What a night for the entire @RaysBaseball organization @ all of #forTampaBay. Cashy says one more bite & Yandy is still hungry! #RaysUp see you in Milwaukee and back STRONG at the Trop next week!
I’ve spent my entire life loving a franchise that has grown up right alongside me since 1998.
And in a strange way, so much of that love was shaped by the uncertainty that surrounded it.
There were relocation threats. The split-city proposal. Years of wondering whether the Rays would still have a home here at all. And every time the future felt a little less certain, I found myself holding on a little tighter.
I held tighter to the baseball, of course. But also to the memories with my family. To the comfort of knowing that, for six months out of the year, there was a game waiting for me almost every night. To the pride of loving a team that represents the place I have always called home.
That uncertainty never made me love the Rays less. It made me understand just how much they meant to me.
I am deeply grateful to an ownership group (@PZalupski, @kenbabby, @Bill_Cosgrove) that came in, believed in Tampa Bay and, in less than a year, helped accomplish what so many people have worked toward for decades. And I’m grateful for the countless people (many of whom will never receive the public credit they deserve) who kept pushing, negotiating, building relationships and believing there was a way to make this happen.
For those of us who have spent years showing up, defending this team and believing in what Rays baseball could be here, today is proof that none of it was wasted.
Now comes the best part: getting to build what’s next. I’ll do everything I can to make sure the belief placed in this fanbase and this community is rewarded.
#RaysUp, forever.
Humbled by this incredible community. On behalf of @PZalupski@Bill_Cosgrove and our full Ownership group, thank you, Tampa Bay! Now the real work begins! @RaysBaseball