Tampa Bay Rays

Tampa Bay Rays

▪ American baseball team
 American professional baseball team based in St. Petersburg (Saint Petersburg), Fla., that plays in the American League (AL). The Rays began play in 1998 and were known as the Devil Rays until the end of the 2007 season.

      In the years before the advent of the Rays, the Tampa–St. Petersburg area was often suggested as a relocation site for many struggling major league baseball teams. The region had been a centre for major league spring training since the Chicago Cubs moved their operation to Tampa in 1913, and many teams expressed interest in moving to a site with a well-established fan base. However, no teams relocated to the area, and Tampa Bay went without a major league franchise until it was granted an expansion team at the 1995 Major League Baseball owner meetings.

      Months before their inaugural season began, Tampa Bay signed future Hall of Famer Wade Boggs, who grew up in Tampa and further spurred fan interest in the new team. However, the Devil Rays franchise did not have an auspicious beginning: it posted losing records in each of its first 10 seasons and finished last in its division in every year save one, when it finished second to last.

      In 2008 the newly renamed Rays engineered one of the greatest turnarounds in professional sports history. Behind the leadership of manager Joe Maddon and the play of young stars Scott Kazmir, Matt Garza, Evan Longoria, and Carl Crawford, the Rays posted a 95–67 record—a 29-game improvement from their 2007 mark of 66–96—and qualified for the first play-off appearance in the franchise's history as AL Eastern Division champions. In the American League Championship Series, the Rays bested the defending world champion Boston Red Sox in seven games to advance to the World Series. The Rays lost the World Series in five games to the Philadelphia Phillies, but their 2008 season still stood as one of the most dramatic one-year turnarounds in sports history.

* * *


Universalium. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужен реферат?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Tampa Bay Rays — 2012 Tampa Bay Rays season Established 1998 …   Wikipedia

  • Tampa Bay Rays — Rays de Tampa Bay Tampa Bay Rays Fondation 1998 Ligue …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Tampa Bay Rays — gegründet 1998 Voller Name Tampa Bay Rays …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Tampa Bay Rays — Rayas de Tampa Bay Nombre completo Tampa Bay Rays Nombres anteriores Tampa Bay Devil Rays Apodo(s) The Rays Fundación 1998 Liga …   Wikipedia Español

  • Tampa Bay Rays minor league players — Below is a partial list of minor league baseball players in the Tampa Bay Rays system: Contents 1 Cole Figueroa 2 Hak Ju Lee 3 Josh Sale 3.1 High school …   Wikipedia

  • Tampa Bay Rays seasons — The Tampa Bay Rays are a professional baseball team based in St. Petersburg, Florida. The Rays are a member of both the Major League Baseball’s (MLB) American League Eastern Division and the American League (AL) itself. Since the 1998 season, the …   Wikipedia

  • Tampa Bay Rays team records — Single season team records= Team single season records established in the current season are in italics, and subject to change. ingle season batting leaders Rate based single season records require minimum 3.1 plate appearances per game, usually… …   Wikipedia

  • Tampa Bay Rays all-time roster — The following is a list of players, both past and current, who appeared in at least one game for the Tampa Bay Rays franchise, formerly known as the Devil Rays. *Names in bold are members of the National Baseball Hall of Fame NOTOC A* *B* * * *… …   Wikipedia

  • 2008 Tampa Bay Rays season — MLB yearly infobox name = Tampa Bay Rays season = 2008 misc = A.L. East Champions current league = American League y1 = 1998 division = Eastern Division y2 = 1998 Uniform ballpark = Tropicana Field y4 = 1998 city = St. Petersburg, Florida y5 =… …   Wikipedia

  • List of Tampa Bay Rays Opening Day starting pitchers — The Tampa Bay Rays are a Major League Baseball franchise from Tampa Bay, Florida who play in the American League East division. The Rays have used nine different Opening Day starting pitchers in its eleven seasons. Since the franchise s beginning …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”