The Rays’ trip to Arlington this weekend will be familiar in some ways. They’ll stay in the same hotel that served as their World Series “bubble” last year. They’ll play at Globe Life Field, the Rangers’ new ballpark that opened last season. And they’ll take the field with fans in attendance, as they did for the first time last year in the World Series.

But the Rays’ second trip to Globe Life Field will obviously be different in many respects. They’ll be facing the hometown Rangers in a three-game weekend series, not the Dodgers in a best-of-seven World Series. They’re no longer confined to a “bubble,” with more COVID-19 rules and regulations lifted since more than 85 percent of their Tier 1 staff is fully vaccinated. And for the first time since 2019, they’ll be playing a meaningful game in a ballpark with no limitations placed on the number of fans in attendance.

“Last year with the Dodgers having a big fan base, it got pretty loud. They had a lot of fans, so it was really good to see,” Rays outfielder Randy Arozarena said through interpreter Manny Navarro. “With this year having the full capacity, it's going to be good. It's kind of a motivation when you have a big crowd, whether it's for the home team or even for the visiting team. I think it's going to be fun and exciting.”

The Rays ultimately came up short in their first visit to Texas’ new ballpark, losing to the Dodgers in six games, but the place still holds special memories for many, including -- and perhaps especially -- Arozarena. He completed his breakout postseason by going 8-for-22 with three homers in the World Series, and he scored the winning run -- pounding home plate multiple times after tripping and scampering and diving to get there -- in Tampa Bay’s wild Game 4 win.

“It was my first World Series, so it was a beautiful thing. All six games were special,” Arozarena said. “It's something to always remember. Obviously Game 4 was very special, and then the home runs I hit as well.”

One odd statistical quirk resulting from last year’s neutral-site World Series: The Rays have made five postseason appearances since 2010, and during that stretch they’ve won more games in Arlington (six, including Globe Life Park and Globe Life Field) than at Tropicana Field (five). Returning there on Friday will allow the players who took part in the Tampa Bay’s postseason run “a quick moment to reflect on a pretty special time,” manager Kevin Cash said.

And it will be a return to normalcy in another regard. During their last homestand against the Yankees and Astros, the Rangers averaged 31,253 fans per game. With social distancing measures still in place in most ballparks, the largest crowd the Rays have played in front of this season was 17,008, on Monday at Yankee Stadium. During the World Series last year, attendance peaked at 11,472.

“Hopefully we get to witness those crowds,” Cash said. “Our players, they play with a lot of emotion and fans can intensify that. We like having fans in the ballpark. It just brings a lot of energy out.”

The idea of playing in front of a packed house again clearly has the Rays’ players excited, too.

“I know they're at full capacity, so it's going to be the loudest game, the loudest series we've been at. It's going be a lot of fun,” said left-hander Josh Fleming, who is expected to pitch in some role Friday before Rich Hill and Tyler Glasnow start the final two games of the series. “I'm very excited. We're kind of getting back to everyone getting full capacity, and it's real baseball again. So it's going to be exciting.”

“I think it's going to be great. I think the biggest thing that I'm looking forward to is seeing what it could have been like at full capacity for the stadium,” added left-hander Ryan Yarbrough. “Because it was honestly really loud and a great environment just at the capacity it was [in the World Series]. I don't know exactly the number of fans that were there at the time, but just to kind of see what it will be now at a potential full capacity, I think we're excited for that.”