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1.0 Professional baseball in Tampa Bay

2.0 Franchise history

2.1 The Rookie

3.0 Team Salaries

4.0 Rays fandom

4.1 The Happy Heckler

4.2 More Cowbell

4.3 Professional wrestlers

5.0 Team Slogans

6.0 Minor league affiliations

7.0 Notable former players

8.0 Franchise records

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Tampa Bay Rays Wiki Information

The Tampa Bay Rays are a Major League Baseball franchise based in St. Petersburg, Florida, and are the defending American League champions. The Rays are a member of the Eastern Division of MLB's American League. Since their inception in 1998, the club have played in Tropicana Field and have finished out of last place only twice: once in 2004, when they finished fourth in their division, and again in 2008, when they won their first division title, entered the playoffs for the first time in team history, and qualified for the World Series.

In November 2007, majority owner Stuart Sternberg made significant changes to his franchise's image, changing the club's name from the Tampa Bay Devil Rays to the "Tampa Bay Rays", which he described as "A beacon that radiates throughout Tampa Bay and across the entire state of Florida." ^[1] The teams' primary colors were also changed from black, green, and blue to navy blue, Columbia blue, and gold.

TAMPA BAY RAYS TICKETS

EVENT	DATE	AVAILABILITY
Spring Training: New York Yankees vs. Tampa Bay Rays Tickets 2/21	Feb 21, 2025 Fri, 1:05 PM
Spring Training: Tampa Bay Rays vs. Boston Red Sox Tickets 2/22	Feb 22, 2025 Saturday
Spring Training: Atlanta Braves vs. Tampa Bay Rays Tickets 2/23	Feb 23, 2025 Sun, 1:05 PM
Spring Training: Tampa Bay Rays vs. Minnesota Twins Tickets 2/24	Feb 24, 2025 Monday
Spring Training: Tampa Bay Rays vs. Philadelphia Phillies Tickets 2/25	Feb 25, 2025 Tuesday

Professional baseball in Tampa Bay

Civic leader and St. Petersburg Times publisher, Jack Lake, first suggested St. Petersburg pursue a Major League baseball team. The notable influences Lake held in the sport are what led to the serious discussions that changed St. Petersburg from a spring training location to a major league city. He spoke to anyone who would listen about his desire to see the city of St. Petersburg have a Major league baseball team. His colorful direction dominated the mindset in both sports and business circles dating back to 1966. He was said to have the foresight and prominence to make it happen.

Local leaders made many unsuccessful attempts to acquire a major league baseball team in the 1980s and 1990s. The Minnesota Twins, San Francisco Giants, 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 MLB 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 awarded to Denver (Colorado Rockies) and Miami (Florida Marlins) instead.

In 1992, San Francisco Giants owner Bob Lurie agreed in principle to sell his team to a Tampa Bay based group of investors led by Vince Naimoli, who would then move the team to 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 Naimoli's Tampa Bay group and a group from Phoenix (the Arizona Diamondbacks). 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 the Rays, the naming rights were sold to Tropicana Products and $70 million was spent on renovations.

Franchise history

Category:Wikipedia articles needing style editing 2009 , the Rays' flagship radio station is WDAE 620 AM. The play-by-play announcers are Dave Wills and Andy Freed, and Rich Herrera is the pregame and postgame host. This team replaced Paul Olden and Charlie Slowes as of the 2005 season. Slowes went to the Washington Nationals, while Olden pursued a photography career. Rays games have been aired on WFLA 970 AM (1998-2004) and WHNZ 1250 AM (2005-2008) in the past.

Fox Sports Florida broadcasts the Rays' games on television. Through the 2008 season, many games also aired on Ion Television affiliate broadcast stations throughout the state of Florida, with WXPX in Tampa as the flagship. However, after the 2008 season, Fox Sports Florida signed an agreement to become the exclusive local broadcaster of the Rays, and will air 155 games per year through 2016. ^[43] Dewayne Staats (play-by-play) and Joe Magrane (color commentary) had been the TV team from the Rays' inception until the end of the 2008 season. Todd Kalas, the son of Philadelphia announcing legend Harry Kalas, serves as the pregame and postgame host as well as a field reporter during games. Todd also hosts magazine shows and specials on FSN Florida and its sister station, Sun Sports, throughout the season. Dick Crippen and Whit Watson have both filled in for Todd Kalas in the past.

Joe Magrane left the Rays television network in November 2008 to take a position at the MLB Network. ^[44] On February 16, 2009, it was announced that Kevin Kennedy would replace Magrane, but split the duty with Brian Anderson and Todd Kalas. Anderson and Kalas had been in the booth for a few games with Staats while Magrane was in China for the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. Staats, Magrane, Kalas, Wills, Olden and Slowes were all nominated for the Ford C. Frick Award, the broadcasters' path to the Baseball Hall of Fame, in 2008.

