TAMPA — Back to normal.
That was the mood in the Rays’ clubhouse before Thursday night’s exhibition game against the New York Yankees at Steinbrenner Field.
Tuesday, the Rays traveled to Havana and played on a worldwide stage, defeating the Cuban national team 4-1, touring the island nation and interacting with its passionate baseball fans.
The trip had a major inconvenience. Due to a mechanical problem on the team’s Eastern Airlines 737 charter, the flight didn’t land in Tampa until Wednesday at about 5 a.m. The players were stuck on the plane, which was fully air conditioned, and touched down nearly seven hours after its intended arrival.