Josh Weaver, Managing Coordinator for the Tampa Bay Museum & Fan Host with the Tampa Bay Rays shares his experiences on Opening Day at the Trop and a visit to the Tampa Baseball Museum

• Opening Day with the Tampa Bay Rays
•  Start with dropping the banner for the 2022 AL Wild Card
•  “Big Game” James Shields – throwing out the opening pitch
•  Shields, Carl Crawford & Joe Maddon were pivotal to the franchise turnaround
•  Opening Day talent brought the excitement - Wander Franco, Jose Siri, Manuel Margot & World Baseball Classic star, Randy Arozarena
•  Rays Talent continues & Kevin Cash keeps the engine running
•  Cash visited Siri at home during off-season
•  Principal owner, Stu Sternberg visited with the Fan Host pre-game to share his appreciation
•  "Baseball is Back" All smiles on Opening Day - Josh tells the story of both Detroit & Rays Fans enjoying the game
•  Young fan shares an Opening Day ball from a Detroit Tiger player on the field
•  Baseball bridges all languages with fans
•  Creating a safe and memorable experience for a first time visit to a ball field
•  Former Tampa Bay Ray, Austin Meadows – a fan favorite who has become an advocate for mental health
• Former Ray, Ben Zobrist, might work on a project for young athletes and mental health
• Don (ZimBear) Zimmer will be inducted into the Ray's Hall of Fame
• Carl “The Catch” Crawford’s speed can be seen in Wander Franco & Siri
  
  
• Tampa Baseball Museum (TBM) teams up with East Bay Youth Athletics Little League & Malcolm Sweat 
• Florida Sports Hall of Fame & TBM threw a special event  
• Baseball, Bourbon & Cigars - Fans had 1 on 1 experiences with sports legends,  Johnny Damon, Mike Heath, Buc’s Super Bowl champions & NHL Hockey legend – Phil Esposito
• A walk through the Tampa Baseball Museum and the home of Al Lopez
• Tampa is full of World Series champions and great players like Gary Sheffield, Tino Martinez, Pete Alonso, Doc Gooden, Lance McCullers Jr. to name a few.
• Great and unexpected guests that visit the museum and share their stories
• 2 Tampa Bay area players, Lance McCullers & Kyle Tucker from 2022 Astros World Series champions 
• 25 Yeas Ago – Tampa natives, Luis Gonzales & Wade Boggs broke in the first Tampa Bay Rays games
• Josh invites everyone to visit the Tampa Baseball Museum  to play Trivia games and see “Pete’s Cleats” plus the Wall of Legendary autographed balls  

Tampa Baseball Museum is open Thursday, Friday & Saturdays from 10 AM to 4 PM 

For more information on the museum visit https://www.tampabaseballmuseum.org/

For more information on Mental Health you may reach out to the National Alliance of Mental Health (NAMI)

Thanks to Malcolm Sweat for all that he and his team does for baseball youth at East Bay Youth Athletics Little League

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