59 Fun Facts About Tampa Bay Rays

In which city is the Rays' home ballpark, Tropicana Field, located?

St. Petersburg finished the ballpark in 1990 to attract a big-league club, then waited eight years before the Devil Rays played a game there.

Which other expansion team entered Major League Baseball alongside the Devil Rays in 1998?

Arizona Diamondbacks. The twins' fates split at once: Arizona won the World Series in 2001, its fourth season, while Tampa Bay had a losing record in each of its first ten.

Which businessman won the Tampa Bay expansion franchise in 1995 after his deal to buy the Giants was blocked?

Vince Naimoli had agreed to pay $115 million for the Giants and move them to Tampa Bay, but the National League took a lower bid that kept the team in San Francisco.

The Devil Rays' first-choice name, 'Sting Rays', already belonged to a winter-league club in which location?

Maui, whose Stingrays played in Hawaii's winter league, already held the name. Rather than buy the rights, the new club simply chose a different kind of ray.

Which alternative to 'Devil Rays' did the club offer fans in a 1995 telephone poll?

Manta Rays was the fallback after objections to the word devil, but the club declared the original the winner of the phone vote and the name stayed.

Which outfielder did the Devil Rays draft in 1997 and trade for Kevin Stocker?

Bobby Abreu was taken from Houston in the expansion draft and traded away the same day. He hit .312 for his new club in 1998.

Which Tampa-born slugger did the Devil Rays acquire from the Atlanta Braves on the day of their 1997 expansion draft?

Fred McGriff, the 'Crime Dog', left a perennial contender for a last-place expansion club, then drove in four runs in the franchise's first win.

Who was the Devil Rays' first manager, hired in November 1997?

Larry Rothschild was the Florida Marlins' pitching coach when Tampa Bay hired him. Two straight 69-win, last-place seasons followed, and he was fired in April 2001.

Which team did the Devil Rays face in their first-ever game on March 31, 1998, an 11–6 loss?

Detroit Tigers won 11–6 before a sellout crowd of 45,369, but the Devil Rays beat the same club 11–8 the next day for their first victory.

Which Devil Ray became the first player to reach 3,000 career hits with a home run, in 1999?

Wade Boggs, a singles hitter known for his lack of power, homered off Cleveland's Chris Haney at Tropicana Field for hit number 3,000, then retired after that season.

What nickname did the 2000 Devil Rays give veteran sluggers Canseco, Castilla and Vaughn?

The Hit Show was the billing, but most of its sluggers were past their prime and the Devil Rays still lost 92 games.

Which 1999 first overall pick never played for the Devil Rays?

Josh Hamilton spent seven years in Tampa Bay's system without reaching the majors, was lost to another club in the 2006 Rule 5 draft, and made his debut with Cincinnati months later.

Which Tampa native, who had won a World Series with the Reds, managed the Devil Rays from 2003 to 2005?

Lou Piniella cost Tampa Bay its only All-Star, Randy Winn, as compensation to Seattle. He took a $2.2 million buyout after three losing seasons because the payroll rise he was promised never came.

Which outfielder won AL stolen-base titles in 2003 and 2004 and holds the Rays' season record with 60 steals?

Carl Crawford set that mark in 2009, the year he stole six bases in a single game to tie the modern major-league record.

Which longtime Angels coach, hired as manager for 2006, led the Rays to their first pennant?

Joe Maddon lost 101 and then 96 games in his first two seasons before the 2008 club won 97, a turnaround that made him AL Manager of the Year.

Which executive did Stuart Sternberg install to run the Devil Rays' baseball operations after 2005, replacing Chuck LaMar?

Andrew Friedman was 28 and had little front-office experience, yet the club he rebuilt won the pennant three years later.

After dropping 'Devil' for 2008, the team said its shorter name 'Rays' also referred to what?

Sunshine, as in the Sunshine State, is what the yellow burst in the logo stands for. The renamed club promptly had its first winning season and won the pennant.

Which baseball lifer, a Rays senior adviser until his death in 2014, had his number 66 retired by the club?

Don Zimmer had long called the Tampa Bay area home, and the adviser's job he took after leaving the Yankees in 2003 became the longest stint of his 65 years in professional baseball.

Which team did the Rays beat in seven games in the 2008 ALCS to reach their first World Series?

Boston Red Sox were the defending champions and erased a 7–0 deficit in the last three innings to win Game 5, yet Tampa Bay still closed out the series with a 3–1 win in Game 7.

Which team beat the Rays four games to one in the 2008 World Series?

Philadelphia Phillies clinched in a Game 5 that rain stopped in the sixth inning and that resumed two days later, the first suspended game in World Series history.

What was the Rays manager's mathematical mantra for the 2008 season?

