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Tampa Bay Devil Rays
"The Rays"
Established 1998
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Team Logo |
Cap Insignia |
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| Major league affiliations |
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| Current uniform |
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| Retired Numbers |
12 |
| Name |
- Tampa Bay Devil Rays (1998–present)
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| Ballpark |
- Tropicana Field (1998–present)
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| Major league titles |
| World Series titles (0) |
None |
| AL Pennants (0) |
None |
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| Division titles (0) |
None |
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| Wild card berths (0) |
None |
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The Tampa Bay Devil Rays are a Major League Baseball team based in St. Petersburg, Florida. The team is in the East Division of the American League. The team was added to the league in 1998 as an expansion team, and currently plays its home games in Tropicana Field.
[edit] Before the Devil Rays
The original Devil Rays logo
Although the Devil Rays are one of baseball's youngest franchises, the Tampa Bay area has had a long history in professional baseball dating back to 1913. It was then that the Chicago Cubs moved their spring training site to the city of Tampa. St. Petersburg became a spring training host for the first time in 1922 when the Boston Braves came to town. Since that time, more major league spring training games have been played in St. Petersburg than any other city[1].
St. Petersburg has been the spring training home for nine teams: the Baltimore Orioles, Boston Braves, New York Giants, New York Mets, New York Yankees, Philadelphia Phillies, St. Louis Browns, St. Louis Cardinals, and currently the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. Tampa has hosted spring training for seven teams: the Boston Red Sox, Chicago Cubs, Chicago White Sox, Cincinnati Reds, Detroit Tigers, Washington Senators, and the New York Yankees, who currently call Tampa their spring training home.
The area also has been the home to many minor league franchises. It began in 1919 when Tampa entered the Class D Florida State League (FSL). St. Petersburg also fielded a team in the league in 1920. Both cities were mainstays in the FSL, which is now a Class A league, throughout the 20th century. Today, the Tampa Yankees still play in the FSL. Other cities in the Tampa Bay region, including Clearwater, Dunedin, and Lakeland have also had long histories in the league and still have teams. In addition, several past and present teams in the Rookie level Gulf Coast League have called the Tampa Bay region home.
St. Petersburg was the home of the St. Petersburg Pelicans in the short-lived Senior Professional Baseball Association in 1989-1990. The league featured former major league players who were age 35 or older. The Pelicans won the only league championship.
With its rich baseball tradition and growing population, the Tampa Bay area made many unsuccessful attempts to acquire a major league baseball team in the 1980s and 1990s. The Minnesota Twins, Oakland Athletics, Chicago White Sox, Texas Rangers, and Seattle Mariners all considered moving to either Tampa or St. Petersburg before deciding to remain in their current locations. The Florida Suncoast Dome (now named Tropicana Field) was built in St. Petersburg in 1990 with the purpose of luring a major league team. When Major League Baseball announced that it would add two expansion teams for the 1993 season, it was widely assumed that one of the teams would be placed in St. Petersburg. However, the teams were rewarded to Denver and Miami instead.
In 1992, San Francisco Giants owner Bob Lurie agreed in principle to sell his team to a Tampa Bay-based group of investors, who would then move the team to the St. Petersburg. However, at the 11th hour, MLB owners nixed the move under pressure from San Francisco officials and the Giants were sold to a group that kept them in San Francisco.
Finally, on March 9, 1995, new expansion franchises were awarded to a Tampa Bay group led by Vincent Naimoli and a group from Phoenix (the Arizona Diamondbacks). On that date, the Tampa Bay Devil Rays were born. The new franchises were scheduled to begin play in 1998.
The Tampa Bay area finally had a team, but the stadium in St. Petersburg was already in need of an upgrade. In 1993, the stadium was renamed the Thunderdome and became the home of the Tampa Bay Lightning hockey team and the Tampa Bay Storm Arena Football League team. After the birth of Devil Rays, the naming rights were sold to Tropicana Products and $70 million was spent on renovations.
[edit] Franchise history
[edit] Before 1998
The Devil Rays began to build their organization shortly after the franchise was awarded in 1995 by naming former Atlanta Braves assistant general manager Chuck LaMar the senior vice president of baseball operations and general manager. The franchise's first minor league games took place in the 1996 season. On November 7, 1997, Larry Rothschild was named the team's first manager. The team acquired 35 players in the Expansion Draft on November 18, 1997. Tony Saunders from the Florida Marlins was the first player drafted by the Devil Rays. The team also drafted future star Bobby Abreu and promptly traded him to the Philadelphia Phillies for Kevin Stocker, who had very little success for the Devil Rays. Before the 1998 season, star players Wade Boggs, Fred McGriff, and Wilson Alvarez were acquired.
