If you want to talk about the biggest Tampa Bay sports moments that didn’t end with a title-clinching celebration, the list starts with a night that felt like two games happening at once.
On September 28, 2011, the Rays were staring at a near-impossible path to the postseason. They had spent the previous three weeks erasing a nine-game deficit behind the Red Sox, but they still needed help.
A lot of it. First, the Baltimore Orioles had to beat Boston.
Then the Rays had to take care of the Yankees, who had already wrapped up the AL East.
Neither game looked promising early. Baltimore, sitting at 68-93, trailed 3-2 in the bottom of the ninth after an 86-minute rain delay. In Tampa, the Yankees had raced to a 7-0 lead through seven innings at Tropicana Field and had already pulled most of their regulars.
Then everything flipped.
Robert Andino punched a single in front of Carl Crawford, and Nolan Reimold scored on the play after tying the game with a double earlier in the inning. That gave the Orioles a result that mattered far beyond their record.
At the same time, the Rays were clawing back. Evan Longoria launched a three-run homer in the eighth to cut the Yankees’ lead to 7-6.
Dan Johnson tied it in the ninth, and then Longoria sent a game-winner over the low left-field fence. It came about five minutes after Andino’s single ended the Orioles game.
The 2008 Rays had their own run of unforgettable moments on the way to the World Series, but this one still stands out as the more memorable regular-season night.
Another Tampa Bay moment that belongs near the top came in Philadelphia, when Ronde Barber turned a tense playoff game into a runaway.
The matchup featured the Eagles’ fourth-ranked offense, which had scored 415 points in the regular season, against a Buccaneers defense that had allowed only 196 points, the best mark in the league by nearly 50 points. The Eagles struck first on Duce Staley’s 20-yard run, and there was plenty of reason to think the old playoff frustration might show up again after Tampa Bay had lost to Philadelphia in the wild card round the previous two seasons.
But the Bucs settled in. Philadelphia’s big run was its early headline, and after that the home team managed just 60 more rushing yards. The Eagles finished with 312 total yards to Tampa Bay’s 308, but they also gave the ball away three times.
Joe Jurevicius’ long catch-and-run late in the first quarter set up a Mike Alstott touchdown that put Tampa Bay ahead 10-7, and the defense took it from there. Even with a 20-10 lead and three minutes left, there was still a feeling that the Bucs might find a way to let it slip, especially with their 1-21 record in cold-weather games and the windchill at 16 degrees.
Ronde Barber ended all of that with one clean, brutal play. He read the route better than Antonio Freeman, picked off Donovan McNabb, and took it the other way for a touchdown.
No one was catching him. He cruised into the end zone and shut up the Philadelphia crowd.
Barber finished with the interception, four passes defended, three solo tackles, three combo tackles, and one forced fumble as Tampa Bay held the Eagles to a first-quarter touchdown and a second-quarter field goal. The Bucs would go on to reach the Super Bowl in San Diego a few weeks later and beat the Raiders to win their first Super Bowl and bury the Tampa Bay Yuks legacy forever.
And then there’s Steven Stamkos 2:47.
C’mon. Was there any doubt?