9=8 meant nine players playing hard for nine innings would earn one of eight playoff spots. A club that had never won more than 70 games then reached the World Series.

Which hairstyle spread through the Rays' roster during the 2008 pennant race?

Mohawk cuts spread from player to player until even the manager had one done, calling it a unity kind of thing.

Which pitcher threw the Rays' first no-hitter, in July 2010?

Matt Garza faced the minimum 27 batters: his only baserunner walked in the second inning and was wiped out on a double play.

Whose 12th-inning walk-off homer against the Yankees clinched the 2011 wild card on the final night?

Evan Longoria homered twice as the Rays came back from 7–0 down in the eighth inning: a three-run shot started the rally's finish, and his second won it in the 12th.

Who became the first Rays pitcher to win the Cy Young Award, in 2012?

David Price first made his name as a reliever, closing out Game 7 of the 2008 ALCS to send the Rays to their first World Series. By 2012 he led the AL in ERA as a starter.

Which Tampa native and former Devil Rays backup catcher was named the Rays' manager in December 2014?

Kevin Cash had hit .161 in 13 games for the 2005 Devil Rays. As their manager he became the first in AL history to win Manager of the Year in back-to-back seasons, 2020 and 2021.

Which pitcher went 21–5 with a 1.89 ERA in 2018 to win the Rays' second Cy Young Award?

Blake Snell was later pulled from Game 6 of the 2020 World Series in the sixth inning with a 1–0 lead, two hits allowed and nine strikeouts. The bullpen lost the lead that inning, and the Series with it.

What pitching innovation did the 2018 Rays pioneer, with a 'bulk man' following a short first stint?

The opener debuted on May 19, 2018, when reliever Sergio Romo started against the Angels, struck out the side and handed over after one inning. Other clubs soon copied the idea.

Which team received Chris Archer in the 2018 trade sending Glasnow, Meadows and Baz to Tampa?

Pittsburgh Pirates made the deal at the trade deadline on July 31, 2018. Archer went 3–9 with a 5.19 ERA for them the next year, never pitched for them again, and rejoined Tampa Bay in 2021.

Which Rays rookie outfielder set records with 10 homers and 29 hits in the 2020 postseason?

Randy Arozarena had played so little before that October that he was still a rookie in 2021, and he won the AL Rookie of the Year award a full season after his record run.

Whose eighth-inning home run off Aroldis Chapman won the 2020 ALDS for the Rays over the Yankees?

Mike Brosseau had ducked a Chapman fastball thrown over his head on September 1, a pitch that got his own manager ejected for arguing. Five weeks later he came off the bench and hit the series-winning homer.

Whose ninth-inning single won Game 4 of the 2020 World Series in a chaotic walk-off?

Brett Phillips, in as a pinch-runner, singled with two outs and two strikes. The tying run scored, and the winner followed when the centre fielder bobbled the ball and the catcher dropped the relay.

Which 41-year-old slugger did the 100-win 2021 Rays get from Minnesota?

Nelson Cruz was hitting .294 for the Twins but managed only .226 in 55 games after the trade. Tampa Bay won 100 anyway, then lost its Division Series three games to one.

The Rays fielded MLB's first all-Latino starting lineup in 2022 on the day baseball honours which Hall of Famer?

Roberto Clemente Day made the timing fitting, yet the lineup was a coincidence rather than a planned tribute. All nine starters were born in Latin America, and they won 11–0 in Toronto.

Which team swept the 99-win Rays out of the 2023 Wild Card Series?

Texas Rangers outscored Tampa Bay 11–1 over two games at Tropicana Field, ending a season the Rays had opened 13–0. Texas went on to win the World Series.

Who won the Rays' first American League batting title, hitting .330 in 2023?

Yandy Díaz hit one home run in two seasons with Cleveland before the Rays traded for him. In 2023 his .330 set a club record, and he added 22 homers.

Which hurricane tore the roof off Tropicana Field in October 2024, forcing the Rays to relocate for 2025?

Milton tore away the roof of a stadium that had just been set up as a base camp for storm responders. The Rays did not play there again until April 2026.

Where did the Rays play their 2025 home games while the Trop was repaired?

Steinbrenner Field is the spring home of the rival Yankees, who agreed to host them. The Rays chose it over other nearby spring parks because it was the largest, at about 11,000 seats, and the best prepared.

Which Jacksonville home builder led the group that bought the Rays for about $1.7 billion in 2025?

Patrick Zalupski leads only the third ownership group in club history. Stuart Sternberg sold after two decades in charge, having never landed the new ballpark he spent years chasing.

To which Canadian city did the Rays explore moving for half of each season?

