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Greg Wyshynski, ESPN
What’s the difference between the NHL Stadium Series and the Winter Classic, besides their spots on the calendar?
Steve Mayer, the NHL’s chief content officer, has said there’s an aesthetic difference between the two.
“The Winter Classic is more traditional, historic. It’s got that touch of snow — whether it’s real or fake,” he said. “The Stadium Series is a little more modern. Colorful, graphic-oriented, interactive.”
But there’s also a spiritual difference. The Winter Classic is usually marinated in nostalgia. Mayer said the Stadium Series — in execution, venue and participants — can be a bit more “progressive” by comparison.
“It’s where we do a lot of future thinking,” he said.
That thinking has produced some of the most memorable outdoor games in NHL history during the Stadium Series, which began in 2014 and continues this weekend at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, NJ, as the New Jersey Devils face the Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday night (8 p.m. ET, ABC/ESPN+) and the New York Rangers play the New York Islanders on Sunday afternoon (3 p.m. ET, ABC/ESPN+).
But not every Stadium Series game has hit the bullseye, usually for reasons outside of the NHL’s control.
Here’s a subjective ranking of the Stadium Series games and their relative greatness. We’ve assigned a score of 1 to 10 in four categories for each outdoor game. There’s environment, which covers the novelty of the venue and the elements that challenged teams during the game; there’s hype, which covers the buzz leading up to the Stadium Series, as well as the allure of the teams involved; there’s the game itself, and whether it was competitive, boring or rendered unwatchable by the conditions; and finally style, as we consider how good the teams looked in their Stadium Series gear.
We’re counting down from 13 to 1, beginning with a trip to the State of Hockey:
Environment: 5
Hype: 4
Game: 3
Style: 5
The Wild had lobbied the NHL for a Winter Classic for several seasons before getting a Stadium Series game at the home of the Minnesota Golden Gophers. It was a celebration of Minnesota hockey, including a North Stars alumni game held on the eve of the Stadium Series. Soul Asylum played! The fans spelled out “Let’s play hockey!” before the game in the upper and lower deck. It snowed!
The Wild were in an interesting place when this game was played. They fired head coach Mike Yeo eight days before the Stadium Series, turning the bench over to interim coach John Torchetti. After looking like a lost season, their win against the Blackhawks was their fourth in a row. Torchetti would go 15-11-1 and the Wild would lose in the first round, as is tradition.
This Stadium Series edition was one of those outdoor games that meant a lot more to the fans attending it and the home team playing in it than it did to NHL fandom writ large. The home of Golden Gophers football isn’t exactly iconic. Fans were getting a bit of Blackhawks fatigue, to the point where the 6-1 thumping the Wild put on them didn’t even offer that much catharsis. Or a reason to stay invested as it was 3-0 just 23 minutes into the game.
The Wild took a really pedestrian route with their sweaters for this one, a bit of a throwback to the old home jerseys the Wild wore until about 2007, except this time they had wide white shoulders breaking up the design. The Blackhawks’ sweaters were miles better, with interesting striping, a collar that shouted out the Chicago city flag and a black yoke around the top that the team said was “a visual representation of the city’s nickname, the ‘City of Big Shoulders.'” And there’s nothing we like more than designers justifying aesthetic choices with historic minutia.
Environment: 4
Hype: 3
Game: 3
Style: 8
To help create more buzz for the Stadium Series, the NHL began a partnership with the U.S. military to hold outdoor games at service academies. That immediately led to speculation that the New York Rangers’ long gestating game at West Point could come to fruition. Instead, it led to an odd matchup between the Capitals and Maple Leafs, whose “rivalry” consisted of one first-round playoff series in the previous season, albeit a tightly played one.
This game carried a lot of meaning locally for Washington fans and personally for Capitals owner Ted Leonsis, whose father served in the Navy. But the stadium’s capacity (34,000) was much smaller than other NHL outdoor venues, and it didn’t have much of their unique character, either.
The Capitals had a 3-1 lead after the first period and a 5-2 lead after two periods. The third period will be remembered for a power outage at the stadium with 10 minutes remaining that suspended play for nearly 20 minutes. Because of that delay, the conclusion of the game was moved from broadcast to cable television in the U.S.
One thing this game got right were the jerseys. The Capitals rocked dark blue sweaters that had “CAPS” in lowercase letters under the three stars of the D.C. flag. The Maple Leafs went full yeti, wearing white helmets, white gloves, white pants with a white logo on the front of a white jersey. The only things breaking up the snowdrift were blue letters and numbers, some outlining on the logo and two stripes across the chest. Easily one of the most memorable Stadium Series fits.
