Yankees-Rays series exposes unfortunate truth for MLB

Mandatory Credit: Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn ImagesAs the Yankees took three of four from the rival Tampa Bay Rays over the weekend, fans noticed a key difference: the Rays were hosting from George M. Steinbrenner Field. New York’s spring training stadium will be the Rays’ home in 2025 while Tropicana Field is repaired following damage from Hurricane Helene last fall.

But it wasn’t Trent Grisham’s defense that stood out the most all weekend, nor the team’s gritty 1-0 on Friday. As YES Network play-by-play man noted, all four games were sellouts with “majority Yankees fans.”

The reason Kay gave was, to be fair, legitimate. New York City public schools (and schools in several states, at that) had…