Montreal lost the Expos to Washington after 2004. The Expos had already tried the idea, playing 22 of their 2003 home games in Puerto Rico, the same kind of two-city split MLB let the Rays explore in June 2019.

Which overhead rings at Tropicana Field can turn a fair fly ball into a home run?

Catwalks hang from a roof that tilts down toward the outfield, which drops the rings low enough to be hit. A fair ball off either of the two lowest is a home run, while the upper two are in play.

What is the name of the touch tank at Tropicana Field where fans can pet live rays?

Cownose Clubhouse sits just beyond the right-center-field fence, close enough that José Lobatón's walk-off homer landed in the tank to win a 2013 playoff game.

Which two mascots entertain Rays fans, one a 'seadog' and one a turntable-spinning cat?

DJ Kitty began as a scoreboard rally video in 2010 and was created by entertainment director Lou Costanza.

Which noisemaker are Rays fans known for, exempt from their ballpark's ban on loud instruments?

Cowbells escape the ballpark's ban on noisemakers, and by custom fans ring them when a Rays pitcher gets two strikes on an opposing batter.

What feature of the Devil Rays' original 1998 uniforms returned for every Friday home game in 2023?

Multicolour 'rainbow' lettering had been an occasional throwback since 2018. In 2023 the Rays gave up their gray road jerseys to keep the 1998 look, wearing it on Opening Day and every Friday at home.

The Rays' 2024 City Connect cap features a stingray beneath which local landmark?

The Sunshine Skyway Bridge arches over a ray on the cap. The dark uniform drew on local skateboard culture, and its 'Tampa Bay' chest wordmark was the club's first since 2007.

Which club's late-1970s look inspired the Rays' 2012 'fauxback' uniforms, invented for a past the team never had?

San Diego Padres uniforms of the late 1970s were the model. At the look's first game, in June 2012, the visitors wore their real 1979 uniforms, while the Rays' 1979 set was for a club that first played in 1998.

Which 2002 film told the story of Jim Morris, a science teacher who pitched for the Devil Rays at 35?

The Rookie turns on a promise Morris made to the high-school team he coached: win the district title and he would try out. They won, he threw 98 mph for a Devil Rays scout, and he reached the majors within months.

Which Devil Ray charged the mound after Pedro Martínez hit him in 2000?

Gerald Williams was the first Devil Ray to bat that night, and his charge cleared the benches. Eight Devil Rays were ejected before it was over, including three pitchers who threw at hitters in retaliation.

What is the name of the Rays' interleague rivalry with the Miami Marlins?

Citrus Series play began in June 1998 with the Marlins as reigning World Series champions. Yet they finished that year 54–108, nine games worse than the first-year Devil Rays.

Which broadcaster called the Rays' TV play-by-play from their first season in 1998 onward?

Dewayne Staats had already been a voice of the Astros, Cubs and Yankees when the expansion club hired him. He has since spent more seasons with the Rays than with those three teams combined.

Which slugger set Rays single-season records with 46 home runs and 121 RBIs in 2007?

Carlos Peña had hit just one major-league home run the year before, in only 18 games. His 46 in 2007 came with a club-record .627 slugging mark and won him the AL Comeback Player of the Year award.

Which closer saved a franchise-record 48 games for the Rays in 2012?

Fernando Rodney had a 4.50 ERA and just three saves with the Angels the year before. His 0.60 ERA in 2012 set a major-league record for relievers and made him the AL Comeback Player of the Year.

Under what name did the Rays' domed ballpark open in 1990, years before the team existed?

Florida Suncoast Dome had hockey before it had baseball. The NHL's Tampa Bay Lightning moved in during 1993, which got the building renamed the ThunderDome, five years before the Devil Rays played there.

Which pitcher earned the Devil Rays' first-ever win, the day after their opening-night loss?

Rolando Arrojo won it in his first major-league game and made the All-Star team that summer, yet after one more season the Devil Rays traded him to Colorado for Vinny Castilla.

Which team did the Rays beat in their first-ever playoff series, the 2008 ALDS?

Chicago White Sox: the Rays had finished last in their division the year before, then won it and took this series 3-1 in their first trip to the playoffs.

In which Florida town do the Rays hold spring training?

Port Charlotte: when its ballpark was unusable in spring 2023, the Rays split camp between Disney World's sports complex in Orlando and Tropicana Field.

Who took over as Devil Rays manager early in the 2001 season?

Hal McRae took out fielders so fiercely as a Royals baserunner that baseball's ban on such slides became known as the Hal McRae Rule.

Through 2025, which title-less club, unlike the Rays, had never reached a World Series?

Seattle Mariners: they came within one win in 2025, losing Game 7 of the ALCS in Toronto, whereas the Rays have reached two World Series and lost both.