Latest news with #SteinbrennerField
New York Times
a day ago
- Sport
- New York Times
Rays will remain at Steinbrenner Field if they host playoff games, commissioner Rob Manfred says
If the Tampa Bay Rays end up hosting any playoff games this fall, they will be at George M. Steinbrenner Field in Tampa, Fla., MLB commissioner Rob Manfred confirmed to reporters on Tuesday afternoon prior to the All-Star Game in Atlanta. Three weeks ago, The Athletic reported that MLB and the Rays had engaged in preliminary conversations about where the team would play home games if it makes the playoffs. The Rays' temporary home of Steinbrenner Field, where the team is playing after Hurricane Milton damaged Tropicana Field, has a capacity of 10,046. Playing at Steinbrenner Field would cause a number of logistical issues if the Rays advanced to the American League Championship Series and World Series, primarily the need for the league to make thousands of tickets available for various stakeholders, diminished gate receipts from a smaller park and challenges for broadcast partners. Manfred acknowledged those concerns on Tuesday, but ultimately said that the potential benefits of moving to a larger, neutral site would not outweigh the potential impact of forcing to Rays to relinquish a potential homefield advantage. 'Our rule has always been that people play in their home stadiums during the World Series. And I'm not of a mind to change that rule,' Manfred told the Tampa Bay Times. 'I understand it's a unique situation. It's different, but that's where they're playing. That's where they're going to play their games.' Advertisement Manfred also told the Tampa Bay Times that there will be discussions about potentially adding seats to expand capacity should the need arise. At the moment, the Rays would not be a playoff team at all. They currently sit a game and a half out of the final AL wild-card spot behind the Seattle Mariners and are in fourth place in the AL East, five and a half games behind the Toronto Blue Jays. Barring any unforeseen delays, the Rays will return to Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Fla., next season.
Yahoo
06-07-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Heriberto Hernandez's solo home run (3)
Brent Rooker blasts first-inning solo home run to put Athletics on top vs. Rays Athletics designated hitter Brent Rooker hit a solo home run in the top of the first inning against the Tampa Bay Rays on Wednesday at Steinbrenner Rooker blasts first-inning solo home run to put Athletics on top vs. Rays originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area 0:27 Now Playing Paused Ad Playing
New York Times
25-06-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
Rays and MLB have held preliminary talks about possible home playoff locations: Sources
As the regular season nears the halfway point, the question of whether the Tampa Bay Rays could host postseason games at cozy Steinbrenner Field in Tampa no longer can be ignored. Major League Baseball and Rays have engaged in preliminary conversations about where the team would play home games if it makes the playoffs, according to officials briefed on the discussions. Advertisement Steinbrenner Field, with its 10,046-seat capacity, could be viable for the wild-card round and Division Series. But logistical concerns might force a move to a larger stadium if the Rays advanced to the American League Championship Series and World Series. Those concerns would include: * The need for the league to make thousands of tickets available to a variety of participants and stakeholders; * The diminished gate receipts from playing in a smaller park, resulting in players receiving reduced postseason shares; * The challenges broadcast partners would face in attempting to pull off their typical postseason productions. The Rays, naturally, would not want to be put at a competitive disadvantage by playing home postseason games at a neutral site – say, Miami's loanDepot park or Atlanta's Truist Park. Steinbrenner Field is scheduled to be their home park only for this season. But since a hurricane last October ripped the roof off Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, the Rays have made it their own. Entering Wednesday, the Rays held the top wild-card position in the American League and trailed the New York Yankees by only one game in the AL East. Their 28-14 record since May 8 was the best in the majors. And one of their weakest offensive positions should grow stronger when shortstop Ha-Seong Kim makes his expected return from right labrum surgery in July. The Rays' surge is not certain to continue. The league front-loaded their home schedule to help the them avoid the summer heat and rain in Florida. To this point, they have played the most home games of any major-league club. Fifty-two of their final 83 games will be on the road. The Rays, though, already have demonstrated they can adjust to changing circumstances, going 16-5 at Steinbrenner since May 19 after an 11-18 start at their temporary home. Their .586 winning percentage on the road entering Wednesday also was higher than their .557 overall mark, which ranked as the fourth best in the AL. Advertisement For the Rays, then, a sixth playoff appearance in seven years is hardly a distant dream. And if they earn home playoff games by winning the AL East or finishing as the top AL wild card, they surely would want to play in front of their home fans at Steinbrenner, where they have sold out 42 of their 50 games. Steinbrenner might be sufficient for the early rounds, even though the league would need to utilize outdoor seating for media it cannot squeeze into a press box that seats only 29. But in later rounds the media contingent would grow larger, and a 10,046-seat park simply would not be big enough for the league to fulfill all of its other obligations. For World Series games, the league sets aside approximately 7,500 tickets for players, umpires, visiting teams, sponsors, broadcast partners, media and others, an MLB source said. The number of tickets the league requires for League Championship Series games is lower, but still could be significant enough to make Steinbrenner Field impractical. Gate receipts, and their impact on players' postseason shares, would be a separate discussion, one that likely would involve the Major League Baseball Players Association. The players' pool includes 60 percent of the gate receipts from postseason games guaranteed to be played – the first two of each wild-card series, the first three of the Division Series and first four of the LCS