Fox Sports Florida began broadcasting a portion of the schedule in HD beginning in 2007, after Tropicana Field's broadcast equipment was upgraded for in-house HD production. About 44 games were carried in HD in 2007, and 58 games were carried in HD in 2008 (not including nationally-televised games).

Most households in the Greater Orlando area could not see Rays games aired on Fox Sports Florida in the past because its primary cable provider, Bright House Networks, refused to carry the network. However, Bright House in Orlando finally placed FS Florida on the air for digital cable subscribers on 2009-01-01.

The Rookie

The Tampa Bay Devil Rays were featured in the movie, The Rookie , a 2002 drama, directed by John Lee Hancock. It is based on the true story of Jim Morris, who had a brief but famous Major League Baseball career.

Morris (at the age of 35) had the ability to repeatedly throw the baseball at 98 miles per hour (158 km/h), a feat that less than ten professional baseball players at the time could accomplish. This ability affords him the opportunity to play professional baseball and he signs on with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays organization. He is initially assigned to the minor league Class AA Orlando Rays (now the Montgomery Biscuits) but quickly moved up to the AAA Durham Bulls, later to be called up to the "bigs" during the September roster expansions.

Jim Morris spent two seasons with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, as a relief pitcher. He pitched 15 innings in 21 games, with an earned run average of 4.80.

Team Salaries

Opening Day payrolls for 25-man roster (since 2000) ^[45]:

2008 : $43,745,597
2007 : $24,123,500
2006 : $35,417,967
2005 : $29,679,067
2004 : $29,556,667
2003 : $19,630,000
2002 : $34,380,000
2001 : $56,980,000
2000 : $64,400,000

Rays fandom

The Happy Heckler

"The Happy Heckler" is a fan by the name of Robert Szasz, a Clearwater real estate developer. He has season tickets near home plate, and is known for his rather boisterous heckling. He is so loud that he is clearly audible on both TV and radio broadcasts. He is also known as an "ethical" heckler, heckling opposing players only based on their play and never throwing personal insults. Despite this, he has drawn the ire of some opposing players. He is especially known for heckling Bret Boone so viciously once that Boone confronted him after a strikeout. ^[46]

More Cowbell

The Rays' Cowbell was originally a promotional idea thought up by principal owner Stuart Sternberg, who got the idea from the Saturday Night Live sketch. Since then, it has become a standard feature of home games, something akin to the Sacramento Kings of the NBA and the bells their fans ring during games. Road teams have often considered the cowbell a nuisance. Once a year the Rays hold an annual "cowbell night" and give away free cowbells. Cowbells are available for purchase throughout the year as well. The most famous proponent of the cowbell is Cary Strukel, who is known as "The Cowbell Kid." Strukel can be seen at most home games sitting in right field and wearing some kind of costume, typically topped with a neon colored wig or Viking horns. ^[47] The cowbells are rung most prominently when the opposing batter has two strikes, when the opposing fans try to chant, and when the Rays make a good play. ^[48]

Professional wrestlers

Rays games are frequently visited by professional wrestlers, as there are a large number of wrestlers living in the Tampa Bay Area. The Nasty Boys (Brian Knobbs and Jerry Sags), Brutus Beefcake, and Hulk Hogan all appear on a semi-regular basis at Rays games. John Cena appears on occasion.

The Rays held a "Legends of Wrestling Night" on May 18, 2007, featuring several wrestling matches after the game, an 8–4 loss to the Florida Marlins. Outfielder and wrestling fan Jonny Gomes ran interference for the Nasty Boys during the main event. ^[49]

A second "Wrestling Night" was held on April 19, 2008, after a 5–0 win over the Chicago White Sox. Gomes participated again, this time making a post-match save for the Nasty Boys. ^[50]

Team Slogans

9=8 (spoken as "nine equals eight") was the mantra used by the Rays during the 2008 season. The phrase was originally created by manager Joe Maddon while riding his bike after the 2007 season. The meaning of the phrase was that if nine players play nine innings of hard baseball everyday, that team would become one of the eight teams who qualify for the playoffs. Prior to 2008 season, the Rays had never had a winning season in franchise history, much less a playoff appearance.

After a slow start to the 2008 season, the Rays began to pick up speed and found themselves among the best teams in the league that year. Maddon had blue t-shirts made with the phrase on the back in yellow, representing the team's new colors, and gave them to the players during the season. His idea to put the slogan on the back of the shirt, rather than the front, was that a person who was walking behind someone wearing the shirt would see it.

