Tampa Bay Devil Rays (1998-Present)

Manager: Hal McRae 2001-
Stadium: Torpicana Field 1998-

Address:
One Tropicana Drive
St. Petersburg, FL 33705
Phone: (727) 825-3137

Web:
http://www.devilrays.mlb.com

Nickname:
A contest was held to pick the team name, although it finished 4th Devil Rays owner Vince Naimoli liked it, and the name Rays was chosen with Devil Rays winning in a phone poll over Mana Rays.

Logo:
Tampa Bay written in white over a green oval with a blue center. The Y underlines the word Bay and forms the tail of a Devil Ray, which highlights the lower left of the logo.

Colors:
Black, Green, and Blue

Managerial History:
Larry Rothschild 1998-2001
Hal McRae 2001-Present

Stadium History:
Tropicana Field 1998-Present

All Star Games Hosted:
None

World Champions:
None

World Series:
None

Division Champions:
None

Wild Card:
None

Retired Numbers: (2)
12 Wade Boggs 3B-DH 1998-1999
42 Jackie Robinson (Retired by MLB)

Hall of Famers:
None

All Star Game MVP:
None

Manager of the Year:
None

Rookie of the Year:
None

Fireman Award:
None

Hank Aaron Award:
None

Cy Young:
None

MVP:
None

LCS MVP:
None

World Series MVP:
None

Cycle Hitters:
None

No Hitters:
None

Best Season: 2000 (69-92)
Worst Season: 2001 (62-100)

Historical Moments:
1976-1995: Years before Tampa Bay got the Devil Rays the city was used by several Major League Teams to shake down their cities for renovations, or a new ballpark. The Minnesota Twins, Oakland A's, Chicago White Sox, Texas Rangers, Seattle Mariners and San Francisco Giants, all threatened moves to the West Coast of Florida, but once they got what they wanted decided to stay put leaving Tampa without a Major League team. After the White Sox got a new stadium in the Windy City Tampa officials decided to build a ballpark that could be used to attract a team quicker, or and expansion team. In 1991 even expansion passed Tampa by, as MLB hierarchy thought teams in Miami, and Denver were more feasible. Tampa Bay was not deterred after flirting with Mariners, and Rangers it seemed almost certain that Tampa was going to be home of the Giants in 1993. Vincent J. Naimoli had made an agreement to purchase, and move the Giants to Tampa in 1993. However MLB did not approve of the move, and arranged it for George Schinn to but and keep the Giants in San Francisco. Naimoli was all about to sue baseball, but after being promised an expansion team backed off and waited patiently. In 1995 in the midst of an awful player's strike MLB owner unanimously approved Tampa Bay, and Phoenix for expansion teams to begin play in 1998.

1998: Baseball has a rich history on Florida's west coast, from spring training to the number of baseball stars that have been born, and raised in the area. Finally, they would have Major League team of it own, as the Devil Rays made their debut before a sold out crowd at Tropicana Field on March 31st. The Devil Rays lost that first game 11-6 to the Detroit Tigers but bounced back to win their first game the very next day. The Devil Rays did not win much that first year only winning 63 while narrowly avoiding the century mark in losses at 99.

1999: To attract fans to the Devil Rays, big names of the past, which are now the downsides of their career sign with Tampa in an attempt to reach career milestones. In another disappointing 69-93 season, 2 of these big stars of the past get career milestones. First up to get a milestone was Jose Canseco who singed in the off-season and hit his 400th career HR on April 14th at Toronto against one of his former teams the Blue Jays. In fact Jose hit a lot of HRs for the Rays in the early going of the season and lead the AL with 30 in late June. However, a back injury would take 2 months out of Jose's season, and he would only hit 4 more. Another HR marked a milestone on August 7th for Wade Boggs a Tampa native, when he became the first player ever to hit a Home Run for his 3,000th career base hit.The season is also marked by a scary moment involving Tony Saunders who was the first player the Rays selected in the expansion draft. Saunders in just his 3rd big league season throws a pitch and has his left arm snaps from the pressure he placed on it. Saunders will miss a full year of action before attempting a comeback in 2000. That comeback would also end before it ever starts, as Saunders snaps his arm again, while pitching in the minors, and is forced to retire.

2000: After watching their partners in expansion the Arizona Diamond Backs win the NL West, the Devil Rays try to make their team more competitive in hurry by acquiring big sluggers Greg Vaughn, and Vinny Castillia from the National League. The moves gives Ray fans hopes as the middle of their line up McGriff, Canseco, Vaughn, and Castillia have the look of Murderer's Row, as each regularly hit 30 homers in a season through out their careers. The move ends up being a big bust as Castillia only hits 6 HR, and bats .219 in an injury plagued season. Jose Canseco also is injured early, and by August is picked off by the New York Yankees on waivers. Greg Vaughn 's season is not much better as he only manages to hit 28 HRs in 127 games. While, Fred McGriff is the only one of the 4 who has a strong season with 106 RBI and 27 HR. One of those HR on June 2nd at Shea Stadium ends up being the Crime Dog's 400th of his career. The Devil Rays end the season in last place again with a 69-92 record.

2001: The Devil Rays get off to a miserable start, and Manager Larry Rothschild is fired, before the end of April, and replaced by Hal McRae. The team that originally filled their roster with stars of the past now suffer with poor attendance, as those stars seem to just mope around, as the Rays lose. The team decides to help improve the team's play that it is time to start bring up some of their prospects to try infuse a new attitude. Vinny Castillia would be released, and picked up by the Houston Astros, while Fred McGriff is traded to the Chicago Cubs. The lone hold over is Greg Vaughn who hits a miserable .233 while only hitting 24 homers. The moves had an unexpected impact as the Rays play much better in the 2nd half. However, the losses in the early part of the season mounted, and the team losses 100 games, and finishes in Last Place for the 4th year in a row.

The Name Game:
Tropicana Field the dome in which Tampa's Rays call home is actually in neighboring St. Petersburg. The stadium was built back in 1990 to attract either an existing Major League team looking for a new start in a new city, or an expansion team. When it first opened up in 1990 it was called the Suncoast Dome. Not many events took place in the early years of the Dome, and after Tampa was spurned again in 1992 by baseball a decision was made to turn the dome temporarily in to a hockey rink. While the NHL's Tampa Bay Lightning played their from 1993-1996 it was dubbed the Thunder Dome, and actually drew some of the largest crowds in NHL history including over 24,000, on 1 night to see the New York Rangers. After the Lightning left for their new Ice Palace the Dome was left empty again but this time there was a baseball team waiting to fill it. Renovations were made and by the time the Devil Rays took the field in 1998 it had yet another new name this time it was Tropicana Field after the naming rights were sold in 1997.

Odds and Ends:
Team Mascot: Raymond

On The Air:
Televison: WMOR (Channel 32), WTSP (Channel 10), Fox Sports Net Florida
Radio: WFLA 970 AM, WLCC 760 AM (Spanish)
Broadcasters: Joe Magrane and Dewayne Staats-TV Paul Olden- Radio

Spring Training History:
St. Petersburg 1998-Present

On The Farm:
AAA: Durham Bulls
AA: Orlando Rays
A: Bakersfield Blaze
A: Charleston Riverdogs
A: Hudson Valley Renegades
Rookie: Princeton Devil Rays