A Sickles kid signed for $3.25M ⚾ (and it's 813 Day) Plus, the free hometown holiday Thursday, a horror circus at the Fairgrounds, and where to eat your way through the week.

Good morning, neighbors. First week of school is in the books — everybody survive?Tell us about it. This week we're leading with a genuinely great hometown story: a kid who was playing shortstop at Sickles eighteen months ago just came home to Tampa as a first-round Detroit Tiger. Plus it's 813 Day on Thursday, there's an adults-only horror circus at the Fairgrounds, and — as always — we'll tell you where to be all week. Let's go.

Eighteen months ago, Jordan Yost was a skinny shortstop hitting .420 for Sickles High. A couple of weeks ago, he walked into George M. Steinbrenner Field as a first-round pick in the Detroit Tigers organization — batting leadoff against the hometown Tampa Tarpons, in front of the friends and family who watched him grow up here.

The short version of a remarkable rise: the Tigers took the Citrus Park kid 24th overall in the 2025 MLB Draft and signed him for a cool $3.25 million — pulling him away from his original plan of joining his older brother Hayden on the University of Florida baseball team. His senior year at Sickles was the stuff of local legend: a .420 average, and — the number that makes scouts sit up — only 10 strikeouts across his entire high school career. He swept the big regional honors, including the Saladino Award given to a standout Hillsborough County senior since 1971. He was just the third Sickles player to win it in seven seasons.

Now 19, Yost is playing shortstop for the Single-A Lakeland Flying Tigers, and this summer brought him back through Tampa for a four-game Florida State League series against the Tarpons — a genuine homecoming, even if he had to do it from the visitors' side. Through his first 58 pro games he's hitting .253 with 43 walks and 13 stolen bases, showing exactly the plate discipline and speed that made him a first-rounder. And here's the kicker for local baseball fans: his brother Hayden turned pro this summer too. Keep an eye on both names.

813 Day · Thursday, August 13 · All over Tampa Bay · Mostly free

If you're new to the area, here's your induction: 813 Day, named for the area code, is Tampa's unofficial hometown holiday, and every year it gets bigger. Expect local businesses running 813-themed deals, community events, and general civic pride all day Thursday. Hyde Park Village hosts one of the anchor celebrations with live music, surprise moments, and exclusive offers from local shops, but the real spirit of the day is smaller: it's a nudge to spend your money at the local spot instead of the chain. Grab lunch somewhere family-owned, tip well, and wear something with a 813 on it. See many of the 813 deals here:

Forbici – $8.13 specialty Pineapple Amore cocktail

The Florida Aquarium – $8.13 off walk-up entries

Union New American – $8.13 specialty Tampeño cocktail

Boulon – $8.13 specialty Le Chic cocktail

Noble Crust (Carrollwood and Wesley Chapel) – Frozen Orange Creamsicle for $8.13 Thursday-Sunday

LightHaus – $8.13 Macho Nachos, Loaded Fries, and select brews

Splitsville – $8.13 Lightning Lemonade, California Roll, Spicy Tuna Roll + more

Four Green Fields – $8.13 apps and Jameson

3 Corners Pizza – $8.13 Cheese pizzas, pepperoni pizzas and Watermelon Refresher Cocktails

Predalina – $8.13 specialty Sunset on Bayshore cocktail, plus proceeds benefiting Feeding Tampa Bay

JoDog – $8.13 Classic Dog + drink

BODYROK – $8.13 Tampa Bay socks

Dang Dude – $8.13 limited-time Cuban Bao Buns

Gallito Taqueria – $8.13 Krunchwraps (plus special 813 Tacos)

Palmette Brasserie and Bar – $8.13 special crispy chicken sandwich and Crowned Buccaneer cocktail

The Dan – Five signature bites for $8.13: Chicken Wings; Chips & Salsa; Wagyu Beef Sliders; Beef Empanadas; and Roasted Red Pepper Hummus

Oystercatchers – Select appetizers, signature cocktails, and house wines for $8.13

