Home away from home just got a little too real for the Tampa Bay Rays. After Hurricane Milton forced them out of Tropicana Field last season, the Rays are finally back in their own building for the ALDS. But home-field advantage only means so much when the other team’s fans are loud enough to make it feel neutral.
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That is exactly what Cam Schlittler seems to be expecting. Tampa Bay averaged just 17,468 fans per game during the regular season, while the Yankees ranked second in MLB with an average attendance of 41,739. With New York fans known for traveling well and the Yankees already having deep roots in Tampa through spring training, Schlittler made it clear that he does not expect Tropicana Field to feel like much of a road environment at all.
“I wouldn’t say there’s really too much of an away crowd here. I expect there to be a lot of Yankees fans,” Cam Schlittler told the reporters when asked about pitching at Tropicana Field, per Foul Territory. “In some ways, you are, to an extent, kind of playing at home. I feel like the guys are excited to have that atmosphere here.”
The Yankees may be the road team in Games 1 and 2 of the ALDS, but Cam Schlittler does not expect Tropicana Field to feel completely hostile.
There is history behind that confidence. New York first held spring training in St. Petersburg in 1925, and by 1928, 270,000 fans had attended Yankees spring games there. The connection returned in the 1990s, when the Yankees established their Tampa minor-league affiliate in 1994 and made Tampa their spring-training home in 1996.
That footprint is still visible today. George M. Steinbrenner Field remains the Yankees’ spring-training base, while the Tampa Tarpons continue as their Single-A affiliate. Aaron Judge, Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera are among the notable Yankees names tied to that Tampa system.
But Rays fans are pushing back this time. The upper deck has been opened, increasing capacity to 31,042, and the game is sold out. Even Kevin Cash, who has managed Tampa Bay since 2015, admitted the turnout surprised him.
“I don’t know, since I’ve been here, that I’ve seen it,” Cash reportedly said Friday.
That is a major contrast from Tampa Bay’s recent postseason history. Game 1 of the 2023 AL Wild Card Series against Texas drew just 19,704 fans, the lowest attendance for a non-COVID postseason game since Game 7 of the 1919 World Series.
Schlittler expects plenty of pinstripes in the building, but Rays fans have already made their presence felt by booing the Yankees during introductions. For once, the Trop may not be so easy for New York to turn into a home away from home.