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Rays say it may take ‘weeks’ to fully assess damage at Tropicana Field
The Tampa Bay Rays said it may take weeks to fully assess how much damage was done to Tropicana Field, which saw its roof ripped to shreds by the force of Hurricane Milton as the deadly storm barreled across much of Florida.
The team said no one was injured when the St. Petersburg ballpark was struck by the storm on Wednesday night. A handful of “essential personnel” were inside Tropicana Field as the roof panels were blown apart, much of the debris falling on the field and seats below.
“Over the coming days and weeks, we expect to be able to assess the true condition of Tropicana Field,” the Rays said Thursday. “In the meantime, we are working with law enforcement to secure the building. We ask for your patience at this time, and we encourage those who can to donate to organizations in our community that are assisting those directly impacted by these storms.”
Milton was the second hurricane to hit Florida’s Gulf Coast in the span of two weeks, preceded by Hurricane Helene, which flooded streets and homes on that same side of the state and left at least 230 people dead across the South.
The Rays aren’t scheduled to play in the ballpark again until March 27, when they are supposed to play host to the Colorado Rockies to open the 2025 season.
For as bad as the damage was, the situation at Tropicana Field could have been worse. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis had said earlier in the week that there were plans for the ballpark to serve as a “temporary base camp” to support debris cleanup operations and temporarily house some first responders. But those plans were changed as the storm neared, amid concerns that the roof simply would not survive Milton’s wrath.
“They were relocated,” DeSantis said at a Thursday morning news conference. “Tropicana Field is a routine staging area for these things. The roof on that … I think it’s rated for 110 mph and so the forecast changes, but as it became clear that there was going to be something of that magnitude that was going to be within the distance, they redeployed them out of Tropicana. There were no state assets that were inside Tropicana Field.”
The team previously said that Tropicana Field features the world’s largest cable-supported domed roof, with the panels made of “translucent, Teflon-coated fiberglass” supported by 180 miles of cables connected by struts.
The roof was designed to withstand wind of up to 115 mph, according to the Rays. The stadium opened in 1990 at an initial cost $138 million and is due to be replaced in time for the 2028 season with a $1.3 billion ballpark.
Lightning home opener postponed
The Tampa Bay Lightning will not play their home opener Saturday as planned.
The NHL said Thursday that Saturday’s Lightning game against the Carolina Hurricanes was postponed “amid recovery efforts in the Tampa Bay area from the impact of Hurricane Milton.”
No makeup date was immediately announced. The Lightning will open the season at Carolina on Friday, and traveled there earlier this week to get out ahead of the storm.
The change means that Tampa Bay’s home opener is now set for Tuesday against Vancouver.
The Lightning also had their preseason finale, which was to have been played this past Monday against Nashville, called off because of Milton’s looming arrival. That game was originally set to be played last month and was postponed then because of Hurricane Helene.
Magic return delayed
The Orlando Magic spent Thursday in San Antonio and were planning to return home on Friday, a day behind their original schedule for the week.
The Magic played a preseason game in San Antonio on Wednesday night. They intended to fly home Thursday, arriving in Orlando in the early afternoon — those plans being scrapped because of Milton.
Instead, the Magic scheduled a practice in San Antonio on Thursday and have tentative plans to fly back to Orlando on Friday. A preseason game that was to be played Friday in Orlando between the Magic and the New Orleans Pelicans was canceled and will not be rescheduled.
“There’s always things bigger than the game of basketball and that’s what we have to keep our perspective on,” Magic coach Jamahl Mosley said. “Knowing that there’s families and homes and situations that are going through a tough time right now, we need to be mindful of that and conscious of it.”
The Magic-Pelicans game is the second NBA preseason matchup to be affected by Milton. A game scheduled for Thursday in Miami between the Heat and Atlanta Hawks was postponed until Oct. 16 because of storm concerns.
UCF, USF games still on
A pair of college football games are set to be played Saturday in cities that dealt with some of Milton’s worst wind and rain, though there were some logistical issues that were still being discussed on Thursday in the aftermath of the storm.
In Tampa, USF is preparing play host to Memphis — a game that was pushed back from Friday to Saturday. And in Orlando, UCF is preparing to play host to Cincinnati.
Both games are scheduled to have 3:30 p.m. kickoffs.
The Jacksonville Jaguars say their flight to London will be delayed
LONDON | The Jacksonville Jaguars plan to arrive in London later than expected Friday because of Hurricane Milton, the team confirmed ahead of Sunday’s game against the Chicago Bears.