A 2000 picture of the "Hit Show". From left to right:
José Canseco, Vinny Castilla, Greg Vaughn, and Fred McGriff.
[edit] 1998-2003
The Devil Rays played their first game on March 31, 1998 against the Detroit Tigers at Tropicana Field before a crowd of 45,369. Wilson Alvarez threw the first pitch and Wade Boggs hit the first home run in team history that day, but in a sign of troubled times ahead, the Rays lost 11-6. Since then, the Devil Rays have yet to have a winning season, finishing in last place in the American League East every year from 1998 to 2003. Jose Canseco was signed prior to the 1999 season. One of the most memorable moments in franchise history occurred on August 7, 1999 when Wade Boggs tallied his 3000th career hit. Boggs retired after the season and is the only Devil Ray with his number retired. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2005.
The Devil Rays acquired sluggers Vinny Castilla and Greg Vaughn on December 13, 1999 and dubbed McGriff, Canseco, Castilla, and Vaughn the "Hit Show". As it turned out, however, all of these players were past their prime, and the team continued to struggle in 2000. Prior to the 2001 season, the Devil Rays changed their team colors and uniforms and also acquired highly-touted outfielder Ben Grieve from Oakland but neither move improved their luck in the standings. On April 18, Larry Rothschild was fired as manager and was replaced by Hal McRae. By the 2002 season, the Rays decided to build with younger players and drastically reduced the team payroll. Randy Winn, Aubrey Huff, Toby Hall, and Carl Crawford began to emerge as key players. However, the 2002 season would prove to be the worst in franchise history to date. McRae was moved to a front office position after the season.
Before the 2003 season, the team traded Randy Winn to the Seattle Mariners for the right to negotiate with manager Lou Piniella, a Tampa native, who managed winning teams at every stop in his managerial career, including the New York Yankees, the Cincinnati Reds (who he led to a World Championship in 1990), and the Mariners (who he helped build into perennial contenders in the mid-1990s). Piniella was attracted to the Tampa Bay job because of the proximity to his family and the chance to build a losing franchise into a winner as he had done in Seattle. Piniella's first team still finished last, but was seven games better than the 2002 team. A highlight of the 2003 season was the emergence of Rocco Baldelli as one of the top rookies in the major leagues.
[edit] 2004
Aubrey Huff, Carl Crawford, and Rocco Baldelli.
Expectations were low for the team entering the 2004 season, but the team surprised most baseball experts by finishing with the best record in team history, 70-91. It was the first time the Devil Rays won 70 games in a season and they also finished in 4th place in the American League East, out of last place for the first time ever. They were 10-28 in May when they started a run in which they won 30 of 40 games, including a team-record 12 games in a row. The Rays had a 42-41 record after 83 games, within 5 games of the American League wild card. However, the team soon returned to its losing ways, leading to a final record of 21 games below .500. The season was highlighted by the continued development of Aubrey Huff, Carl Crawford, and Rocco Baldelli into some of the top young hitters in baseball. The front office produced a major accomplishment on July 30, 2004 when pitcher Victor Zambrano was traded to the New York Mets for pitcher Scott Kazmir, who has since become the team's best pitcher and one of the top young pitchers in all of baseball.
[edit] 2005
After a 28-61 record at the All-Star Break in 2005, the Devil Rays turned it around in the second half of the season, going 39-34, for a final record of 67-95. Rocco Baldelli missed the entire 2005 season due to injury, but Carl Crawford and newcomers Jorge Cantu and Jonny Gomes led a productive offense that finished third in the American League in team batting average. To counterbalance that, however, the pitching staff had the second worst ERA in the American League. During their strong second half, the Rays played spoilers in September, with timely victories over contenders such as the New York Yankees, Cleveland Indians, and Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. Despite the promising finish, Lou Piniella became frustrated with what he perceived as an insufficient commitment to winning by the ownership group, and he reached a settlement with the team to release him from the last year of his contract.
