World Series for two

The Rays are back home tonight after a disappointing start to the World Series. The Rays dropped the first two of the Fall Classic on the road against the Milwaukee Brewers. And now the Rays have a chance to get back into the series here at home at the Trop. Games three, four, and five will all be played in St. Petersburg. And first pitch is set for just after 8 p.m. for all of the games. And for one Carrollwood family, this World Series run is about more than baseball. It's a chance to make up for a game they missed. 18 years ago. Fox 13's Jennifer Vagelis joins us here in the studio. So, Jennifer, take us back to that time. What kept them from going to that game? Yeah, Brianna, for Tanya Pena, that World Series game has always been a what-if moment. She was supposed to go with her mom, Vicky, back in 2008, but a high-risk pregnancy and complications after giving birth kept her in the hospital. But come tomorrow, they're bringing three generations of Rays fans together for a night they will never forget it's the do-over Tanya Pena and her family have waited 18 years for we want to come so early because we want to be here like as soon as it opens rewind to fall 2008 life for the family was very different my grandfather had open heart surgery my dad actually died that year and then i was pregnant with my son all while the rays were gearing up for their first world series matchup in franchise history against the Philadelphia Phillies tanya's mom vicky was a season ticket holder and Tanya was gearing up to attend a game with her. That was until Tanya's health took a turn. I had preeclampsia. So in order for me to not have that, to be able to deliver whatever I had to deliver early so that my blood pressure would go down. Her son Jaden was welcomed into the world, but complications for Tanya continued through it all. Vicky was by her side. I kept telling her just go to the Rays game, it's important, just go. I know that's how important it is to you, but she was like, no, no, no, no, no. gonna stay here with you. Vicky wouldn't budge and gave away her tickets. It was very important for her to make sure she was there with me. As Jayden grew up, baseball became a big part of his life. He's played baseball since he was three and he now plays in high school. And so did the Rays. He's always been a huge Rays fan. I mean, because our last name is Pena. So when he was little, I actually have a picture of him when he was little. He was like months old and he's in a Pena jersey Now, at 18 years old, Jaden is all grown up and with the Rays back at the Trop for the World Series, the family decided it was time to make up for that missed game. They splurged on tickets to game three, giving Vicky a chance to finally experience the World Series with her daughter. So it's just like a full circle moment. And for Jaden, the news was almost too good to believe. Because my husband's like, yeah, we're going. And he's like, yeah, yeah, the team's going. He's like, no, no, no, we're going. Wow, how incredible is that? I know, I know. And the family says they're actually not going to be taking any chances on missing a moment of the action tomorrow. So they plan to get at the Trop as soon as those gates open. And they're even going to have their game tickets printed at the Ray's merch store so that they can frame those tickets next to a photo of themselves at the game. so it'll just be a memory that they'll you know cherish forever I mean it's it could be once in a lifetime opportunity that's so cool I love that even like he the son ended up growing up playing baseball here in like the neighborhood and everything hopefully he even gets to meet some players that'd be pretty awesome that would be really cool and he was actually there at the ALCS game when the Rays took the win and made it into the World Series so it was a really special moment for him to be there and then you know as you just saw when he learned that hey we're going to the World Series we're going to actually see this in person at the Trop yeah so elated so it's going to be a nice family outing that they'll never forget oh i'm very excited to see the pictures that they take there and just the reactions of having that whole game day environment we will absolutely air them after for sure awesome thank you so much jennifer