A team spokesperson said on Thursday that the Jaguars’ departure time has been “slightly” delayed.
The hurricane smashed into Florida, making landfall along the Gulf Coast as a Category 3 storm.
The Jaguars canceled a Friday press conference at the team hotel outside London and rescheduled it for Saturday morning. They play the Bears the next day at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
For their London NFL games, the Jags regularly depart on Thursday night and arrive Friday morning. They’ve played in London 11 times.
On Wednesday, coach Doug Pederson expressed confidence in sticking to the travel plan.
“It could affect some timing tomorrow trying to get out, but it looks good, it looks promising anyway, for our window to get out of here sort of on time with not too many delays or hiccups in the next 24 hours or so,” he said.
The NFL said in a statement that, “No changes are expected to Sunday’s schedule.”
Like last season, the Jaguars will be playing back-to-back games in London. After facing the Bears, they stay and play the following Sunday against the New England Patriots at Wembley Stadium.
Milton weakened to a Category 1 storm as it moved through Florida early Thursday. The city of Jacksonville’s emergency preparedness department urged residents to continue to shelter in place: “Don’t let your guard down. We are still anticipating some gusty winds and additional storm surge flooding with the next high tide cycle.”
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers moved up their travel plans ahead of the hurricane making landfall. The Bucs arrived in New Orleans on Tuesday for Sunday’s game against the Saints.
22-time Grand Slam champion Rafael Nadal will retire from tennis
MADRID | Rafael Nadal is retiring from professional tennis at age 38, he announced Thursday, after winning 22 Grand Slam titles — 14 at the French Open — during an unprecedented era he shared with rivals Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic.
Nadal has competed infrequently the past two seasons because of injuries and said next month’s Davis Cup finals will mark his farewell to the sport. He had hip surgery in 2023 and entered just two of the past eight major tournaments.
“The reality is that it has been some difficult years, these last two, especially. I don’t think I have been able to play without limitations,” Nadal said in a video message. “It is obviously a difficult decision, one that has taken me some time to make. But in this life, everything has a beginning and an end.”
Nadal’s unrelenting, physical style of play — every point pursued as though it were his last, sprinting and sliding into place for that high-bouncing bullwhip of a lefty forehand — made him one of the greats of the game and the unquestioned King of Clay.
His record 14 French Open championships are more than anyone, man or woman, won at any one of the four major tournaments, a dominance celebrated by a statue of Nadal near the main entrance to the grounds of Roland Garros and in the shadow of its main stadium, Court Philippe Chatrier.
In a result that symbolized where things stood for his body, and career, he exited in the French Open first round this year, a straight-set loss to eventual runner-up Alexander Zverev.
Nadal returned to that site in southwest Paris for the Summer Olympics, where he lost to old rival Djokovic in the second round of singles and reached the quarterfinals of men’s doubles with Carlos Alcaraz. Nadal hasn’t played since. His goodbye will also come while representing Spain in the Davis Cup at Malaga.
“Your legacy won’t be matched,” Alcaraz, who is widely seen as Nadal’s heir in Spanish tennis, said Thursday. “I have enjoyed you and I will miss you very much when you retire after the Davis Cup.”
Soccer greats Cristiano Ronaldo and Kylian Mbappé were among stars from the sports world also paying tribute to Nadal.
In addition to his French Open triumphs, Nadal won four trophies at the U.S. Open and two apiece at Wimbledon and the Australian Open, giving him a career Grand Slam.
“It is the appropriate time to put an end to a career that has been long and much more successful than I could have ever imagined,” Nadal said.
His last pair of major titles arrived in 2022, at Melbourne and Paris, pushing him ahead of Federer, who held the men’s record of 20 Grand Slam titles when he announced his retirement at age 41. Federer bid adieu in late 2022 by teaming with Nadal in a doubles match at the Laver Cup.
Both have since been surpassed by Djokovic, 37, who is up to 24 majors.
So much of Nadal’s success was seen, fairly or not, through the prism of his encounters with Federer and Djokovic. The tennis world, and plenty outside of it, were consumed with the debate over which was most deserving of the “GOAT” — “Greatest Of All-Time” — moniker. The world, tennis or otherwise, was fascinated by their matchups, their differing styles and personalities.
Who among those who witnessed it could possibly forget Nadal vs. Federer in the 2008 Wimbledon final? Or Nadal vs. Djokovic in the 2022 French Open quarterfinals? Or Nadal vs. Djokovic in the 2012 Australian Open final? And so on.
