My Two Cents: Live From Tampa, It's Landlords vs. Tenants, And I'm Fine With That

TAMPA, Fla. — The New York Yankees do everything with class, so it's no surprise that Steinbrenner Field and everything adjacent to it is one of the nicest spring training facilities in baseball. If there had to be a Plan B for the Rays after Hurricane Milton destroyed Tropicana Field, this is a pretty good one.

Playing home games outdoors for the first time in 28 years? It's different, for sure, but I like it, at least in April when it's dry every day and still not oppressively hot. And transforming all the NY logos to TB's, well that was an amazing few days of work by frantic construction crews after the Yankees left in late March and the Rays moved in a few days later for Opening Day.

It was just baseball when Colorado and Pittsburgh were here to take on the Rays in Week 1, and it was same with the Los Angeles Angels, who agreed with MLB to switch a summer-time series to April to have better weather.

It was even normal to see the Boston Red Sox here earlier this week, especially late in games when Rays fans and Sox fans joined together to chant ''Yankees suck'' louder and louder with each repetitive verse.

But this weekend is completely different because the Yankees themselves are here to play the Rays, and for the Bronx Bombers and their entire traveling party, every thing is different. It's a different parking lot, diiferent faces entering the stadium, left turns down the hallway to the locker room — which is substantially smaller, by the way — instead of a right.

Different dugouts and bullpens, too, of course. They are the visitors after all, the strangers, even in their own home.

"I bumped into (Rays manager) Kevin Cash walking in, and I bumped into some Rays players," New York manager Aaron Boone said Thursday afternoon "I don't know if surreal is the right word, but it's definitely a little bit odd and I'm sure once the game starts and looking around the stadium and all that, it's real. It's a real game, but we're ready to go."

The four-game series opened on Thursday night with a 6-3 Yankees victory, and in the big picture, that's what matters. The Rays hanging out in the Yankees' 50,000-square foot luxury clubhouse means nothing once the two teams cross the white lines.

It's still two bitter American League East rivals duking it out. They don't like each other much, but it's also a healthy respect. Boone was kind enough to leave Cash a ''nice'' bottle of tequila in his manager's office when he left for the spring.

Not easy on the fans, though

Even in a normal season, Yankees-Rays games at the Trop were always full of transplanted New Yorkers and visitors every game. Crowds that were split 50/50 weren't rare at all, and it's safe to assume that's an apt number for Thursday night's game, too. Yankees fans were everywhere, and they acted like they owned the place.

Which they do.

There were a lot of Rays fans whining on social media about all the noise from the Yankees rooters Thursday night, but that's just too damn bad. It's like going to Grandma's house for Easter dinner — and complaining that Grandpa is there.

This is their house, their stadium, their team. The Rays, they are simply the tenants. Of course the Yankees fans were going to buy tickets, regardless of the cost. Rays fans gladly sold them for big profits, too, so if you want to point fingers, Rays season-ticket holders here can be considered culprits, too.

It's hard, I know, to sit with Yankees fans — especially when they're winning. But for six games at Steinbrenner Field this season — the other two are Aug. 19-20 — we all just have to get along.

As well we should. It's making the most of a bad situation, and this works out pretty well. Mother Nature — like Father Time — is undefeated. It could have been worse, much worse. This is really nice.

Give the Steinbrenner family credit

The images were devastating on Oct. 9, 2024 when the winds from Category 3 Milton sheared the teflon roof right off the top of Tropicana Field. St. Petersburg got 19 inches of rain — including 5.09 inches in a single hour. All that rain and wind did substantial damage inside the ballpark as well, because there is no drainage. It's an indoor facility.

Immediate and long-term damage assessments made it fairly clear early that there was no way the Rays could play at the Trop on 2025. Reports said Rays officials made a list of all possible options that was 50 names long. But when it was apparent that things could work here in Tampa with the Yankees, this became the target zone.

For everyone involved, they are all glad this is working out. And I mean everyone.

“We are grateful and thankful to them, which is a funny thing to say, for allowing us to use the facility,’’ said Rays pitcher Drew Rasmussen, who is starting Friday night's game. “But as far as the regular season goes, this is our home, not theirs.’’

Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner pulled right into his usual parking spot on Thursday and watched batting practice from the Yankees' ''other'' dugout. It had to be a different night for him, too.

The Steinbrenner family deserves a lot of credit for making this happen. Sure, the Rays and Yankees are rivals, but the Steinbrenners have called Tampa Bay home, too, since the 1970s. It means a lot to be able to help out their community. This is home for them, too.

And we always have to make sure we give them credit for getting this done. They could have been jerks about it. They weren't.

So we'll enjoy the weekend, and make all the proper turns in each hallway and walkway. It's still Rays-Yankees baseball, and it's the game that still matters the most.

This is a very good deal. For many of us in northern Pinellas County, this is actually an easier ride, by a few minutes.

So grab a seat next to that Yankees fan and enjoy the game. Heck, maybe even buy them a beer — and tell them the Red Sox suck.

Because they do.