Rays Grounds Crew Had Its Hands Full Moving Back Into Tropicana Field

BusinessSportsMoneyRays Grounds Crew Had Its Hands Full Moving Back Into Tropicana FieldByTom Layberger,Contributor.Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. I write about college football and sports in the Tampa Bay region.Follow AuthorMay 25, 2026, 10:30pm EDTST. PETERSBURG, FL - Repairs underway at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg on January 28, 2026. (Davida Franklin/Tampa Bay Rays)The scene was surreal as Dan Moeller watched the claw of a machine grab large pieces of turf that were dumped into a container and hauled away after only one season of ground balls, diving fielders and sliding baserunners. “It was a very weird feeling because it was brand new turf that year,” said Moeller, who has been employed by the Rays since 1997, one year before the club’s maiden season, and has been in charge of the grounds crew since 2001. “There was this big piece of equipment that ripped up the turf, shook it to get some of the backfill out, and dropped it into a container to be hauled away.”Another strange feeling for Moeller was the need for sunglasses inside what Hurricane Milton rendered an open-air Tropicana Field thanks to the storm’s devastation. The venue’s interior was exposed to the elements for more than a year before the 24th and final roof panel was installed last November.Not only did a playing surface installed prior to the 2024 season receive quite a dousing from what remained of Milton’s wrath after the roof was torn off the evening of October 9, 2024 – nearby Albert Whitted Airport reported a top wind gust of 101 mph and close to 19 inches of rain during a 24-hour period -- but rainfall over the next 13 months provided quite a beating as well to a field without drainage. “There were times over the summer when the drains were clogged,” Moeller recalled, referring to drainage in the tunnels leading to the dugouts. “I was (at the Trop) one day during the summer when we got about three inches of rain. Water was flowing out over the f...