Tampa Bay Rays Celebrate Return To Tropicana Field With A Win

ST. PETERSBURG, FL - Members of the Tampa Bay Rays line up along the base path prior to the game between the Chicago Cubs and the Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field on Monday, April 6, 2026 in St. Petersburg, Florida. (Photo by Mike Carlson/MLB Photos via Getty Images)

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It was a landmark day in Tampa Bay sports history on March 31, 1998 when Wilson Alvarez threw the first pitch to Detroit’s Brian Hunter in the then-Devil Rays’ inaugural game. While Monday afternoon’s home opener was not on that level, there was no lack of pomp and circumstance and whistles and bells. After all, it had been 561 days since Tropicana Field hosted a baseball game.

The Rays played the 2025 season at Steinbrenner Field in Tampa after the Trop sustained major damage from Hurricane Milton in October 2024. Monday marked the unveiling of the tremendous work performed by all involved in repairing the venue so that the home team could be at home again.

The fact the Rays defeated the Cubs, 6-4, only added to a festive day that included Tampa mayor Jane Castor and St. Petersburg mayor Ken Welch throwing out ceremonial first pitches. Well before those tosses, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis was pitching to his son down the right field line. Seven-time Academy of Country Music Award winner, Eric Church, performed the national anthem.

“I thought it was done really, really well,” said manager Kevin Cash, who won his 900th game Sunday in Minnesota. “A lot of credit to Ken in putting this together. It is an important day for baseball and certainly an important day for Rays baseball. It was unique. Teams don’t go through what we have gone through the last year and a half. Very well done. It was cool.”

Cash referred to the team’s CEO, Ken Babby, who is part of a new ownership group that took over in September 2025 and would like to have a new stadium in Tampa for the 2029 season. The group is headed by Jacksonville-based Patrick Zalupski, co-founder of Dream Finders Homes. Babby, a former executive at the Washington Post, owned the Double-A Akron RubberDucks (Cleveland) and Triple-A Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp (Miami). He sold both clubs in December.

“When I walked into this building for the first time, I myself wondered if baseball would ever be played here again,” said Babby, when meeting with the media prior to the game. “For our staff, for the city, for the community and for our fans, this is a true homecoming.”

Tampa Bay Rays players soak in atmosphere

Junior Caminero made his MLB debut at Tropicana Field on September 23, 2023. Between his cameo at the end of that season and a roughly six-week stint to close out 2024 when he expired his rookie eligibility, the now-22-year-old third baseman played 20 games (including the 2023 AL Wild Card) under the dome prior to Monday. Since the Rays played their 81-game home schedule across the bay in Tampa last year, Caminero had yet to experience a home opener in St. Pete.

“I felt really comfortable the second I walked in,” said the third baseman, through Rays’ interpreter Kevin Vera, prior to Monday’s game. “Obviously, we played at Steinbrenner last year and we were thankful for the opportunity the Yankees gave us. But this is our home. Tropicana has always been our home, so it’s super exciting for every single one of us to be here. We are grateful to be back.”

Tampa Bay fans who roared when Caminero was introduced during pregame ceremonies were grateful for the young star rising to the occasion in the third inning when he launched a 401-foot homer deep into the left field seats off Chicago’s Jameson Taillon. The blast, a solo shot, gave the home team a 4-2 lead.

“The way the fans support the guys is amazing,” Caminero said, in English, after the game. “It’s amazing to come back to Tropicana.”

First baseman Jonathan Aranda beat Caminero by two feet when his two-run shot into the right field seats in the seventh inning gave the Rays a 6-3 lead. So much of Tampa Bay’s offense, and certainly the power, needs to come from the corner infield spots that Caminero and the 27-year-old Aranda hold down. To see both go deep on an overall memorable homecoming of sorts for the sold-out crowd of 25,114, the players who were with the Rays prior to last season and the community beyond the walls of the Trop was like a cherry on top of a delicious day.

“It was just great to feel the fans and have them here,” Aranda said via Vera. “With everything that the stadium went through, obviously, it was just a great feeling. Just to hear the roar, have them here, have their support and have their love, it makes things great for us.”

Sure, it was only one game and one day in a string 162 of them. Yet, as the scoreboard noted prior to the game, “We tip our cap to those who made this day possible.”

This article was originally published on Forbes.com

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