TAMPA, Fla. — When the Rays were facing the Astros in the American League Division Series two weeks ago, Buccaneers tight end O.J. Howard attended a playoff game at Tropicana Field and made a wild bare-handed catch of a line drive in foul territory in right field.



Bucs quarterback Jameis Winston was asked later about the catch and his rooting interest in the Rays, and he casually mentioned that while he’s always pulling for the local teams, he has personal connections to the Astros.



“It’s always good when you’ve got teams from Tampa in the playoffs,” he said. “We’ve got to be one of those teams, so that was big, and I’ve got a couple of friends on the Astros that I played some baseball with.”



With the Astros advancing and now playing the Nationals in the World Series — they’re down 2-1 as the series heads to Game 4 Saturday night in Washington — we liked the idea of revisiting...