ST. PETERSBURG -- Ken Welch was stationed at the city’s emergency operations center as Hurricane Milton bore down on the Tampa Bay area, monitoring about 20 screens as city officials tracked the second straight storm to strike Florida’s Gulf Coast in the fall of 2024.
One video feed was from a camera capturing Tropicana Field as heavy winds amid pouring rain ripped the white roof off of the Rays’ longtime home. Pieces of the Teflon-coated fiberglass fabric fell into the seating bowl below while others scattered onto the surrounding streets. The storm left the inside of the dome exposed to the elements, a shocking and upsetting representation of the devastation those back-to-back storms unleashed upon St. Petersburg and the broader Tampa Bay area.
“It was surrealistic,” Welch, the mayor of St. Petersburg since January 2022, said in a phone interview with MLB.com. “The weather was so bad, the rain was falling, and it looked like something out of a horror film or a sci-fi film -- kind of post-apocalyptic.”
It felt like the end of something. Tropicana Field was arguably outdated as soon as it opened during the Devil Rays’ inaugural 1998 season, often ridiculed for its cavernous interior and catwalks and typically only in the national narrative when noting Tampa Bay’s below-average attendance. The Rays have long been in pursuit of a long-term home, and the storms ultimately led to Tampa Bay’s previous ownership group backing out of a deal for a new ballpark on that site.
But it wasn’t the end.
Two years and 17 days after Hurricane Milton struck, as the Rays’ new ownership group moves forward with plans for a “Forever Home” opening in 2029 in Tampa, the rebuilt Tropicana Field will host a World Series game on Monday night for the first time in 18 years.
“I think when you look back on the last year, from the storms to the rebuilding of the building, it's really symbolic in terms of what the community has gone through. Many folks lost their homes, had to rebuild their homes, their communities, get their lives re-established,” Rays CEO Ken Babby said. “So to see that through our hometown baseball team and to see the city rise to the occasion, and then to celebrate the best home record in baseball this year, it's all very fitting of the community's resilience.”
That was the same word Welch used, calling The Trop “a great symbol of resilience.” The city was contractually obligated to fix the ballpark, with the St. Petersburg City Council approving nearly $60 million for the project, but at one point Rays leadership discouraged the idea, thinking the repairs couldn’t be done at that price or in time for the team to return this season.
But under the guidance of Beth Herendeen from the city development administration and city architect Raul Quintana, they got it done. Baseball returned to Tropicana Field on April 6, when Babby dubbed The Trop a “great American comeback story,” perhaps foreshadowing the Rays’ on-field turnaround, too.
“They got it done on time, under budget and ready for the ‘26 season, and the rest is history,” Welch said. “It's an amazing story.”
It would become even more memorable if the Rays can make the ballpark a main character as they host the Brewers in Game 3 of the World Series on Monday night. They’ve only won once at their home ballpark in the Fall Classic, Game 2 against the Phillies in 2008, because the 2020 World Series was played at the neutral-site Globe Life Field in Arlington.
Down 2-0 in this Series, the Rays are hoping to enjoy three more nights under their domed roof.
The Rays definitely had “dome-field advantage” in the regular season, matching Milwaukee with identical 55-26 records at home, but it has reached another level in the postseason. Tampa Bay is 4-1 this month on its artificial home turf, and the Rays have opened the upper deck while averaging 37,697 fans in those five games.
Rays manager Kevin Cash and players have raved about the impact of their fans at The Trop this month. Cash called Tampa Bay’s fan support “second to none in this postseason run.” Welch, who attended the 2008 World Series with his father, said he had “never” heard the ballpark as loud as it was against the Yankees in the American League Division Series.
“It's a different vibe. The Yankees don't own Tropicana Field anymore,” Welch said. “Maybe you didn't see that 20 years ago, but you certainly see it now.
“In its twilight years, yeah, The Trop is better than ever before, and it's really become a rallying point for Tampa Bay fans.”
With the spotlight shining on The Sunshine City and all it’s overcome over the past two years, the Rays are expecting more of the same this week.
“Our fans have been great, and we're going to need them to continue to be great through the World Series,” Babby said. “They've risen to the occasion, just like the team on the field, and we expect Tropicana Field to be raucous next week with cowbells and noise and fans on their feet screaming, welcoming our team back home for the first World Series games back in Tropicana Field since 2008.”