ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Following a second straight American League Championship Series game played in front of numerous empty seats, Tampa Bay Rays CEO Ken Babby complimented the team’s fanbase and addressed complaints about expensive face value ticket prices.

“We are grateful to our fans for their incredible support — they are part of what makes Rays baseball truly special,” Babby said in a written statement to The Athletic. “Our players feel the energy they bring to games, and it has created an exciting atmosphere all season.

“As an organization, we understand how important affordability is, and we have consistently offered a variety of ticket options designed to make Rays baseball accessible. We value our fans’ support and want as many members as possible of our community to attend and help create a true home-field advantage for our team.”

The Rays’ announced attendance for ALCS Game 2 on Tuesday night was 32,125, nearly 8,000 fewer people than the crowd that sold out the Trop for the American League Division Series opener against the Yankees on Oct. 3. There were swaths of concentrated blue empty seats for Game 2, a day after the club also failed to sell out Game 1.

Around game time, the get-in price for upper deck seats on the primary market was $84. Fans said that prices were initially more expensive, leading some to purchase seats from the Rays at a higher cost than they were ultimately sold.

The Rays did not respond to a specific question about how they were addressing fluctuating ticket prices, and if they were reimbursing fans.

Individual clubs are responsible for establishing postseason ticket prices, which MLB has to review and approve.

Read for free: https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7688793/2026/10/14/tampa-bay-rays-alcs-ticket-prices-tropicana-field/?unlocked_article_code=1.IlE.fDlr.GsHTx-x51liT&source=emp_shared_article&smid=url-share-ta

I bet we won’t hear too much from the National media about the attendance of tonight’s game in LA.

After that Dodgers game, maybe cash was onto something about taking Snell out before the third round of the lineup.

Ferg’s Sports Bar is located a block from Tropicana Field. The Rays have been maligned throughout their nearly 30 years in existence for not having an engaged fanbase. But those who did attend games? Before and after, they went to Ferg’s.

On the night Hurricane Milton struck on Oct. 9, 2024, the wind blew and rain poured down. Mark’s son Jake had unsuccessfully implored his father to evacuate. Yet the bar was safe, Mark said, and there was no ditching the business that’s come to represent his family’s name and the baseball team that defined the venue.

In the days before Milton made landfall, it gradually became clear that this was the kind of storm that threatened to change everything. At 2:30 a.m., Ferguson’s wife woke him with the news that it had.

“She said, ‘The roof of the Trop’s gone.’ I said, ‘What are you talking about?’ She said, ‘It’s gone.’ I walked outside, and I saw it blowing in the wind.

“I had no idea what was gonna happen. I was lost,” Ferguson recalled.

The destruction of the Trop’s roof led to the Rays temporarily leaving St. Petersburg in 2025 and set in motion the collapse of plans to build a new stadium there. Those  developments culminated in a newly formed plan to leave St. Petersburg for good in 2029 and relocate to Tampa, across the bay.

Read the rest here for free: https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7688023/2026/10/14/tampa-bay-rays-fergs-bar-playoffs-relocation/?unlocked_article_code=1.IlE.muPG.iodVZZ4jzl1Y&source=emp_shared_article&smid=url-share-ta

Only good thing about an off day is we don’t have to hear “IT DOES NOT HIT THE RING” on every single pop-up.

I miss Dwayne and the real BA.

His wildling celly makes me feel like I can run through a damn brick wall. Dont ever change Bake.

We all know Freddy is fixed now, so my question is: How likely do you guys think it is that he’ll be re-signed after this season?

We know historically the rays don’t tend to make high value, long term deals.

We know Freddy loves pitching for the Rays and has been “treated like a king”

Do yall think between the change in owners and Freddy’s appreciation towards the team that it’s likely they can work something out?

I wanna order his jersey but I’m scared 😅

Rays up from Stonehenge fellow Flappy Bois!!

Let’s hope they get some well deserved rest!

Seems the key to the Rays winning is for me to be so wiped out from Game One, that I fall asleep early and miss Game Two. You’re welcome.

What are your thoughts and what do you think is the strategy behind it? I’m not against it just feel like talking ball.

Rays Up!

I race in an iRacing league that runs the NASCAR Truck Series trucks every Wednesday night. I’ve made it a habit to redesign my paint scheme every week because I get bored of running the same thing all the time. Usually, my scheme is based on some sort of theme that’s local to the track where we’re racing, but nothing stood out to me for this week’s race, so I turned to the Rays for inspiration.

Anyone else going? I swear a few years ago I was the only one there repping Rays. Was seeing if anyone else is making the trip?

For the Downton Abbey fans in Flappy Land, Lord Grantham says, “Steady on, Flappy Bois!”

Taylor Walls and CHANDLER SIMPSON are on the list!

What an amazing turn around for Chandler!!!