The celebration was largely subdued in the home clubhouse at Tropicana Field, mostly because this has become commonplace for the Tampa Bay Rays. They clinched a postseason berth for the third consecutive season, and instead of going wild and spraying champagne, they held just a champagne toast, and decided to instead focus on the next task at hand: winning the American League East title.
After the toast, manager Kevin Cash and a number of players came back into the dugout to speak with us about getting back to baseball’s “second season.” Click below to watch the conversations!
Steve Carney is the founder and publisher of St. Pete Nine. One of the people most associated with baseball coverage in Tampa Bay, he spent 13 seasons covering the Rays for flagship radio station WDAE, first as producer of Rays Radio broadcasts, then as beat reporter beginning in 2011. He likes new analytics and aged bourbon, and is the owner of one of the ugliest knuckleballs ever witnessed by baseball scouts.