Environment: 7
Hype: 3
Game: 4
Style: 6
Tom Dundon had wanted an outdoor game for the Hurricanes since taking over as owner in 2018. He had to wait a little longer as the COVID-19 pandemic postponed the team’s game at N.C. State University, but the wait was over in 2023.
While not an iconic location, Carter-Finley Stadium did provide ample room for epic tailgating, which is the Hurricanes fans’ specialty. The Capitals were a good choice for an opponent, not only as a current division rival but throwing back to the days of the old Southeast Division. Unfortunately, the Capitals’ biggest star — Alex Ovechkin — missed the game. He took leave from the team to attend his father’s funeral in Moscow.
Shorthanded and spiraling down the standings, the Capitals were beaten convincingly by the Hurricanes to the delight of Carolina’s fans, which included a standing room only student section near the rink.
Stylewise, the Capitals went bold with their look, going with the “Weagle” alternate logo stretched from arm to arm. The Hurricanes went with a black jersey with a red and black logo that seemed more “regular-season third jersey” than bananas Stadium Series sweater.
Environment: 4
Hype: 4
Game: 6
Style: 6
This game was the back end of a “home and home” between the Penguins and Flyers that actually spanned three seasons. They met at Heinz Field in 2017 and then didn’t meet for the rematch until 2019 at the Linc, home of the Eagles.
It’s rare that the game is better than the environment at the Stadium Series, but that was the case here. The game was held in the rain — sometimes heavy rain — which led to frequent tending to the ice with squeegees. The aesthetics of the stadium weren’t the most memorable design: some kind of a large gold and orange keystone logo covering a sea of rubber mats.
But hey, it did have Gritty ziplining to the field in a glowing jersey, so not a total loss.
Speaking of losses, it looked like the Flyers were headed for one until 16:56 of the third period, when James van Riemsdyk scored a power-play goal to cut the Penguins’ lead to 3-2. Jakub Voracek tied the game with 20 seconds left. Claude Giroux won it in a rare overtime for outdoor games.
One saving grace for this game was the jerseys, which are straight fire. The Flyers’ orange sweater with a black logo might have served as the template for the Devils’ jerseys for the 2024 Stadium Series. The Penguins’ incredible “Pittsburgh Gold” logo on a black jersey is considered one of their best looks for an outdoor game.
Environment: 7
Hype: 7
Game: 3
Style: 4
How long did the NHL want to play a game at Yankee Stadium? That was actually the original plan for the Winter Classic before the first installment of that annual game was held at Ralph Wilson Stadium in Buffalo.
In 2014, the plan finally came together for the five-year-old “new” Yankee Stadium. The idea was to have all three local teams play at the Stadium, with the Rangers facing the Devils and then the Islanders. Notice we didn’t say “hosting,” as the Rangers had to be the designated road team as part of Madison Square Garden’s tax-exempt status agreement with New York City.
There was plenty of hype for the first outdoor game in New York City and the first NHL game at Yankee Stadium. But the event itself was defined by climate and chaos. The game’s start was delayed by an hour because of sun glare. It was also brutally cold with some snowfall during the second period.
The chaos part? The 10 total goals scored to set an NHL outdoor game record — since tied twice — including six straight Rangers tallies that chased Devils goalie Martin Brodeur. The Rangers overcame a 3-1 deficit before the rout was on. If you liked goals, it was a great day. If you liked the Devils, maybe not so much.
The Rangers’ jerseys, which they also wore for their game against the Islanders a week later at Yankee Stadium, had a diagonal metallic “New York” that reminded some fans of what their AHL affiliate the Hartford Wolf Pack used to wear. But it was a stark look and a good twist on their traditional jersey. Plus, Henrik Lundqvist gets bonus points for his pinstripe pads. The Devils, meanwhile, broke out their “Christmas tree” jerseys they used to wear back in the 1980s — and then played accordingly.
Environment: 5
Hype: 5
Game: 6
Style: 6
This game was one of the most thrilling outdoor games the NHL has ever put on, with Tyler Toffoli completing a hat trick in the last minute of play to give the Kings the lead and the win. His timing was appreciated by many fans who had just arrived to the game during the third period.
We can’t talk about the Air Force Academy game without talking about what was happening on the ground. Thousands of fans didn’t see large portions of the game, and many left before its conclusion, thanks to a horrific traffic mess that turned 45-minute journeys from Denver into four-plus-hour expeditions. Air Force officials would later blame the mess on “car accidents and ill-prepared drivers.” But scores of fans were investigating refund policies based on how long it took for them to get into the game.
