A look inside the Tampa Bay Rays' 120-hour makeover of the Yankees' Steinbrenner Field

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Junior Caminero opened the narrow white door in his new spacious locker and the Tampa Bay third baseman discovered a bat Giancarlo Stanton left behind.

Down the row at the other prestigious corner stall, pitcher Shane Baz had no idea he was in Aaron Judge's spring training abode.

“I haven't found anything yet,” he said. “I'll take anything.”

Left homeless after Hurricane Milton destroyed the Tropicana Field roof on Oct. 9, the Rays began their season as renters at Steinbrenner Field, the spring training headquarters for the New York Yankees. They beat the Colorado Rockies 3-2 when rookie Kameron Misner broke a tie leading off the ninth inning with his first major league home run.

“Talk about the wind. Talk about wearing sunglasses at a home opener. It was a little strange early on,” Rays manager Kevin Cash said. “I’ve got my notes and different thoughts and the winds whipping in the dugout and, yeah, it's just not a factor that we’re accustomed to. Shadows, not accustomed to that, at home at least.”

Tampa Bay replaced more than 3,000 signs and images in the ballpark during a 120-hour makeover after the Yankees' final home spring training game ended Sunday at 3:33 p.m. By the time of Friday's first pitch at 4:10 p.m. before a sellout crowd of 10,046 on a sunny 82-degree afternoon, banners spelling “R-A-Y-S” covered the “Y-A-N-K-E-E-S” signs above the first- and third-base stands and large photos of Shane McClanahan and Taj Bradley were on the back of the scoreboard, visible to cars driving in.

An interlocking “NY” chandelier in the spacious Rays clubhouse was covered with a square canvas highlighting the Rays' yellow, Columbia blue and white starburst with “Home of the Rays” written on each side. The replica of the Yankee Stadium frieze above each stall was concealed, too, and a mat with white “TB” letters was on the floor leading to the showers, obscuring tile the read “The Bronx” and “New York,” meant to emulate a subway.

Clubhouse staff found a touchpad and changed the 12 thin ceiling lights imitating Yankees pinstripes from white to deep blue.

Misters were installed in the dugouts and bench padding was replaced along with the bat and helmet racks.

But there were reminders this was a ballpark built for spring training's expanded rosters — most Rays had two lockers. Just 39 of 77 stalls were occupied, including 25 of the 51 ringing the walls.

“New York Yankees executive offices” was etched in the doors of an office entrance, and the statue of late Yankees owner George Steinbrenner and the display of New York's retired numbers outside the ballpark remained unaltered. Yankees logos were in place at the end of each row in the seating bowl and while “TB” replaced a Yankees sign atop the scoreboard, the letters “George M. Steinbrenner Field” remained underneath.

Their locker room repurposed as the visitor manager's office, umpires were moved to a trailer more than 100 feet beyond the left field corner, near a city street.

Rays players luxuriated in facilities far more lavish than the ones they were accustomed to in the Trop: a two-level weight area, three therapy pools with TVs at water level, sauna red-light therapy, four batting cages and an indoor/outdoor dining area.

“It’s almost too much,” said pitcher Zack Littell, prepping for his start Saturday. “There’s so much space. I think if you had to complain about something, you have to walk a really long way to get places.”

Some players switched their season rentals from the St. Petersburg side of the bay to the Tampa flank, shortening their commute. Cash said his 10-minute trek to the Trop was now a 30-minute drive.

When he opened a drawer in his new desk, Cash came across a handwritten note from counterpart Aaron Boone.

“He just said: `Enjoy it. You guys, hope to have good health,'" Cash recounted, expressing appreciation.

“This one was pretty classy. Some of the things that Tito leaves is not so classy,” he said, referring playfully to new Cincinnati manager Terry Francona.

While the visitors' clubhouse is cramped, it is not uncomfortable. Extra space was created by moving the trainer's room to what had been storage space.

“They’ve done everything they can to make this feel like a big league park,” Colorado's Kris Bryant said.

Tampa Bay has played 2,148 games at the Trop, including the postseason, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. The Rays' previous outdoor home games were a pair of series at Kissimmee, Florida, in 2007 and ’08, games against the Yankees moved to New York’s Citi Field in 2017 and in San Diego during the 2020 neutral-site postseason.

Last year's schedule at St. Petersburg's Tropicana Field averaged just 16,515, 28th among the 30 teams, and opening day was the only sellout. The Rays withdrew this month from a deal for a proposed new ballpark on a site adjacent to the Trop, and Major League Baseball will be watching closely to help determine if there would be an attendance advantage to a new stadium on the Tampa side of the bay, such as a proposed Ybor City site.

“We want the stadium here. I hate going across the bridge,” said Tom Eifrid, who was at the game with his wife, Kim, and has attended every Rays home opener since 2007. Eifrid lives in Hillsborough County, goes to about 10 games per season and said it took him 30 minutes to drive to Steinbrenner Field vs. an hour and 20 minutes to the Trop.

Given the intimate atmosphere of the one-deck, 34-row ballpark. the Rays are expecting fireworks — actual fireworks are to be set off following home runs during night games.

“I know a much smaller capacity here but it will feel like a much-more packed house,” Rays infielder Taylor Walls said. “We're excited to play in front of our fans here, in front of the fans of Tampa, maybe even Orlando that now get a chance to commute to the game.”

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