Yankees have odd visitors experience in own Tampa home

Join Post Sports+ for exciting subscriber-only features, including real-time texting with Greg Joyce about the inside buzz on the Yankees.TAMPA — The Yankees walked into a familiar building Thursday for an unfamiliar task: playing a game that counted.That was just the tip of the iceberg in the strangeness of playing a regular-season series at their spring training home, George M.

Steinbrenner Field, which now belongs to the Rays for this season after the roof was torn off Tropicana Field by Hurricane Milton last October.There also was the fact that the Yankees walked into the cramped visitors clubhouse with no access to the more spacious home clubhouse or all the new facilities and amenities beyond it that underwent an overhaul last offseason.There was all-new Rays signage anywhere a Yankees logo had been, with the familiar “YANKEES” banners down each baseline replaced by “RAYS,” with a logo and two ads on either end.

There was even a new kind of dirt in the infield that was more in line with the playing surface at Tropicana Field than what the Yankees played on all spring.“It’s been quite odd, honestly,” manager Aaron Boone said from the visitors dugout, across the way from his regular post each spring and before the Yankees’ 6-3 win.“I don’t know if surreal’s the right word, but it’s definitely a little bit odd.

I’m sure once the game starts, looking around at the stadium, ‘Oh, it’s real.It’s a real game.’ But we’ll be ready to go.”There was, of course, some familiarity to it.

The statue of George Steinbrenner just outside the stadium remained untouched.The outfield dimensions still mirrored Yankee Stadium.

Hal Steinbrenner still has his suite here.But inside the home clubhouse, where the Yankees just spent six weeks of spring training, Shane Baz resided in Aaron Judge’s corner locker, Junior Caminero had Giancarlo Stanton’s and Shane McClanahan took over Gerrit Cole’s.There was a new fishing pole rack on the...