This contest had a lot going for it. There was a flyover the likes of which you’d expect from the Air Force. There were cadets seated on the walkway to the rink, so players shared high-fives with them. It felt like 17 degrees with the wind chill. At 6,621 feet above sea level, it was the highest altitude the NHL had ever played a game — and the players felt that struggle for oxygen.
The uniforms … wow. The Kings managed to simultaneously have the worst Stadium Series sweaters — with a diagonal “LA” that evoked a roller hockey team — and the greatest Stadium Series accessory with their chrome helmets. The Avalanche meanwhile had a jersey with the largest crest ever created by Adidas for the NHL: a giant white “A” that had an outline of Burgundy-colored Colorado Rockies cut into it. It was as bold a design as one could imagine for an outdoor game, like Saul Bass was commissioned to create a hockey sweater.
Environment: 8
Hype: 6
Game: 7
Style: 2
It’s always interesting when these outdoor game spectacles have stakes. The Sharks and Kings weren’t just two teams meeting in an outdoor game. They were archrivals, battling for a playoff spot in the Western Conference after meeting in the playoffs in the previous postseason. There were 70,205 packing the home of the 49ers to witness a battle between NorCal and SoCal in 57-degree weather. At the time, it was the third largest crowd ever to watch an NHL game.
The game was even given its own reality show series: “Road To The NHL Stadium Series” on EPIX, now known as MGM+.
Once the puck dropped, the competition was intense. The Kings took the 2-1 victory on a third-period Marian Gaborik goal that goalie Jonathan Quick made stand up.
The Sharks and Kings both used a bold three-stripe motif for their jerseys. The Sharks jersey was moderately successful, going from teal to white to black. The Kings jersey went from gray to black to white … and then right into white pants, making it look like someone tried to erase half of their uniform.
Environment: 6
Hype: 6
Game: 6
Style: 6
Beaver Stadium at Penn State University remains the NHL’s white whale for a true Keystone State showdown between the Penguins and Flyers. It was touted as a possibility before the NHL opted to run it back at Heinz Field, which hosted the 2011 Winter Classic.
A bright yellow recreation of the Fort Pitt Bridge framed the rink on the field. The fans weren’t put off by the return visit, as this was one of the highest rated Stadium Series on television.
The game’s biggest narrative was Sidney Crosby‘s return to a stadium where one hit interrupted his career. In 2011, Washington’s Dave Steckel hit Crosby in the head, and it took the better part of two years for him to recover. Sid picked up a measure of redemption by scoring the game’s first goal.
Overall, it was a close affair between two bitter rivals that had a one-goal margin in the third period. But anything the Flyers did was undermined by some shaky goaltending by Michal Neuvirth, who gave up four goals on 29 shots.
Stylistically, this was a solid contrast: The Penguins rocking gold jerseys with “city of champions” patches on the shoulders and innovative numbering and lettering vs. the Flyers comfortably playing the heels’ role with a black jersey augmented by wide orange bands around the arms.
Environment: 8
Hype: 5
Game: 6
Style: 6
After the scorefest against the Devils, the Rangers ran it back a week later against the Islanders at Yankee Stadium in a game that couldn’t have been further removed from their blowout over New Jersey. This 2-1 grind, which was won on Daniel Carcillo’s goal 4:36 into the third period, was played at night with temperatures dropping into the single digits due to the wind chill. The puck bounced like a racquet ball. If you wanted a battle against the elements in an outdoor game, this was your jam.
It was a boisterous crowd despite the temperatures and lack of scoring fireworks. While Rangers fans had the numbers, it felt like a more even split between the sides than at the Rangers vs. Devils game.
We touched on the Rangers’ jerseys earlier. The Islanders Stadium Series look was actually one of their best — comparatively speaking — essentially taking the “NY” stick logo from their crest and making it the primary logo. The colors and striping were great, too. It’s a look one yearns for when seeing the 2024 Islanders wearing Edmonton cosplay to their Stadium Series game.
Environment: 7
Hype: 3
Game: 8
Style: 8
The outdoor party finally came to Nashville as the Predators hosted their first outdoor game, and the Lightning played in their first one ever. As iconic venues go, Nissan Stadium isn’t exactly one of them. But the city’s imprint on the game was unmistakable, including on the pregame attire for the teams: The Lightning showed up in cowboy denim while the Predators wore outlaw biker gear.
