ST. PETERSBURG -- It was 18 years ago that David Price threw the pitch, Jed Lowrie hit the grounder and Akinori Iwamura leaped off second base with the ball in his right hand and both arms raised to Tropicana Field’s domed roof. 

October 19, 2008. Game 7 of the American League Championship Series. The final out of a 3-1 win over the Red Sox before a crowd of 40,473 that sent the Rays to the World Series for the first time.

That moment, born the same night as babies now eligible to vote, lives forever in franchise history -- and in bronze outside this building. Alongside a statue of Evan Longoria celebrating his walk-off homer in Game 162 of the 2011 season, there is a likeness of the 29-year-old Iwamura, smiling and soaring through the infield.

Even 18 years later, it’s hard to separate the images from the words of late Rays radio broadcaster Dave Wills: “This improbable season has another chapter to it! The Rays are going to the World Series!”

For a club still in pursuit of its first championship, it was arguably the greatest moment in franchise history. But history, as you may have heard, has a funny way of repeating itself. Sometimes it rhymes.

With two outs and nobody on base in the ninth inning Monday night at Tropicana Field, closer Bryan Baker fired a two-strike changeup that Chase DeLauter popped into foul territory, near the Guardians’ dugout. Catcher Liam Hicks chased it, gloved it and pumped his fist as Baker tossed his glove toward The Trop’s catwalks.

October 19, 2026. Game 6 of the American League Championship Series. The final out of a 7-3 win over the Guardians before a crowd of 40,230 that sent the Rays to the World Series for the third time in franchise history.

This season -- this unexpected, unforgettable, unpredictable Rays season -- is not over. The Rays are AL champions, and they are going back to the World Series.

Whatever happens next, as the Rays move on to face the Brewers in the Fall Classic, this moment will live forever in franchise history.

• • • 

There were reminders of postseasons past all over Tropicana Field on Monday night. Tyler Glasnow and Randy Arozarena, pillars of the 2020 AL championship team, sat in the stands as fans. Longtime outfielder B.J. Upton, a huge part of the worst-to-first team in ‘08, threw out the ceremonial first pitch.

Kevin Cash has been present for all three of Tampa Bay’s pennant-clinching victories. He managed this one against the Guardians and the Rays’ 2020 victory over the Astros at Petco Park in San Diego, of course, and he was in the visitors’ dugout as a backup catcher for the Red Sox in ‘08.

Longoria was a franchise-altering rookie then, at the outset of a career that would end with his No. 3 among the Rays’ exclusive group of retired numbers. His main memory of that night? Feeling “incredibly nervous/excited.”

“After not getting it done in Game 5 and losing Game 6, I remember feeling like we had to get out to a good start and get the momentum back,” Longoria said in a text message before Game 6. “It was a close, back-and-forth game. We were able to get a few clutch hits and an amazing pitching performance out of [Matt] Garza.”

That gave the Rays a two-run lead entering the ninth inning in Game 7 of the 2008 ALCS, but it was by no means over. The rookie Price was on the mound and issued a leadoff walk to Jason Bay before striking out the next two hitters. Up came Lowrie, pinch-hitting for Alex Cora.

In Tropicana Field’s home radio booth, it was Andy Freed’s turn to provide color commentary in the ninth inning. Wills had the call. Freed turned off his microphone, got up and stood near the steps at the back of the booth.

“I really wanted Dave to have that moment,” Freed said before Saturday’s game. “Inevitably, there would be some sort of exclamation that would come out -- happy, sad, whatever -- because we didn't know the last out was going to happen until it happened.”

Lowrie slapped Price’s second pitch to the right of second base, where it took an odd hop to a waiting Iwamura’s glove. Fifteen years later, when the Rays dedicated Iwamura’s statue, that was the thing he remembered most -- the way it bounced before he ran toward shortstop Jason Bartlett and sprang off the bag.

“I remember that was a bad hop when that thing happened, but I'm glad that I was able to catch the ball,” Iwamura said in 2023. “And I'm glad I didn't give the ball to Jason Bartlett.”

The players formed a mosh pit in the infield, with Upton and Carl Crawford jumping on top. The Trop went wild. The dugout turned into one big group hug. Players made the home crowd a part of the night, emerging from the clubhouse and spraying the hardcore supporters who stuck around with champagne.

“My favorite part of the celebration,” Longoria recalled.

“Wild night. Really wild night,” Upton said Saturday, wearing his No. 2 jersey. “Wild atmosphere, man.”

Back in the radio booth, Freed struggled to catch his breath. He and Wills had called years of losing baseball on a nightly basis. Tampa Bay was desperate for a winner. 

All of a sudden, it had one to call its own.

“For what this franchise had gone through for that moment, I remember [taking a deep breath], like, 'Wow, heart’s beating,’” Freed said. “I wanted to make sure that call gets preserved, and that's Dave's moment.”

• • • 

Upton was in awe of the current club as he stood on the field before Freddy Peralta’s first pitch on Saturday night. That 97-win AL East champion and this year’s 98-win division champ, he said, are “very similar.”

“They wreak havoc, man. They do the little things well,” Upton said. “They’re playing baseball the right way.”

But it was a different cast of characters this time. Peralta played the role of Garza, delivering another strong start en route to ALCS MVP honors. Richie Palacios delivered a two-run double with two outs in the second inning that pushed all the momentum in the Rays’ favor.

Then came two-run homers by Junior Caminero, Longoria’s spiritual successor as the face-of-the-franchise third baseman, and Yandy Díaz, the only player on the Rays’ ALCS roster who took part in the 2020 World Series.

And in the ninth, Baker retired all three batters he faced. In the radio booth, high above home plate, Freed’s voice boomed.

“And for the third time in franchise history, the Tampa Bay Rays are heading to the World Series!” he said. “The Rays stream out of the dugout and party like it’s 2008 all over again!”