Rays right fielder Gabe Gross, who was acquired by the team through a trade early into the 2008 campaign, said it was so much 9=8 as it was more along the lines of 13=8, because the Rays had many players contributing to the team's success that season. ^[51]

The Rays played well enough throughout the year that they surpassed their previous team record for wins in a single season by more than 20 wins and ultimately clinched a spot in the 2008 MLB Playoffs for their first postseason appearance in franchise history. As the phrase 9=8 had come to fruition, Maddon stated that the phrase also meant that theory and reality had come together. ^[52]

With each level the Rays reached, the equation was changed. After they clinched their playoff spot, it became 9=4 , to represent the teams advancing to the LCS. When they won the ALDS, it became 9=2 , for the teams advancing to the World Series. When they won the ALCS, it became 9=1 , representing the possible World Series Championship. In the end, they did not win the World Series, losing to the Philadelphia Phillies four games to one.

A week before Spring Training for the 2009 season, Maddon introduced a new slogan, 09 > '08 . The meaning of his new idea was that he doesn't like to use the words "great" or "greater," but would rather the phrase be spoken as "better than." His only problem was that there is no symbol for "better than." Originally thinking about creating a new symbol to mean "better than," he admitted that he didn't want to get "too nuts," so the symbol for greater than would have to do. Re-emphasizing that 9 would always equal 8 in the Rays' math, the upcoming season would be greater than the previous. He wanted the players to understand that "in order to build this new road we have to be better than we were last year." ^[53]

Minor league affiliations

AAA: Durham Bulls, International League
AA: Montgomery Biscuits, Southern League
Advanced A: Charlotte Stone Crabs, Florida State League
A: Bowling Green Hot Rods, South Atlantic League (moving to the Midwest League for 2010)
Short A: Hudson Valley Renegades, New York-Penn League
Rookie: Princeton Rays, Appalachian League
Rookie: GCL Rays, Gulf Coast League

Notable former players

Wilson Alvarez - SP
Danys Baez - RP
Rocco Baldelli - OF
Wade Boggs - 3B
José Canseco - OF/DH
Jorge Cantu - 2B
Vinny Castilla - 3B
Jesús Colomé - RP
Steve Cox - 1B
John Flaherty - C
Cliff Floyd - DH
Casey Fossum - SP
Julio Franco - 1B/DH
Jonny Gomes - OF
Dwight Gooden - SP
Ben Grieve - OF
Ozzie Guillen - SS
Juan Guzmán - SP
Josh Hamilton - OF (never played for Rays' MLB team)
Toby Hall - C
Mark Hendrickson - SP
Roberto Hernández - RP
Eric Hinske - OF
Aubrey Huff - 3B/OF
Edwin Jackson - SP
Joe Kennedy - SP
Travis Lee - 1B
Cory Lidle - SP
Julio Lugo - SS
Dave Martinez - OF
Tino Martinez - 1B
Quinton McCracken - OF
Fred McGriff - 1B
Trever Miller - RP
Jim Morris - RP
Hideo Nomo - SP
Eduardo Pérez - 1B/DH
Josh Phelps - 1B/DH
Al Reyes - RP
Bubba Trammel-OF
Greg Vaughn - OF
Doug Waechter - SP/RP
Gerald Williams - OF
Delmon Young - OF
Victor Zambrano - SP

Franchise records

Season records

Highest Batting Average: .315, Carl Crawford (2007)
Most Games: 162, Aubrey Huff (2003) and Delmon Young (2007)
Most Hits: 198, Aubrey Huff (2003)
Highest Slugging %: .627, Carlos Pena (2007)
Most Doubles: 47, Aubrey Huff (2003)
Most Triples: 19, Carl Crawford (2004)
Most Home Runs: 46, Carlos Pena (2007)
Most RBIs: 121, Carlos Pena (2007)
Most Stolen Bases: 59, Carl Crawford (2004)
Most Wins: 14, Rolando Arrojo (1998) and James Shields, Edwin Jackson (2008)
Lowest ERA: 3.48, Scott Kazmir (2007)
Strikeouts: 239, Scott Kazmir (2005)
Complete Games: 5, Joe Kennedy (2002)
Saves: 43, Roberto Hernandez (1999)

Footnotes

^{{#ifeq:none The Finish column lists regular season results and excludes postseason play.
^{{#ifeq:none The Wins and Losses columns list regular season results and exclude any postseason play. Regular and postseason records are combined only at the bottom of the list.
^{{#ifeq:none The GB column lists "Games Back" from the team that finished in first place that season. It is determined by finding the difference in wins plus the difference in losses divided by two.
^{{#ifeq:none ALDS stands for American League Division Series.
^{{#ifeq:none ALCS stands for American League Championship Series.
^{{#ifeq:none CPOY stands for Comeback Player of the Year
^{{#ifeq:none MOY stands for Manager of the Year.
^{{#ifeq:none ROY stands for American League Rookie of the Year.