Downtown Dogs – Complimentary Frosty Pup Cups all day; 813-branded bandanas, dog toys, and sweet dog treats

Ro – Karaage Bao (2) for $8.13: Japanese fried chicken, pickled cucumber, and spicy mayo bao; 813 Cuban Dumplings: roasted pork, ham, pickles, and mojo aioli; 813 Sunset for $13: Awayuki gin, fresh orange juice, orange bitters, yuzu extract, topped with prosecco and garnished with dehydrated lemon

On Swann – $13.08 Spritz Cocktail and full spritz cocktail menu; $8.13 empanadas

Sesame – 813 Hour (8:13–9:13 AM): first 20 customers receive a complimentary iced coffee with any purchase; 813 Special all day: bagel, spread, and drip coffee for $8.13

bartaco – Trio (chips + salsa + guac) for $8.13, dine-in only

Bouzy – $8 cocktails and martinis during Happy Hour; $13 cocktails before and after Happy Hour; $8 bao buns and shrimp cocktail during Happy Hour

The Candle Pour – $8.13 off all 3-wick candles, available in-store, online, custom, and retail

The Pirate Candy Shop – $8.13 mix of pink candy in collaboration with That’s So Tampa

The Salty Donut – Any drink and donut pairing for $8.13

Palihouse Hyde Park Village – Aperol Spritz for $8.13; Watermelon Margarita for $13.08

Posies – Mini bouquets for $8.13 in collaboration with That’s So Tampa; Complimentary bud vase with any purchase over $30

The Dali Museum – $8.13 off gallery admission

Mandarin Heights – $8.13 espresso martinis, margarita, and boilermakers

Florida Museum of Photographic Arts – $8.13 admission

J.C. Newman Cigar Co. – $8.13 guided factory tours

The Sail – $8.13 “It’s Always Sunny” frozen Irish lemonade

MOSI – Free round of mini-golf with admission

Not for the kids, this one. Fear Circus, an adults-only horror show from the Taconhy production house, sets up at the Florida State Fairgrounds Special Events Center on Friday, August 14 at 8:30 p.m. The pitch: no safety net, no softening for anybody in the front row. Twisted clowns prowling the aisles, aerialists dropping from a blackened rig, and — per the promoters — a chainsaw revving somewhere in the dark. Nobody under 13 admitted; 13–17 must be with an adult. Tickets $30, parking $10–$12. If your idea of a good August night is being genuinely unsettled in air conditioning, this is your Thursday.

Cook Out — the wait continues. Every week the Carrollwood group chats ask the same question, so here's the standing answer until it changes: the Cook Out going into the old Boston Market at 16215 N. Dale Mabry (across from Gaither) is still under construction with no announced opening date.

The Temple Terrace location on Fowler is open first among the Tampa Bay sites — so if you want an early taste of what's coming, that's the one to try. We'll shout the second a date surfaces.

The Plaza at Citrus Park. Build-out continues on the four-tenant conversion

We're keeping this one short this week, on purpose — because as of our deadline, nothing official has moved. The Lutz neighbors fighting Apex Academy have the money for an appeal (their GoFundMe cleared ~$20,000), but no appeal has yet appeared in the county's records, and the filing window is the thing to watch. More the moment there's real news.

The "813" that Tampa celebrates every August 13 wasn't always ours alone. When Florida first split into area codes, nearly the entire lower half of the state shared a single code — and 813 has been carved down over the decades as the population exploded, spinning off 941, then 727 across the bay, and others. Today 813 is essentially Hillsborough County's signature — which is exactly why it doubles so neatly as a hometown holiday. You're not just celebrating a place; you're celebrating the three digits that survived every split.

Nominations for the Daybreak Mug Awards are still open, and 813 Day is the perfect excuse to nominate your favorite local coffee spot — the family-owned kind, not the one with a drive-thru in every state. Sixty seconds. We read every one, and the leaderboard's getting spicy. Share the QR with friends and help promote your spot.

See you next week, or on Facebook if anything urgent happens. 😉

— Citrus Park & Carrollwood Weekly