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ESPN Staff Writer- Dan Hajducky is a staff writer for ESPN. He has an MFA in creative writing from Fairfield University and played on the men's soccer teams at Fordham and Southern Connecticut State universities.
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ESPN Staff Writer- Anthony Olivieri is a staff writer for ESPN. He has a degree in communications with a concentration in journalism from Marist College. He's been with ESPN since 2012.
As the Tampa Bay Rays await a decision by county officials on proposed financing for a new ballpark, pieces of Tropicana Field's roof, which was shredded by Hurricane Milton, have ended up in an unlikely place: eBay.
The morning after the deadly Oct. 9 storm, three relatives of a longtime Rays fan and season-ticket holder canoed around their block, roughly a mile from Tropicana Field, looking to help people or pets escape the water that was too high for emergency vehicles.
While paddling under an I-275 overpass, they noticed a large piece of what appeared to be white fabric, about 6 feet by 3 feet. The area was littered with the debris, so they loaded one piece into their canoe and delivered it to Rays fan Neil MacDonald, a New Yorker who for years has visited family in Florida and now lives 20 minutes north of Tampa.
"I used to be in auto parts, so I know what fiberglass is," said MacDonald. "It's a fiberglass membrane, it's waterproof. If you look real close, you can see the black spots, mold that grows on the north side."
For MacDonald, it could be only one thing: a piece of the Tropicana Field roof, the stadium where he had attended 25 to 30 games a year since the franchise's inception in 1998.
By November, MacDonald had put a piece on eBay. It sold for $45 on Nov. 10. He put more up. He sold at least seven pieces of the roof for about $367. He was one of a few sellers on eBay to list pieces of the roof after the storm.
The link between fans and pieces of their favorite teams' homes is longstanding. Whether it's a pocket full of dirt or weather-worn seats, supporters feel a connection between innocuous physical items and the experiences they conjure. But in this case, the damaged roof represented the fallout from a storm that caused an estimated $85 billion in damage and killed at least 24 people.
It turns out that eBay has a policy prohibiting the sale of items that attempt to profit from or are insensitive toward victims of natural disasters or other human tragedies. "Pieces of the Tropicana Field roof, or other parts of the stadium that were scavenged in the aftermath of Hurricane Milton, are prohibited on eBay and will be blocked or removed," an eBay spokesperson told ESPN.
MLB had no comment on anything related to the sale of pieces of the roof.
As of Wednesday, a review of items showed that more than three dozen swatches, including MacDonald's, have sold since Oct. 10 for as low as $15 and as high as $150. At least two pieces sold as recently as Tuesday -- the items described as "2x2 Tropicana Field Tarp" for $30 apiece. Because the winning bids were inexpensive, none of the lots boasted eBay's authenticity guarantee, which means they would be sent to a third-party authenticator for verification before reaching buyers. The guarantee threshold for trading cards, for example, starts at $250 for cards sold on the platform.
MacDonald said no one ever questioned whether the pieces of the roof were authentic. Asked by ESPN about the listings, MacDonald said he doesn't plan to sell any more.
"I've decided to pay it forward," he said. Instead, he will give small slices to family members, packaged together with trading cards featuring Tropicana Field. He said proceeds already pocketed from the sales will go to charity, including the Florida Disaster Fund and Florida Sheriffs Youth Ranches.
Rachel Hettman, 25, of New Jersey, said she bought one of MacDonald's pieces for her boyfriend's brother, Kyle Dowbnia, 29. They all vacation together in Florida often, noting that it doesn't feel like they've arrived until they see The Trop roof.
"I love having niche things from around the league," Dowbnia said. "I went to one of the last games at the [previous] Yankee Stadium and ripped off pieces of padding from down the right field line. Still have [them]. We also have a piece of AstroTurf from Tropicana Field. How many people have a piece of the Tropicana Field roof?"
According to the Rays' media guide, Tropicana Field, which opened in 1990, featured a cable-supported roof made with "six acres of translucent, Teflon-coated fiberglass" supported by 180 miles of cables. The roof was built to withstand winds of up to 115 mph; Milton made landfall with sustained 120 mph winds.
MacDonald said he doesn't see the tattered roof as only a casualty of the storm. It's a symbol of the team he loves -- and of the push and pull that has threatened to move it out of town.
"I've got four generations of my family [who are Rays fans]," he said. "You try and make a fan base and then you pull that away."
The City of St. Petersburg, Florida's Pinellas County and the team have discussed a new stadium for decades. The Rays even attempted to split home games between St. Petersburg and Montreal to increase revenue; that was stymied by MLB. Then, in July, a deal for a $1.3 billion stadium, and a $6.5 billion project intended to revitalize a predominantly Black neighborhood that was leveled to build Tropicana Field almost 40 years ago, was signed.
Because of the hurricane damage to the ballpark, the Rays will play home games at Steinbrenner Field, the New York Yankees' spring training home in Tampa, in 2025. The Rays will pay their division rival to lease it -- some reports have said up to $15 million, though the Rays declined to confirm that amount. A city report assessing the damage said Tropicana Field "is structurally sound," but it will cost as much as $55 million to repair the stadium.
On Nov. 19, a vote by the county to approve the bonds for the stadium was delayed until Dec. 17. The Rays, in a letter co-signed by team executives on the same day, wrote that they were "saddened and stunned" but would work to "preserve the future" of the team in its city. On Dec. 5, the St. Petersburg City Council approved bonds to fund the surrounding neighborhood.
Tuesday, the Tampa Bay Times reported, following MLB commissioner Rob Manfred's meeting with county officials the day before, Rays co-president Matt Silverman said there's optimism in the front office that the Pinellas County Commission will vote to approve financing for a new stadium at the Dec. 17 meeting.
Tropicana Field has been noted as one of baseball's worst and least-attended stadiums. The Rays haven't ranked higher than 27th in attendance since 2010 and, in the entirety of the franchise's existence, boast one year in the top 20 -- their inaugural season.
A week before Thanksgiving, MacDonald drove his grandson to school, passing through the neighborhood near Tropicana Field.
"The stadium looked apocalyptic," he said. When he passed it, MacDonald said he didn't think about county commissions or bond allocations. He thought about all the trips inside -- the excited walks over from an attached sports bar and the tank of live rays his grandson loved to pet. The memories are what mattered.
In the basement of his home, MacDonald has a framed Rays jersey on his wall. It's not of former Tampa Bay great David Price or even Evan Longoria; it's longtime third base coach Tom Foley. He was the coach who gave MacDonald and his family peanuts and bubble gum between innings.
One recent afternoon, while mowing his lawn, MacDonald had an idea for another flag outside his home. He took a two-decade-old Louisville Slugger, signed by an assortment of Rays at spring training over the years, and duct-taped a piece of The Trop roof to it. He just couldn't help himself.
"If the Rays are playing on Mars," MacDonald said, "we're going to Mars."