Tampa Bay Rays ‘Can’t Just Blame’ Steinbrenner Field For Home Woes

By: bitcoin ethereum news|2025/05/06 22:45:01
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Tampa Bay Rays’ Brandon Lowe bats against the Colorado Rockies during the eighth inning of a ... More baseball game Friday, March 28, 2025, in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O’Meara) While the atmosphere at Steinbrenner Field has been wonderful to this point in the 2025 season, the home team’s inability to cross the plate in its temporary place of residence has been a major issue. Examples of the Rays’ run-scoring difficulties include being blanked four times in a seven-game span at home. During that stretch they went 1-for-18 with runners in scoring position in a three-game series sweep at the hands of the visiting Royals, a series in which the Rays scored three runs. Tampa Bay (16-18) heads into a six-game homestand that begins Tuesday evening against the Phillies having scored three runs or less in seven of its last eight at home. The outlier was a 10-8 win in 10 innings against the Yankees, a game the Rays trailed 8-4 heading into their half of the ninth. Since opening the season by winning four of their first five against Colorado and Pittsburgh, the Rays are a dismal 5-12 at 1 Steinbrenner Drive. A constant and often stiff breeze has rendered many seemingly deep drives to left field and center field nothing more than routine fly outs. Conversely, the ball has unquestionably carried well to right field with a handful of homers having disappeared over the wall near a foul pole that is all of 314 feet away, just like Yankees Stadium. In fact, the ballpark’s dimensions, including 318 to left and 408 to center, are the same as those in the Bronx. The elements are something the Rays, of course, never had to deal with while playing their first 27 seasons indoors at Tropicana Field. Alas, Steinbrenner Field and Mother Nature can play havoc with those in the home clubhouse who are navigating the 81-game home schedule. “It’s not an easy place to hit, by any means,” said second baseman Brandon Lowe, the longest-tenured member of the Rays. “I’m sure everybody thinks that it’s just like Yankee Stadium, and it’s not. The wind blows in almost every single game. It’s hard to see at night. And it’s kind of proven to be a little more difficult than people were originally thinking.” Steinbrenner Field had new lights installed prior to spring training 2023. The Yankees have played plenty of Grapefruit League games at night, so it’s nothing new. What could make a difference is the lights are not as high in the smaller park, though everything is up to MLB standard. The wind, and adjusting to it, has been a much larger issue. “The park has been a big factor,” said bench coach Rodney Linares, in his seventh season on manager Kevin Cash’s staff. “A lot of guys talk about going the other way (to right field) because the ball travels that way, and a lot of guys, they go away from their strengths sometimes. You can see the difference (when we play on the road). It has been a little challenging.” Speaking of the road, the Rays have fared well on their last two trips going a combined 7-2 at Arizona, San Diego, where they caught the Padres at the right time given the many injuries that Mike Shildt’s club was dealing with, and Yankee Stadium. True, the Rays scored more than four runs in only three of those games while they were shut out once. Yet, it is clear the lineup and its approach has been better on the road. “It’s puzzling, but that’s baseball at times,” said Cash, whose team has hit only 21 homers in 22 home games. “I don’t have an explanation. It’s frustrating and it’s irritating.” The Rays banged out 16 hits in a 7-5 win over the Yankees on Sunday to take two of three from their division rival in the Bronx. Carryover is needed for a team hungry to pick up the pace at home where it is averaging exactly four runs per game (88 runs, 22 games), and a paltry 3.6 when the aforementioned extra-inning win against the Yankees and a 16-1 mauling of the Red Sox on April 14 are excluded. “Obviously, we’ve got to be better,” said Lowe. “We can’t just blame the (ballpark) for not scoring runs, but we’re going to have to figure it out here soon.” Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/tomlayberger/2025/05/06/tampa-bay-rays-cant-just-blame-steinbrenner-field-for-home-woes/

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On March 4, 2026, DDC Enterprise Limited (NYSE American: DDC) today announced preliminary, unaudited full-year financial performance for the year ended December 31, 2025. The company expects to achieve record revenue and record positive adjusted EBITDA, primarily driven by continued growth in its core consumer food business and overall margin improvement. The final audited financial report is expected to be released in mid-April 2026.


2025 Full-Year Financial Highlights


Revenue: Expected to be between $39 million and $41 million, reaching a new company high.


Organic Growth: Excluding the impact of the company's strategic contraction of its U.S. operations, core revenue is expected to grow 11% to 17% year over year.


Gross Profit Margin: Expected to be between 28% and 30%, reflecting continued operational efficiency improvements.


Adjusted EBITDA: The company expects to achieve a positive full-year result in 2025, a significant improvement from a $3.5 million loss in 2024, mainly due to rigorous cost controls and a higher-margin sales mix.


Core Consumer Food Business Performance


In 2025, DDC's core consumer food business maintained strong operational performance.


The company also disclosed Core Consumer Food Business Adjusted EBITDA, a metric that further excludes costs related to its Bitcoin reserve strategy and non-cash fair value adjustments related to its Bitcoin holdings from adjusted EBITDA to more accurately reflect the core business performance.


In 2025, Core Consumer Food Business Adjusted EBITDA is expected to be between $5.5 million and $6 million.


Bitcoin Reserve Update


In the first half of 2025, DDC initiated a long-term Bitcoin accumulation strategy, holding Bitcoin as its primary reserve asset.


As of December 31, 2025: The company holds 1,183 BTC.


As of February 28, 2026: Holdings increased to 2,118 BTC


Today's additional purchase of 65 BTC brings the company's total holdings to 2,183 BTC


DDC Founder, Chairman, and CEO Norma Chu stated, "We are proud to have closed 2025 with record revenue and positive adjusted EBITDA, demonstrating the steady growth of the company's consumer food business and the ongoing improvement in profitability. We are building a disciplined, growth-oriented food platform and strategically allocating capital to Bitcoin assets with a long-term view, aligning with our core beliefs. We believe that this dual-track model of 'Steady Consumer Business + Strategic Bitcoin Reserve' will help DDC create lasting long-term value for shareholders."


Adjusted EBITDA Definition
For the full year 2025, the company defines "Adjusted EBITDA" (a non-GAAP financial measure) as: Net income / (loss) excluding the following items:· Interest expense· Taxes· Foreign exchange gains/losses· Long-lived asset impairment· Depreciation and amortization· Non-cash fair value changes related to financial instruments (including Bitcoin holdings)· Stock-based compensation


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The company has established Bitcoin as a core reserve asset and is executing a prudent, long-oriented accumulation strategy. While expanding its portfolio of food brands, DDC is gradually becoming one of the public company pioneers in integrating Bitcoin into its corporate financial architecture.


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