{"id":439070,"date":"2026-10-27T05:24:32","date_gmt":"2026-10-27T05:24:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/439070\/"},"modified":"2026-10-27T05:24:32","modified_gmt":"2026-10-27T05:24:32","slug":"rays-return-to-tropicana-field-for-world-series-after-nearly-60m-in-repairs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/439070\/","title":{"rendered":"Rays return to Tropicana Field for World Series after nearly $60M in repairs"},"content":{"rendered":"

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. \u2014 Two years after severe damage to Tropicana Field left the Tampa Bay Rays without a roof, the team is back home and playing on baseball\u2019s biggest stage.<\/p>\n

The Rays have reached their third World Series and returned to a renovated Tropicana Field after a turbulent stretch that forced the team to play away from its longtime home.<\/p>\n

Images of the damaged Tropicana Field became familiar across Tampa Bay after pieces of the roof were torn away and scattered across St. Petersburg.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was so so sad,\u201d one person said at the time.<\/p>\n

The Rays spent the following season playing at Steinbrenner Field, the spring training home of the New York Yankees, while work continued at Tropicana Field.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverything has been done with a lot of thought a lot of effort done correctly working collaboratively with the Tampa Bay RAYS Major League Baseball and it hasn\u2019t been easy a lot of back and forth pushing and shoving and lot of giving here,\u201d one person involved in the process said.<\/p>\n

The work eventually allowed the Rays to return home. The inside of Tropicana Field was renovated, and even the stadium\u2019s stingrays returned.<\/p>\n

\u201cShout out to city of St. Pete and all the Tampa area fans for showing out for us for everything we\u2019ve been through,\u201d Rays outfielder Chandler Simpson said.<\/p>\n

A year after missing the playoffs, the Rays made a postseason run that ended with an American League Championship Series victory and a trip to the World Series.<\/p>\n

Now, the Rays face another challenge.<\/p>\n

Tampa Bay return home trailing the Milwaukee Brewers 2-0 in the World Series after consecutive losses in Milwaukee.<\/p>\n

The Rays struck first in Game 2 and built an early four-run lead.<\/p>\n

\u201cLiam Hicks doing some yard work, we go to the second deck in the center, Rays grab a 4-0 lead,\u201d Tampa Bay 28 sportscaster Kevin Lewis said.<\/p>\n

But Milwaukee came back to win 5-4 and take a two-game lead in the series.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd that is how the game ends. Brewers win 5-4 again taking a 2 to nothing lead in the World Series,\u201d Lewis said.<\/p>\n

The deficit adds another obstacle for a Rays team that has already endured two years of upheaval surrounding its home stadium.<\/p>\n

\u201cI completely understand what\u2019s in front of us and what it\u2019s going to take,\u201d a Rays representative said.<\/p>\n

The Rays now return to Tropicana Field looking for their first win of the World Series, with Tampa Bay fans getting their opportunity to welcome the team home on baseball\u2019s biggest stage.<\/p>\n

The estimated cost of repairs to Tropicana Field was about $60 million. The Rays are expected to play at the stadium through 2028.<\/p>\n

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<\/p>\n

Pasco County mom of 5 takes in 3 children left without food or power whose mother faces neglect charges<\/p>\n

Jasmine Young, a mother of 5, opened her home to three neglected girls as their mother faces child neglect charges for leaving them without food, power or water.<\/p>\n

Pasco County mom of 5 takes in 3 children whose mother faces neglect charges<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. \u2014 Two years after severe damage to Tropicana Field left the Tampa Bay Rays without…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":439071,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[89097,171568,112115,29,7496,35702,3074,135,5910,3815,137,136,171569],"class_list":["post-439070","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tampa","tag-brewers","tag-cinderella-story-for-tampa-bay-rays","tag-florida-government-news","tag-florida-news","tag-michael-paluska","tag-milwaukee","tag-sunshine-state-news","tag-tampa","tag-tampa-bay-28","tag-tampa-bay-rays","tag-tampa-headlines","tag-tampa-news","tag-tropicana-field-damaged-hurricane-milton"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/439070","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=439070"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/439070\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/439071"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=439070"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=439070"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=439070"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}