The game was a feisty affair that featured two fights, one that got interesting when Filip Forsberg cut the Lightning lead to 3-2 late in the third. But Tampa Bay hung on.
Now, the score for the jerseys is probably going to be a contentious one. The Lightning’s jerseys with “BOLTS” diagonally over a blue lightning bolt are striking. But it’s the Predators’ “SMASHVILLE” jerseys — that word, broken up on two lines with a guitar pick in the middle — that caused the biggest stir. What can we say: We dig them.
Environment: 10
Hype: 8
Game: 3
Style: 7
We struggled with the environment score here. That’s not knock on Soldier Field, which is as worth a Stadium Series venue as you’ll find in a hockey-obsessed city. But the 2014 battle between the Blackhawks and the Penguins was played in unplayable conditions.
There was a heavy, driving snowstorm throughout the game, causing snow to pile up on the ice. No matter how many layers of clothing fans applied to their bodies, the chill still crept in. Battling the elements should be part of the story and the heart of the challenge of outdoor games. To that end, the Soldier Field Stadium Series game was ideal, but this was a game where completing fundamental hockey plays was a trial instead of fans witnessing an assemblage of stars whipping the puck around in pristine conditions.
So, we’ll give the environment a perfect score and the game itself a less than perfect score. The hype score is reflected by the fact that this was only the second outdoor game for Chicago. They would appear in four more over the next five seasons.
From a jersey perspective, the Blackhawks went back to black with a look that resembled the jerseys they wore from 1996-2007 (a.k.a. the Eric Daze era). But the chrome-upscaling of their traditional logo really made the colors pop. The Penguins’ sweaters weren’t anywhere on the level of their Winter Classic looks: They were essentially just their normal jersey with a chrome finish on the logo and black shoulders. That said, the style rating gets a significant bump from Marc-Andre Fleury‘s Pittsburgh Steelers-inspired goalie mask.
Environment: 8
Hype: 6
Game: 8
Style: 7
Coors Field? Gorgeous. One of the most aesthetically pleasing baseball stadiums in America. What wasn’t expected for this showdown between the Avs and Wings was the temperature: a balmy 65 degrees at gametime, defying expectations for the venue. The players wore the customary toques during warmups, as unnecessary as they were.
The game was one of the better Stadium Series, a back-and-forth affair that saw three lead changes. The final one came with one minute left in regulation, as Brad Richards scored to put the Wings up 4-3.
The musical acts were The Fray and Andy Grammer, just to put a timestamp on this.
The jerseys featured the Avalanche suiting up in a white sweater with a logo reminiscent of the Colorado Rockies; and the Red Wings looked sharp in a red jersey with a bold white swatch “under a redesigned ‘D’ logo, updated in its design to connect more directly with the iconic modern day Winged Wheel logo,” as the team put it. Detroit has had a lot of good outdoor looks, and this is no exception, especially with their white gloves.
Environment: 10
Hype: 10
Game: 4
Style: 7
We cannot stress enough, the importance of the 2014 Stadium Series game at Dodger Stadium to what these outdoor spectacles have become for the NHL. And not just because the event gave us this iconic photo of Gary Bettman meeting KISS.
This was really the first time the NHL let its freak flag fly for one of these games. There were volleyball players and deck hockey games on the field. Embracing all manner of California kitsch iconography, there were even palm trees near the rink. And of course four guys in face paint bellowing “I want to rock ‘n roll all night” while pyro fired off into the Los Angeles sky.
That all of this was happening inside a hallowed baseball stadium was even more jarring. Sure, the NHL had been to Fenway and Wrigley, but one expects to see ice there. Not so much in Chavez Ravine.
Alas, the game couldn’t live up to the hype. A spirited first period saw the Kings post 20 shots, but the Ducks scored twice, eventually winning behind a Jonas Hiller shutout. The jerseys were almost there, with their “chrome” logo gimmicks. The Ducks’ burnt orange base was outstanding but they opted for the “Webbed D” logo instead of the Mighty Ducks one that would have made this an instant classic. The Kings brought back their big crown, which looked great, but slapped on a drab gray sweater that was maybe a little too reminiscent of L.A. smog.
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Tim Keown
A local television news crew was stationed outside the Sawyer Hotel in downtown Sacramento on Sunday night, ready to catch every nuance of the magical moment the bleary-eyed Chicago Cubs stepped off their bus to enter the lobby. This was the first time a major league baseball team had arrived in Sacramento to play a legally sanctioned regular-season game, and no story was too small. If you ever wondered what Ian Happ looks like walking toward a hotel and being surprised by the presence of a camera and a reporter, CBS-13 was the channel for you.