[edit] 2005-2006 offseason
Shortly after the season ended, Stuart Sternberg, who bought into the ownership group in 2004, took over from Vince Naimoli as managing general partner, thus taking over executive control of the team. He immediately fired Chuck LaMar, who had been the team's general manager since the team's first season, and most of the front office. Matt Silverman was named the team president, and Andrew Friedman took the role of Executive Vice President of Baseball Operations. Gerry Hunsicker, former General Manager of the Houston Astros, was named the Senior Vice President of Baseball Operations, with the responsibility of advising the younger Friedman. Sternberg decided not to have a de jure General Manager, calling the position "outdated". Friedman and Hunsicker share the role of team representative at MLB functions. [2]
The team focused its rebuilding efforts around young stars such as outfielders Carl Crawford, Rocco Baldelli, and Jonny Gomes, infielder Jorge Cantu (who hit 28 home runs and drove in 117 runs in 2005) and pitcher Scott Kazmir (who finished in the top 5 in the American League in strikeouts). Baldelli missed the entire 2005 season with injuries, but returned to the team in 2006. Also figuring into the Rays' future plans were Delmon Young and B.J. Upton, considered two of the best prospects in all of baseball.
In December 2005, Joe Maddon, the former bench coach for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, was named the new manager of the Devil Rays, the fourth in team history, replacing Lou Piniella in that role.
During the offseason, the new front office invested $10 million in improvements to Tropicana Field. [3] Among the major changes were new club seating on the first base side, a 35-foot, 10,000 gallon touch tank holding 30 live cownose rays behind the right-center field fence [4], and the addition of the Ted Williams Museum and Hitters Hall of Fame, relocated from Citrus County. [5] Other changes to increase attendance and fan interest included free parking at all home games, allowing tailgating in the parking lot before games, allowing fans to bring their own food and drinks into Tropicana Field, lower ticket prices and concession prices, and an increased number of promotions and give-aways.
In addition, the front office announced that it is considering changing the name of the team after the 2007 season. A poll of season ticket holders suggested that the change may be as simple as the term "Devil" being dropped, making the team the "Tampa Bay Rays". [6] Many fans and members of the media already refer to the team as the "Rays" for short.
[edit] 2006
With the change of ownership and the strong finish to the 2005 season, Tampa Bay fans were optimistic about the 2006 season. On April 10, 2006, the official attendance at Tropicana Field for the Rays' home opener was 40,199, the highest turnout since the 1998 Inaugural Season home opener.
An unfortunate event occurred on April 26, when Delmon Young, playing for the Triple-A Durham Bulls, was ejected from the first inning of a game for arguing a third strike, and tossed his bat at the umpire, striking him in the chest protector. The umpire was not injured, but Young was suspended indefinitely the next day by the International League. Young ultimately was suspended for 50 games without pay and performed 50 hours of community service. [7]
At the All-Star Break, Tampa Bay was only 11 games under the .500 mark (39-50). However, the front office became convinced that the Rays would not contend in 2006 and they traded several veteran players who were not in their future plans for younger players who were expected to contribute more in future seasons. The trades included:
- On June 20, outfielder Joey Gathright and infielder Fernando Cortez were traded to the Kansas City Royals for pitcher J.P. Howell.
- On June 27, pitcher Mark Hendrickson and catcher Toby Hall were traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers for pitcher Jae Seo, 22-year old catcher Dioner Navarro, and minor league outfielder Justin Ruggiano.
- On July 12, infielder and long-time Ray Aubrey Huff was traded to the Houston Astros for young shortstop Ben Zobrist and minor league pitcher Mitch Talbot.
- On July 31, shortstop Julio Lugo was traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers for minor league prospects Joel Guzman and Sergio Pedroza.
- On August 24, utility player Russell Branyan was traded to the San Diego Padres for minor league pitchers Evan Meek and Dale Thayer.
The Rays struggled in the second half, going 22-51 to finish the season with a 61-101 record, the worst in the major leagues. The team's poor play in the second half was attributed to the trades of veterans for prospects, injuries to key players such as Scott Kazmir and Ty Wigginton, and slumps by several players (notably Jonny Gomes and Jorge Cantu). Another factor was that the Rays played extremely poorly on the road, winning only 3 out of 36 road games after July 1. This matched the 1943 Philadelphia Athletics for the least number of road wins after the All Star break in baseball history. [8] Overall, the Rays went 20-61 on the road, the third lowest number of wins on the road by any team since 1961. [9] On top of that, they led the major leagues in the number of leads blown with 94 and set a new American League record by losing 60 games that they had led. The Rays led in 121 games, but won only 61.
