes it can be a bad thing. <\/p>\n
The Rays hope it’ll give them a chance to rest and be at their best against either the Yankees or Red Sox.<\/p>\n
The last time the Rays were in the playoffs three years ago, they got swept in the wild card round. <\/p>\n
Three years before that, they made it all the way to the World Series, losing in six games to the Los Angeles Dodgers. <\/p>\n
They haven’t won a postseason series since that run, but the players believe they have a special group of guys this time around.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Road Ahead | A Tampa Bay Rays special from WESH 2 Sports ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. \u2014 In…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":415216,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[135,137,136],"class_list":["post-415215","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tampa","tag-tampa","tag-tampa-headlines","tag-tampa-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/415215","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=415215"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/415215\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/415216"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=415215"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=415215"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=415215"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}