“That was different,” Cubs pitcher Matthew Boyd said. “But it’s the first time a big league team has come to Sacramento, and they’re excited. Baseball’s that cool thing that brings everyone together.”
It was quite a week for Sacramento — more specifically, West Sacramento, the place with the street signs declaring it “The Baseball Side of the River.” It got to host the first three games of the Athletics’ expected three-season interregnum between Oakland and Las Vegas, and it got to call a big league team its own, even if the team has decided to declare itself simply the Athletics, a geographically nonspecific generic version of a Major League Baseball team.
It’s tough to explain the vibe at Sutter Health Park for the first series. It looked like big league baseball and sounded like big league baseball; it just didn’t feel like big league baseball. The crowds were mostly sedate, maybe because there’s room for only about 14,000 fans, and maybe because the Athletics were outscored 35-9 over the course of the three games, the first and third of which could have been stopped for humanitarian reasons.
This is a team that is supposed to be better this season, and three games shouldn’t change that expectation. It spent some money nobody knew it had on a free agent contract for Luis Severino and extensions for Brent Rooker and Lawrence Butler, moves that assured a payroll high enough to abide by the revenue-sharing rules of the collective bargaining agreement, but moves that improved the team nonetheless. (You’ve got to spend money to make money is an adage that, for the first time, appealed to owner John Fisher.) The A’s have a universally respected manager in Mark Kotsay, several promising young players from recent drafts and the confidence that came from playing really good baseball over last season’s second half. There is a creeping suspicion that they could be building something that could make West Sacramento proud.
It’s a long, maybe even interminable season that will contain every iteration of peak and valley. Three games can end up being the equivalent of one breath over the course of a lifetime. But still, it’s impossible to deny the Athletics brought back a lot of their old classics for their Sacramento debut: They walked 10 batters in Monday night’s home opener; they kicked the ball around enough for four unearned runs in three games; they walked seven more Wednesday afternoon. The crowds were mostly quiet; the numerous Cubs fans were noisy until it felt mean, but the A’s fans, when they found something cheer-worthy, reacted as if they were cheering for someone else’s kid at a piano recital. As first impressions go, it could have been better.
The A’s players, in their defense, are going through an adjustment period. When I asked closer Mason Miller how he likes Sacramento, he starts counting on his fingers and says, “I’ve literally spent five nights here.” They’re young, wealthy and accustomed to living in a new place every season as they progress through the minor leagues, and they’re trying to view their new home as an opportunity to bond over experiencing something together for the first time.
“We’re all new here,” rookie second baseman Max Muncy says, “so even though I’m a rookie, I can earn some cred if I find a good restaurant and let everyone know.” I mention the toughest reservation in town, a Michelin-starred, fixed-price restaurant less than 2 miles away.
“That sounds like a two-month wait,” he says.
“Not if you tell them who you are,” I joke.
“Yeah, I can’t imagine doing that,” he says. “Besides, if I say, ‘Max Muncy,’ when I show up they’ll say, ‘Oh great, we got this one.'”
The A’s bigger concern is playing the next three seasons in a minor league ballpark and sharing it with a minor league team, the Triple-A Sacramento River Cats. It’s kind of like a senior rooming with a freshman; the senior has dibs on just about everything, but he still has to deal with the roommate. For the A’s, that means wondering how the field will hold up over the course of the 155 games it’ll wear this season, and figuring out how to cope with having a clubhouse beyond the outfield wall, disconnected from the dugout.
Severino made his first home start for the A’s on Tuesday night, and he had to tweak his routine to account for the new reality: Once he left the clubhouse, there was no going back. It was cold and windy, so he had to make sure his jacket made it to the dugout with him. The notes he likes to reference during the game had to be there, too. His usual practice of popping into the clubhouse to watch the game on television while his team hits (“It looks easier and more fun on TV,” he says with a laugh) is on hold for home starts for the foreseeable future. He had to sit there with his teammates whether he pitched well or not — on Tuesday: not — and know that every one of his emotions would be picked up by at least five cameras.
“You just have to stick it out,” Severino says. “You can’t have all the stuff you have in a normal stadium. When you go out there, you have to bring everything with you. You have to try to stay warm and find out a different routine. It’s not the same, but the thing is, it doesn’t matter because it’s happening, and we need to get used to it. Just treat it like spring training, because it feels like spring training.”