Nadal played Djokovic 60 times, a record for two men in the Open era; Djokovic leads 31-29 overall, while Nadal leads 5-4 in Slam finals.
“You have inspired millions of children to start playing tennis and I think that’s probably (the) greatest achievement anyone can wish for,” Novak Djokovic said on Instagram. “Your tenacity, dedication, fighting spirit is going to be taught for decades. Your legacy will live forever … Thank you for pushing me to the very limit so many times in our rivalry that has impacted me the most as a player.”
Nadal met Federer 40 times; Nadal led 24-16 overall, including 6-3 in Slam finals.
“Thank you for the unforgettable memories and all your incredible achievements in the game we love,” Federer told Nadal via social media.
It’s certainly apt that Nadal’s last major title came at the French Open (beating Djokovic along the way) two years ago, and while getting painkilling injections for chronic pain in his left foot. He repeatedly dealt with, and frequently overcame, various injury issues over the years, and his 2023 and 2024 seasons were both limited because of hip and abdominal muscle problems.
Nadal hurt his hip flexor during a second-round loss at the Australian Open in January 2023, and wound up missing the rest of the year; there was an operation for that in June.
After briefly making a comeback this January during a tune-up event for the Australian Open, he had to pull out of the year’s first major with a torn hip muscle, then was sidelined again until a return on his beloved clay at the Barcelona Open in April.
Dating to late in 2022, when he was beaten in the fourth round at Flushing Meadows by Frances Tiafoe, Nadal is just 14-14, including 12-7 this year.
But his overall resume is unimpeachable: a total of 209 weeks at No. 1 in the ATP rankings and nearly 18 years’ worth of consecutive weeks in the Top 10; 92 singles titles; 1,080-227 win-loss record; just shy of $135 million in prize money.
“Really, everything I have experienced has been a dream come true,” Nadal said. “I leave with the absolute peace of mind of having given my best, of having made an effort in every way.”
MLB qualifying offer price rises to $21.05M
NEW YORK | The price of a qualifying offer for this year’s major league free agents rose to $21.05 million from $20,325,000 last offseason, a $725,000 hike that represented a 3.6% increase.
The figure is determined by the average of the top 125 major league contracts this year. The price dropped by $100,000 to $17.8 million in 2019, then rose to $18.9 million in 2020, fell $500,000 in 2021 and rose to $19.65 million in 2022.
Qualifying offers began after the 2012 season, and only 13 of 131 offers have been accepted.
A free agent can be made a qualifying offer only if he has been with the same team continuously since opening day and has never received a qualifying offer before.
Among the top players who can become free agents after the World Series and are eligible to receive qualifying offers are New York Yankees outfielder Juan Soto, Baltimore right-hander Corbin Burnes, Atlanta left-hander Max Fried, New York Mets first baseman Pete Alonso, Houston third baseman Alex Bregman, Orioles outfielder Anthony Santander and Milwaukee shortstop Willy Adames.
Los Angeles Dodgers right-hander Jack Flaherty is ineligible because he was acquired from Detroit at the July 30 trade deadline.
San Francisco left-hander Blake Snell also is ineligible. Snell could become a free agent if he opts out of the second season of his contract and gives up a $30 million salary for 2025, but he was among seven free agents who turned down qualifying offers last November.
A qualifying offer can be made through the fifth day after the World Series, and a player has a week after that to accept.
If a team makes a qualifying offer to a player who signs a major league contract with another club before the amateur draft, his former club would receive a draft pick as compensation at the end of the first round or at the end of competitive balance round B. The placement depends on the amount of the new contract and the revenue-sharing and luxury tax status of the team losing the player.
Texas QB Ewers confirmed as starter against rival Oklahoma
AUSTIN, Texas | Quinn Ewers will return as the starting quarterback for No. 1 Texas against rival No. 18 Oklahoma after missing the previous two games with an abdomen strain, Longhorns coach Steve Sarkisian said Thursday.
Sarkisian had said Monday that Ewers would likely start against the Sooners, but he wanted to monitor his progress through the week. Sarkisian confirmed Ewers as the starter after Thursday’s practice.
Ewers has passed for 691 yards and eight touchdowns for the Longhorns (5-0, 1-0 SEC), but he has not played since the second quarter of Texas’ win over UTSA on Sept. 14. The Longhorns were off last week, giving him more time to rest and practice.
Second-year freshman Arch Manning has started two games and has passed for 901 yards and nine touchdowns.
—From AP reports
