Latest news with #SteinbrennerField
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.'
Forbes
11-05-2025
- Climate
- Forbes
Tampa Bay Rays Had First-Ever Home Rain Delay In Game No. 27 At Steinbrenner Field
Two days after the Rays were swept in a three-game series by the Phillies for the third time in as many years and in as many cities – St. Pete, Philly and Tampa – yet another first took place during this unique 2025 season. It is unique thanks to Mother Nature delivering a wallop to Florida's Gulf Coast last October in the form of Hurricane Milton, a pounding that included tearing apart the roof of Tropicana Field. With the club playing its 81-game home schedule at Steinbrenner Field in Tampa, a popular topic of discussion was the timing of the first rain delay. That question was answered Saturday afternoon before Taj Bradley uncorked the first pitch to Milwaukee's Jackson Chourio, though 'weather' delay as opposed to 'rain' delay was more appropriate given not a drop of rain fell as the tarp was placed on the field a little after 3:00 and the start time pushed back from 4:10 to 4:37. The Rays announced prior to the season that commemorative 'First Rays Rain Delay' ponchos would be given to all fans who cared to have one when the first drop of precipitation fell. Like champagne that remains on ice waiting for corks to pop, the ponchos remained in cardboard boxes until the 27th game at Steinbrenner, or exactly the one-third mark of the home schedule. Indeed, a byproduct of the Rays moving outdoors was a front-loaded slate that featured 19 of the first 22 games at home and 37 of 58 by the time June rolls along. The purpose of such scheduling was to avoid, at least as much as possible, uncomfortable summer conditions that include pop-up thunderstorms that could send fans scrambling with little notice. Hence, there are only eight dates at Steinbrenner in July and August. The sight of fans putting on their ponchos when rain actually fell during the home team's half of the fifth inning, resulting in a 38-minute delay, was a sight never before seen at a Rays' regular season home or playoff game. That includes playing a series in Orlando in May 2007 against the Rangers and in April 2008 versus the Blue Jays. 'I remained in the dugout the whole time,' said Bradley, who had to wait about 50 minutes between pitches when considering the rain delay plus the fact he was in the dugout for about 10 minutes with his teammates batting when the clouds opened up. '(Pitching coach Kyle Snyder) came up with a routine like we were starting the game over.' The 24-year-old righthander said it was the first time as a big leaguer that he had to wait out a weather delay. Indeed, neither of his 26 career road starts were interrupted in such a manner. Head groundskeeper Dan Moeller and his crew went into action like it never had to at the Trop in rolling out the tarp for the first time at Steinbrenner Field. The tarp initially did not stay on long, perhaps 15 minutes. It was a different story in the fifth inning when rain finally arrived. 'I was very excited to watch an indoor grounds crew pull the tarp,' said Pete Fairbanks, who got the win when Travis Jankowski drove in Kameron Wisner to walk it off in the ninth, 3-2. 'I was very excited to see that and I thought they did a great job. They were out there ready to roll.'
Forbes
06-05-2025
- Sport
- Forbes
Tampa Bay Rays ‘Can't Just Blame' Steinbrenner Field For Home Woes
Tampa Bay Rays' Brandon Lowe bats against the Colorado Rockies during the eighth inning of a ... More baseball game Friday, March 28, 2025, in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara) Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. While the atmosphere at Steinbrenner Field has been wonderful to this point in the 2025 season, the home team's inability to cross the plate in its temporary place of residence has been a major issue. Examples of the Rays' run-scoring difficulties include being blanked four times in a seven-game span at home. During that stretch they went 1-for-18 with runners in scoring position in a three-game series sweep at the hands of the visiting Royals, a series in which the Rays scored three runs. Tampa Bay (16-18) heads into a six-game homestand that begins Tuesday evening against the Phillies having scored three runs or less in seven of its last eight at home. The outlier was a 10-8 win in 10 innings against the Yankees, a game the Rays trailed 8-4 heading into their half of the ninth. Since opening the season by winning four of their first five against Colorado and Pittsburgh, the Rays are a dismal 5-12 at 1 Steinbrenner Drive. A constant and often stiff breeze has rendered many seemingly deep drives to left field and center field nothing more than routine fly outs. Conversely, the ball has unquestionably carried well to right field with a handful of homers having disappeared over the wall near a foul pole that is all of 314 feet away, just like Yankees Stadium. In fact, the ballpark's dimensions, including 318 to left and 408 to center, are the same as those in the Bronx. The elements are something the Rays, of course, never had to deal with while playing their first 27 seasons indoors at Tropicana Field. Alas, Steinbrenner Field and Mother Nature can play havoc with those in the home clubhouse who are navigating the 81-game home schedule. 'It's not an easy place to hit, by any means,' said second baseman Brandon Lowe, the longest-tenured member of the Rays. 'I'm sure everybody thinks that it's just like Yankee Stadium, and it's not. The wind blows in almost every single game. It's hard to see at night. And it's kind of proven to be a little more difficult than people were originally thinking.' Steinbrenner Field had new lights installed prior to spring training 2023. The Yankees have played plenty of Grapefruit League games at night, so it's nothing new. What could make a difference is the lights are not as high in the smaller park, though everything is up to MLB standard. The wind, and adjusting to it, has been a much larger issue. 'The park has been a big factor,' said bench coach Rodney Linares, in his seventh season on manager Kevin Cash's staff. 'A lot of guys talk about going the other way (to right field) because the ball travels that way, and a lot of guys, they go away from their strengths sometimes. You can see the difference (when we play on the road). It has been a little challenging.' Speaking of the road, the Rays have fared well on their last two trips going a combined 7-2 at Arizona, San Diego, where they caught the Padres at the right time given the many injuries that Mike Shildt's club was dealing with at the time, and Yankee Stadium. True, the Rays scored more than four runs in only three of those games while they were shut out once. Yet, it is clear the lineup and its approach has been better on the road. 'It's puzzling, but that's baseball at times,' said Cash, whose team has hit only 21 homers in 22 home games. 'I don't have an explanation. It's frustrating and it's irritating.' The Rays banged out 16 hits in a 7-5 win over the Yankees on Sunday to take two of three from their division rival in the Bronx. Carryover is needed for a team hungry to pick up the pace at home where it is averaging exactly four runs per game (88 runs, 22 games), and a paltry 3.6 when the aforementioned extra-inning win against the Yankees and a 16-1 mauling of the Red Sox on April 14 are excluded. 'Obviously, we've got to be better,' said Lowe. 'We can't just blame the (ballpark) for not scoring runs, but we're going to have to figure it out here soon.'