Players coming off the bench to pinch-hit or play defense have nowhere to get loose. In any other park, they’d jump into the cage behind the dugout and take some swings or stretch out and run a few sprints. Here, they have to do whatever they can do within the confines of the dugout. “Just do some arm circles and maybe run in place,” Cubs infielder Jon Berti says. “Make it old-school.”
Just one of the three games sold out, an unexpected development after months of civic backslapping and grand proclamations about Sacramento cementing its status as a major league city. Tickets for Wednesday’s game, which drew 9,342 fans, were selling on the secondary market for $20 about 30 minutes before first pitch. The A’s have the highest median ticket prices — $181 — in baseball, according to data compiled by the ticket app Gametime. The idea was to employ the time-honored scarcity=demand concept to seize maximum profits from minimal opportunities, but one sellout — the opener, which also included roughly 2,000 comped tickets — in the first three games shows the A’s remain capable of straining even the most fundamental economic concepts.
It’s probably not fair to judge Sacramento’s worth as a baseball town based on its willingness to support a team that won’t be identified by the city’s name during its time here. And it’s definitely not fair to judge a region based on the number of fans eager to hand money to an owner who pulled the team out of Oakland after 57 years and is on his way to Las Vegas.
In the days after Kings/River Cats owner Vivek Ranadive joined with Fisher to bring the A’s to Sacramento, someone identified to me as “as Sacramento as it gets” sent a text that illustrates the conflict that lives within the Sacramento sports fan:
So many thoughts as I’ve been following this:
1) I hate it in that we are just bailing out Fisher
2) I hate that we are basically acting as Seattle a decade ago with regards to the Kings and poached the A’s away from Oakland. That’s an awful feeling I wish on no one
3) I am interested to see if this actually goes anywhere other than just bailing out Fisher for 3 years while he waits out whatever magic is gonna happen in LV
4) Reeeeeally wish Vivek read the room on this one
5) We could buy $30 lawn seats and catch a ball from Mike Trout or even better, [Austin] Slater, on a Wednesday night in Sac. That would be wild
The A’s are quick to point out that there weren’t many crowds of 10,000 on Tuesday nights in Oakland. (There was just one last year, during the final homestand of the season.) Still, Sacramento is a city attempting to use this three- to four-year run to audition for its own big league team. And if the A’s can’t sell out a minor league stadium in an area with established fans of the team, what does that foretell for their eventual move to Las Vegas, where the team is forecasting sellout crowds, including nearly 5,000 tourists per game — in a 33,000-seat stadium in an area with no connection to the A’s?
But that’s someone else’s problem, some other day. Three trips this week to Sutter Health — Sunday for the River Cats, Monday and Wednesday for the A’s — was a chance to watch big league baseball in a quaint, intimate ballpark. I thought it might be like venturing back in time, maybe what it felt like to watch a Philadelphia A’s game in 1907 at Columbia Park if Columbia Park had a state-of-the-art video screen that looks like an 86-inch television hanging from the wall of a studio apartment. This would be baseball back when games were just games and big league ballparks didn’t feel obligated to stock luxury suites with $300 cabernet and fist-sized prawns. Back to when every concession stand sold pretty much the same thing (at Sutter Health, each vendor has a set menu and one or two “specialty” items, like the pizza at Pizza & Pints) and fans could bring a chair or sit on the grass out in right field and dream of Mike Trout or Austin Slater.
Its charms are undeniable, but sustainable? The workers in the ballpark are all genial and helpful, thrilled with having major league baseball in their humble yard, but maybe we should check back in August. At the River Cats’ game Sunday, I spoke with an employee working in the team store who laid out the process of turning it from a River Cats’ store to an Athletics’ store over the course of roughly 24 hours. Starting at 5 p.m. Sunday, three overlapping shifts worked through the night and well into Monday, folding and packing and hauling out all the minor league gear, storing it somewhere she isn’t privy to, while hauling in all the big league gear, unpacking it, unfolding it and displaying it nicely enough that someone might feel compelled to forfeit $134.99 for an authentic JJ Bleday jersey.
As she detailed the process, and the time constraints, knowing this River Cats-to-A’s and vice versa conga will take place roughly every 10 days to two weeks over the next six months, I was beginning to feel stressed just looking at every cap, sock, T-shirt, bobblehead, Dinger the mascot doll and performance men’s half-zip pullover sweatshirt that awaited their attention.
“Will it get done?” I asked her.
She laughed.
“I guess it has to,” she said, “but I’m off tomorrow.”