On the positive side, the Rays finished with a winning record at home (41-40) for the first time ever. Also, home attendance increased by 20% over 2005 to 1,372,193. This was the Rays' highest attendance since 2000. [10]
During the 2006 offseason, the Devil Rays lost two players who had been in their organization. Cory Lidle, who had played parts of the 1999 and 2000 seasons in the major leagues for the Devil Rays, died in an airplane crash in Manhattan on October 11. Erik Walker, a 23-year-old pitching prospect for the Hudson Valley Renegades who had recently gone 3-1 with a 0.48 ERA during his first professional season, died in a canoeing accident on the New River in Grayson County, Virginia. [11]
[edit] Season records
| Season |
W |
L |
Win % |
Finish |
Playoffs |
| 1998 |
63 |
99 |
.389 |
5th in A.L. East |
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| 1999 |
69 |
93 |
.426 |
5th in A.L. East |
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| 2000 |
69 |
92 |
.429 |
5th in A.L. East |
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| 2001 |
62 |
100 |
.383 |
5th in A.L. East |
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| 2002 |
55 |
106 |
.342 |
5th in A.L. East |
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| 2003 |
63 |
99 |
.389 |
5th in A.L. East |
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| 2004 |
70 |
91 |
.435 |
4th in A.L. East |
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| 2005 |
67 |
95 |
.414 |
5th in A.L. East |
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| 2006 |
61 |
101 |
.377 |
5th in A.L. East |
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| Total |
579 |
876 |
.398 |
N/A |
0 Playoff Appearances |
[edit] Quick facts
- Founded: 1998 (American League expansion)
- Home ballpark: Tropicana Field
- Uniform colors: green, black, white, gray
- Logo design: The letters "TB" superimposed on a devil ray (manta ray)
- Mascot: A six-foot, six-inch seadog named "Raymond", wearing a Tampa Bay Devil Rays jersey number 00
- Playoff appearances (0): none
- Current Owner: Stuart Sternberg, et al.
- Current Manager: Joe Maddon
- Current General Manager: Position Eliminated by Owner (the position is currently filled at MLB functions by Andrew Friedman and Gerry Hunsicker)
- Local Television: FSN Florida, WXPX
- Spring Training Facility: Progress Energy Park, St. Petersburg, FL
[edit] Retired numbers
- 12 Wade Boggs, 3B, 1998-99
- 42 Jackie Robinson, retired by all Major League clubs to honor his breaking of Baseball's color barrier.
[edit] Famous fans
- Brian Knobbs - Professional wrestler
- Silas Simmons - former Negro Leagues baseball player[12]
- Rob Szasz - The "Happy Heckler"
- Dick Vitale - College basketball broadcaster
[edit] Prominent Major Leaguers from Tampa Bay
- Derek Bell
- Wade Boggs
- Carl Everett
- Steve Garvey
- Luis Gonzalez
- Dwight Gooden
- Howard Johnson
- Tony LaRussa
- Al Lopez
- Dave Magadan
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- Matt Mantei
- Tino Martinez
- Fred McGriff
- Jason Michaels
- Lou Piniella
- Brad Radke
- Chris Ray
- Jody Reed
- Gary Sheffield
- Doug Waechter
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[edit] Current roster
Active roster
Last updated on November 17, 2006
[edit] Franchise leaders
Through the end of the 2006 season.[13]
[edit] Single season batting leaders
- Batting Average: .313 Aubrey Huff (2002)
- On-base percentage: .405 Fred McGriff (1999)
- Slugging Percentage: .563 José Canseco (1999)
- OPS: .957 Fred McGriff (1999)
- Games: 162 Aubrey Huff (2003)
- At Bats: 644 Carl Crawford (2005)
- Runs: 104 Carl Crawford (2004)
- Hits: 198 Aubrey Huff (2003)
- Total Bases: 353 Aubrey Huff (2003)
- Extra-Base Hits: 84 Aubrey Huff (2003)
- Doubles: 47 Aubrey Huff (2003)
- Triples: 19 Carl Crawford (2004)
- Home Runs: 34 José Canseco (1999), Aubrey Huff (2003)
- Runs Batted In: 117 Jorge Cantu (2005)
- Walks: 91 Fred McGriff (2000)
- Strikeouts: 159 Ben Grieve (2001)
- Stolen Bases: 59 Carl Crawford (2004)
[edit] Single season pitching leaders
- ERA: 3.56 Rolando Arrojo (1998)
- WHIP: 1.287 Rolando Arrojo (1998)