and World Series. Travel expenses of up to $100,000 per club are deducted for each visiting team in the wild-card round. Members of the World Series champions receive the largest shares. Losers in the wild-card series get the smallest. The gate from postseason games at Steinbrenner Field obviously would be smaller than it would be at a typical major-league park, reducing the size of the players' shares. Then again, Rays home postseason games almost always result in the players receiving less money. Advertisement The main exception was in 2008, the only time the Rays appeared in the ALCS and World Series in front of fans. Their attendance at Tropicana Field that year for each of their final four playoff games was more than 40,000. But in their last postseason appearance at the Trop in 2023, their two wild-card round losses to the Texas Rangers attracted crowds of only 19,704 and 20,198. Neutral-site postseason games might result in higher attendance. But from the players' perspective, any potential bump in the gate might be negated by the increased travel costs for their families, not to mention the loss of home-field advantage the Rays earned. The television broadcasts seemingly would be less of an issue. Fans already are accustomed to watching Yankees spring-training games and Rays regular-season games from Steinbrenner Field. Network productions for the postseason broadcasts, however, are more elaborate. Reaching the standard number of camera positions might require a network to build platforms, run cable for connectivity and yes, purchase seats. Even then, the look would not be the same. The high home camera, the main source of coverage when the ball is play, is quite low at a one-deck stadium like Steinbrenner Field. The netting covers much and at times all of the TV screen. It also features a number of vertical cables that create additional obstructions. Maybe the Rays will fail to make the postseason, and none of these issues will come to pass. Even if they do, the situation likely will be a one-off. The Rays' lease at Tropicana Field runs through 2028, and owner Stuart Sternberg has entered 'exclusive discussions' about a possible sale of the franchise to a group including Jacksonville-based real estate developer Patrick Zalupski. Any new owner almost certainly would push for a new park. For now though, the league and the Rays must deal with the reality created by a natural disaster – the possibility of the postseason games taking place at a spring-training park. Before the season began, Tampa Bay's playoff odds were 37.7 percent. Entering Wednesday, they were 71.2 percent. Come October, a team known for disrupting the sport might provide its craziest wrinkle yet. A public-address announcer bellowing, 'Welcome to the 2025 postseason at Steinbrenner Field!' (Top photo of Steinbrenner Field:)
Associated Press
20-06-2025
- Sport
- Associated Press
Rays pitcher carted off field after foul ball strikes him in dugout
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Tampa Bay Rays pitcher Hunter Bigge was carted off the field in a frightening scene Thursday night after he was struck by a foul ball in the dugout. In the top of the seventh inning, Baltimore Orioles catcher Adley Rutschman fouled a pitch into the Rays' dugout and it hit Bigge, a 27-year-old right-hander currently on the injured list. Emergency medical personnel quickly arrived to attend to Bigge. After several quiet minutes as Rays players knelt in the field, Bigge was placed on a backboard and carted off. Bigge, on the 15-day injured list with a lat strain, gave a thumbs-up gesture as the Steinbrenner Field crowd rose for a standing ovation. The game resumed after an eight-minute delay with Baltimore leading 4-1. ___ AP MLB:
National Post
26-05-2025
- Climate
- National Post
Blue Jays can't take heat. But was it legit excuse for no show against Rays?
In the aftermath of the carnage leading to the Blue Jays latest three-game losing streak, the team is taking some heat about … the heat. Article content Article content Following Sunday's 13-0 defeat to the Tampa Bay Rays on Sunday, the Jays most lop-sided loss of the season, manager John Schneider spoke to media in Florida and lamented about the challenges of playing in excruciating conditions. Article content The game, played at Steinbrenner Field in Tampa in temperatures that topped 32 degrees but would have been significantly higher at field level, was clearly uncomfortable for both teams. Article content Just as apparently, it affected the visitors more. Toronto starter Chris Bassitt appeared to struggle at times, lasting just four-plus innings, wilting through a 25 pitch second inning and never truly recovering in the scorching environment. Article content But was playing in the heat of the Rays temporary home after the roof was blown off Tropicana Field by Hurricane Milton in the winter an excuse? Certainly not a legit one for such a one-sided defeat in a stadium visiting teams have had some success in thus far. Article content 'I think that today was the first time, half way through the game that the environment creeps into your head a little bit,' Schneider told reporters in Tampa following Sunday's non contest. 'It's tough. It's really hot. The environment is just different. Article content 'I don't want to say we're spoiled, but everyone has earned the right to play in the big leagues at a big-league ballpark so I think that creeps in a little bit today.' Article content That was surely frustration combining with an over-heating for the manager, whose team seems incapable of developing any positive traction when it flirts with success. Schneider, by nature, isn't an excuse maker and we're guessing his seat on an air-conditioned charter plane with a cold beverage in front of him couldn't have arrived soon enough after three hours in the cauldron. Article content While it couldn't have been comfortable, Sportsnet studio analyst Joe Siddall wasn't buying it as a rationale after watching the Jays getting blown out in the minor league stadium that also serves as the New York Yankees spring training venue. Article content 'Can we stop talking about the heat?' Siddall said on the Fan Morning Show with Ben Ennis and Brent Gunning on Monday. 'It's Florida in May … everybody knew it was going to be hot. Everybody knew all season long when the Rays played at home it wasn't going to be great. Article content 'I can't stand hearing about the heat. The other teams (visiting the Rays this season) seemed to be able to put the ball over the fence. You can't get caught up in that stuff.'