And poof, just as there was no sign of the A’s on Sunday, there was no sign of the River Cats on Monday. Everything brick red and gold was replaced by something kelly green and gold. Even the sign proclaiming Sacramento’s Triple-A championships was replaced by one proclaiming the A’s nine World Series wins, five in Philadelphia and four in Oakland. But, like everything else involving the 2025 Athletics, there is no geographic designation. As the A’s know better than most, you are where you are until you’re where you want to be.
The opening weekend of the 2025 MLB season was taken over by a surprise star — torpedo bats.
The bowling pin-shaped bats became the talk of the sport after the Yankees’ home run onslaught on the first Saturday of the season put it in the spotlight and the buzz hasn’t slowed since.
What exactly is a torpedo bat? How does it help hitters? And how is it legal? Let’s dig in.
Read: An MIT-educated professor, the Yankees and the bat that could be changing baseball
What is a torpedo bat and why is it different from a traditional MLB bat?
The idea of the torpedo bat is to take a size format — say, 34 inches and 32 ounces — and distribute the wood in a different geometric shape than the traditional form to ensure the fattest part of the bat is located where the player makes the most contact. Standard bats taper toward an end cap that is as thick diametrically as the sweet spot of the barrel. The torpedo bat moves some of the mass on the end of the bat about 6 to 7 inches lower, giving it a bowling-pin shape, with a much thinner end.
How does it help hitters?
The benefits for those who like swinging with it — and not everyone who has swung it likes it — are two-fold. Both are rooted in logic and physics. The first is that distributing more mass to the area of most frequent contact aligns with players’ swing patterns and provides greater impact when bat strikes ball. Players are perpetually seeking ways to barrel more balls, and while swings that connect on the end of the bat and toward the handle probably will have worse performance than with a traditional bat, that’s a tradeoff they’re willing to make for the additional slug. And as hitters know, slug is what pays.
The second benefit, in theory, is increased bat speed. Imagine a sledgehammer and a broomstick that both weigh 32 ounces. The sledgehammer’s weight is almost all at the end, whereas the broomstick’s is distributed evenly. Which is easier to swing fast? The broomstick, of course, because shape of the sledgehammer takes more strength and effort to move. By shedding some of the weight off the end of the torpedo bat and moving it toward the middle, hitters have found it swings very similarly to a traditional model but with slightly faster bat velocity.
Why did it become such a big story so early in the 2025 MLB season?
Because the New York Yankees hit nine home runs in a game Saturday and Michael Kay, their play-by-play announcer, pointed out that some of them came from hitters using a new bat shape. The fascination was immediate. While baseball, as an industry, has implemented forward-thinking rules in recent seasons, the modification to something so fundamental and known as the shape of a bat registered as bizarre. The initial response from many who saw it: How is this legal?
OK. How is this legal?
Major League Baseball’s bat regulations are relatively permissive. Currently, the rules allow for a maximum barrel diameter of 2.61 inches, a maximum length of 42 inches and a smooth and round shape. The lack of restrictions allows MLB’s authorized bat manufacturers to toy with bat geometry and for the results to still fall within the regulations.
Who came up with the idea of using them?
The notion of a bowling-pin-style bat has kicked around baseball for years. Some bat manufacturers made smaller versions as training tools. But the version that’s now infiltrating baseball goes back two years when a then-Yankees coach named Aaron Leanhardt started asking hitters how they should counteract the giant leaps in recent years made by pitchers.
When Yankees players responded that bigger barrels would help, Leanhardt — an MIT-educated former Michigan physics professor who left academia to work in the sports industry — recognized that as long as bats stayed within MLB parameters, he could change their geometry to make them a reality. Leanhardt, who left the Yankees to serve as major league field coordinator for the Miami Marlins over the winter, worked with bat manufacturers throughout the 2023 and 2024 seasons to make that a reality.
When did it first appear in MLB games?
It’s unclear specifically when. But Yankees slugger Giancarlo Stanton used a torpedo bat last year and went on a home run-hitting rampage in October that helped send the Yankees to the World Series. New York Mets star Francisco Lindor also used a torpedo-style bat last year and went on to finish second in National League MVP voting.
Who are some of the other notable early users of torpedo bats?
In addition to Stanton and Lindor, Yankees hitters Anthony Volpe, Austin Wells, Jazz Chisholm Jr., Cody Bellinger and Paul Goldschmidt have used torpedoes to great success. Others who have used them in games include Tampa Bay’s Junior Caminero, Minnesota’s Ryan Jeffers and Toronto’s Davis Schneider. And that’s just the beginning. Hundreds more players are expected to test out torpedoes — and perhaps use them in games — in the coming weeks.