- Wins: 14 Rolando Arrojo (1998)
- Losses: 18 Tanyon Sturtze (2002)
- Won-Loss %: .579 Mark Hendrickson (2005)
- Games: 75 Shawn Camp (2006)
- Saves: 43 Roberto Hernández (1999)
- Innings: 224 Tanyon Sturtze (2002)
- Strikeouts: 174 Scott Kazmir (2005)
- Games Started: 33 Tanyon Sturtze (2002)
- Complete Games: 5 Joe Kennedy (2002)
- Shutouts: 2 Rolando Arrojo (1998), Bobby Witt (1999)
- Home Runs Allowed: 33 Tanyon Sturtze (2002)
- Walks Allowed: 111 Tony Saunders (1998)
- Hits Allowed: 271 Tanyon Sturtze (2002)
- Earned Runs Allowed: 129 Tanyon Sturtze (2002)
- Wild Pitches: 15 Victor Zambrano (2003)
- Hit Batsmen: 20 Victor Zambrano (2003)
[edit] Career batting leaders
- Batting Average: Carl Crawford (.292)
- On-base percentage: Fred McGriff (.380)
- Slugging Percentage: Fred McGriff (.484)
- OPS: Fred McGriff (.864)
- Games: Aubrey Huff (799)
- At Bats: Aubrey Huff (3,028)
- Runs: Aubrey Huff (400)
- Hits: Aubrey Huff (870)
- Total Bases: Aubrey Huff (1,444)
- Extra-Base Hits: Aubrey Huff (309)
- Doubles: Aubrey Huff (172)
- Triples: Carl Crawford (65)
- Home Runs: Aubrey Huff (128)
- RBI: Aubrey Huff (449)
- Walks: Fred McGriff (305)
- Strikeouts: Fred McGriff (433)
- Stolen Bases: Carl Crawford (227)
[edit] Career pitching leaders
- ERA: Scott Kazmir (3.73)
- WHIP: Scott Kazmir (1.40)
- Wins: Victor Zambrano (35)
- Losses: Bryan Rekar, Ryan Rupe (37)
- Won-Loss %: Victor Zambrano (.565)
- Games: Esteban Yan (266)
- Saves: Roberto Hernandez (101)
- Innings: Bryan Rekar (495 ⅓)
- Strikeouts: Scott Kazmir (378)
- Games Started: Ryan Rupe (83)
- Complete Games: Joe Kennedy (6)
- Shutouts: Rolando Arrojo, Joe Kennedy, Albie Lopez, Bobby Witt (2)
- Home Runs Allowed: Ryan Rupe (77)
- Walks Allowed: Victor Zambrano (288)
- Hits Allowed: Bryan Rekar (583)
- Earned Runs Allowed: Ryan Rupe (303)
- Wild Pitches: Victor Zambrano (34)
- Hit Batsmen: Victor Zambrano (43)
[edit] Broadcasters
[edit] Television announcers
- 1998–current: Dewayne Staats (play-by-play), Joe Magrane (color commentary), and Todd Kalas (pre-game host and in-game reporter)
[edit] Radio announcers
- 1998–2004: Charlie Slowes (color) and Paul Olden (play-by-play)
- 2005–current: Dave Wills, Andy Freed, and Rich Herrera (pre-game and post-game show host)
[edit] Minor league affiliations
- AAA: Durham Bulls, International League
- AA: Montgomery Biscuits, Southern League
- Advanced A: Vero Beach Dodgers, Florida State League
- A: Columbus Catfish, South Atlantic League
- Short A: Hudson Valley Renegades, New York-Penn League
- Rookie: Princeton Devil Rays, Appalachian League
[edit] Trivia
- The 2002 film "The Rookie" is based on the true story of Jim Morris, a pitcher for the Devil Rays in the 1999 and 2000 seasons.
- The Tampa Bay Devil Rays are the only team in Major League Baseball to host its spring training and regular season games in the same city (Tropicana Field and Progress Energy Park are within a few blocks of each other). This will end beginning in 2009, when the team will begin to hold spring training in Port Charlotte, Florida. [14]
- The Devil Rays were involved in two unique triple plays in 2006. On June 11 against Kansas City, they hit into the third triple play in major league history, and first since 1937, that involved an appeal. Russell Branyan flied to center, Rocco Baldelli tried to advance to second base and was thrown out, and then Aubrey Huff was called out when the umpires ruled that he left third base early when he tagged up. Then, on September 2 against Seattle, the Rays executed a 2-6-2 triple play where the ball never touched the bat, something that had never been done before. Seattle's Raul Ibanez struck out, Dioner Navarro caught Adrian Beltre trying to steal second base, and then Ben Zobrist threw Jose Lopez out at home plate. [15]
[edit] See also
- Devil Rays statistical records and milestone achievements
[edit] External links
| Tampa Bay Devil Rays Franchise |
| AAA |
AA |
A |
Rookie |
| Durham Bulls |
Montgomery Biscuits
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Vero Beach Dodgers
Columbus Catfish
Hudson Valley Renegades |
Princeton Devil Rays |