How is this different from a corked bat?
Corking bats involves drilling a hole at the end of the bat, filling it in and capping it. The use of altered bats allows players to swing faster because the material with which they replace the wood — whether it’s cork, superballs or another material — is lighter. Any sort of bat adulteration is illegal and, if found, results in suspension.
Could a rule be changed to ban them?
Could it happen? Sure. Leagues and governing bodies have put restrictions on equipment they believe fundamentally altered fairness. Stick curvature is limited in hockey. Full-body swimsuits made of polyurethane and neoprene are banned by World Aquatics. But officials at MLB have acknowledged that the game’s pendulum has swung significantly toward pitching in recent years, and if an offensive revolution comes about because of torpedo bats — and that is far from a guarantee — it could bring about more balance to the game. If that pendulum swings too far, MLB could alter its bat regulations, something it has done multiple times already this century.
So the torpedo bat is here to stay?
Absolutely. Bat manufacturers are cranking them out and shipping them to interested players with great urgency. Just how widely the torpedo bat is adopted is the question that will play out over the rest of the season. But it has piqued the curiosity of nearly every hitter in the big leagues, and just as pitchers toy with new pitches to see if they can marginally improve themselves, hitters will do the same with bats.
Comfort is paramount with a bat, so hitters will test them during batting practice and in cage sessions before unleashing them during the game. As time goes on, players will find specific shapes that are most comfortable to them and best suit their swing during bat-fitting sessions — similar to how golfers seek custom clubs. But make no mistake: This is an almost-overnight alteration of the game, and “traditional or torpedo” is a question every big leaguer going forward will ask himself.
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — The once and possibly future home of the Tampa Bay Rays will get a new roof to replace the one shredded by Hurricane Milton with the goal of having the ballpark ready for the 2026 season, city officials decided in a vote Thursday.
The St. Petersburg City Council voted 7-1 to approve $22.5 million to begin the repairs at Tropicana Field, which will start with a membrane roof that must be in place before other work can continue. Although the Rays pulled out of a planned $1.3 billion new stadium deal, the city is still contractually obligated to fix the Trop.
“We are legally bound by an agreement. The agreement requires us to fix the stadium,” said council member Lissett Hanewicz, who is an attorney. “We need to go forward with the roof repair so we can do the other repairs.”
The hurricane damage forced the Rays to play home games this season at Steinbrenner Field across the bay in Tampa, the spring training home of the New York Yankees. The Rays went 4-2 on their first homestand ever at an open-air ballpark, which seats around 11,000 fans.
Under the current agreement with the city, the Rays owe three more seasons at the Trop once it’s ready again for baseball, through 2028. It’s unclear if the Rays will maintain a long-term commitment to the city or look to Tampa or someplace else for a new stadium. Major League Baseball has said keeping the team in the Tampa Bay region is a priority. The Rays have played at the Trop since their inception in 1998.
The team said it would have a statement on the vote later Thursday.
The overall cost of Tropicana Field repairs is estimated at $56 million, said city architect Raul Quintana. After the roof, the work includes fixing the playing surface, ensuring audio and visual electronics are working, installing flooring and drywall, getting concession stands running and other issues.
“This is a very complex project. We feel like we’re in a good place,” Quintana said at the council meeting Thursday.
Under the proposed timeline, the roof installation will take about 10 months. The unique membrane system is fabricated in Germany and assembled in China, Quintana said, adding that officials are examining how President Donald Trump’s new tariffs might affect the cost.
The new roof, he added, will be able to withstand hurricane winds as high as 165 mph. Hurricane Milton, one of the strongest hurricanes ever in the Atlantic basin at one point, blasted ashore Oct. 9 south of Tampa Bay with Category 3 winds of about 125 mph.
Citing mounting costs, the Rays last month pulled out of a deal with the city and Pinellas County for a new $1.3 billion ballpark to be built near the Trop site. That was part of a broader $6.5 billion project known as the Historic Gas Plant district to bring housing, retail and restaurants, arts and a Black history museum to a once-thriving Black neighborhood razed for the original stadium.
The city council plans to vote on additional Trop repair costs over the next few months.
“This is our contractual obligation. I don’t like it more than anybody else. I’d much rather be spending that money on hurricane recovery and helping residents in the most affected neighborhoods,” council member Brandi Gabbard said. “These are the cards that we’re dealt.”
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