·
The Rays were established as an expansion team
in 1998 as the Devil Rays.
·
They changed their name to the Rays in
2008.
·
They got their name from a name the team
contest with String Rays being the winner but due to trademarks by a Hawaiian
Winter League team they went with Devil. They are often found in the bay
offshore in that area.
·
They play their games at Tropicana Field which
is located in St. Petersburg, Florida.
·
They have made the playoffs five times
with three wild card berths and two divisional titles.
·
They have one won AL Pennant.
Batting Lineup:
1.
LF Carl Crawford
2.
2B Ben Zobrist
3.
3B Aubrey Huff
4.
1B Fred McGriff
5.
RF Greg Vaughn
6.
DH Carlos Pena
7.
CF BJ Upton
8.
SS Julio Lugo
9.
C Toby Hall
Starting
Rotation:
1.
Scott Kazmir
3.
David Price
4.
Matt Garza
Bullpen:
1.
Closer: Roberto Hernandez
2.
Esteban Yan
4.
Dan Wheeler
5.
Joel Peral ta
6.
JP Howell
Bench:
OF-Randy Winn
INF-Miguel Cairo
INF-Jorge Cantu
Coaching Staff:
Manager-Joe Maddon
Joe
Maddon managed the Rays for nine seasons where he finished with the most wins
with 754. He guided them to the playoffs four times, one AL Pennant and won AL
Manager of the Year twice.
Bench Coach-Kevin Cash
Kevin
Cash has managed the Rays for five seasons where he already has the second most
wins with 414. He guided them to the playoffs once and played for them for one
season.
1B Coach-Lou Piniella
Lou
Piniella managed the Rays for three seasons where he finished with the fourth most
wins with 200. He guided them to their first ever 70 win seasons and their first
time not in last place.
3B Coach-Hal McRae
Hal
McRae managed the Rays for two seasons where he finished the fourth most wins
with 113.
Hitting
Coach-George Hendrick
George
Hendrick was the Rays first base/outfield coach for nine seasons and is now a
senior advisor to baseball operations. He was a four time All-Star, won two
silver sluggers and won two World Series Championships.
Pitching Coach-Larry Rothschild
Larry
Rothschild managed the Rays for four seasons where he finished with the third
most wins with 205. He was their first ever manager.
Bullpen Coach-Tom Foley
Tom
Foley has been a bench coach or third base coach for the Rays for seventeen seasons.
He started off as the minor league infield coordinator, managed the single A
team during its first season where he won manager of the year, then was the
director of minor league operations before becoming their longest tenured coach
and now is working back in the front office.
There
has been one Hall of Fame player who has played for them at one during
his respective career. They have one number retired for a player and one number
for a coach.
Fred
McGriff spent five seasons in the infield for the Rays as their greatest first
basemen where he made one of his five All-Star appearances while there and is
one of two players to hit at least 30-home runs in one season for five different
teams. He also finished in the top 10 for many offensive categories in Rays
history like having the highest on base percentage, slugging percentage, second
highest batting average, fifth most walks, sixth most singles, hits, seventh most
RBIs, total bases and home runs to name some.
Aubrey
Huff spent seven seasons in the infield or outfield for the Rays where he has
the most hits-doubles in a season in their history, is one of three players to
play all 162 games in their history and led them in home runs once season
despite starting in the minors becoming the first player to do that in years
while there. He also finished in the top 10 for many offensive categories in
Rays history like having the third most home runs, fourth highest slugging percentage,
fifth highest batting average, fifth most games played, at bats, plate appearances,
hits, total bases, doubles, RBIs, singles and extra base hits to name some.
Carl
Crawford spent nine seasons in the outfield for the Rays as their greatest/longest
tenured outfielder/greatest/longest tenured left fielder where he made all four
of his All-Star appearances, led the AL in stolen bases four times, won his
only silver slugger, led the AL in triples twice, won the fielding bible award three
times, won an All-Star game MVP and won his only gold glove, was the first Rays
player to name the All-Star twice while there. He was the eight youngest player
to get to 200 stolen bases before his 25th birthday, was eight
player to get 1000 hits-have 250 stolen bases before his 27th
birthday, tied a modern day record of six stolen bases in a game, seventh
player to reach 400 stolen bases before his 29th birthday and he
joined Ty Cobb as the only players to get 100 triples-400 steals before his 30th
birthday. He also finished in the top 10 for many offensive categories in Rays
history like having the highest batting average, most hits, stolen bases,
triples, singles, second highest WAR for position players, second most games
played, at bats, plate appearances, runs scored, total bases, RBIs and extra
base hits to name some.
Ben
Zobrist spent nine seasons all over the diamond for the Rays as their greatest
second basemen where he made two of his three All-Star appearances while there.
He also finished in the top 10 for many offensive categories in Rays history
like having the second highest offensive WAR, second most doubles, walks, third
most extra base hits, singles, stolen bases, RBIs, triples, total bases, hits,
at bats, plate appearances, runs scored, games played and third highest on base
percentage, third highest WAR for position players and third highest defensive
WAR to name some.
BJ
Upton spent nine seasons in the infield or outfield for the Rays as their
greatest center fielder where he had one 20-20 season and was their first
player to hit for the cycle while there. He also finished in the top 10 for
many offensive categories in Rays history like having the second most stolen
bases, fourth highest offensive WAR, fourth most games played, at bats, plate appearances,
runs scored, hits, total bases, doubles, home runs, walks, singles and extra
base hits to name some.
Carlos
Pena spent five seasons in the infield for the Rays as their second greatest
first basemen where he made his only All-Star appearance, won his only gold
glove the first ever in Rays history, won his only silver slugger, won AL Comeback
Player of the Year and led the AL in home runs once while there. He also
finished in the top 10 for many offensive categories in Rays history like
having the second highest on base percentage, second most home runs, third most
walks, third highest slugging percentage, fourth most RBIs, fifth most runs
scored, fifth highest offensive WAR and fifth highest WAR for position players
to name some.
Greg
Vaughn spent three seasons in the outfield for the Rays where he made one of
his four All-Star appearances while there. He also finished with the tenth most
walks in Rays history.
Julio
Lugo spent four seasons in the infield for the Rays as their greatest/longest
tenured shortstop where he hit fifteen home runs in one season. He also
finished in the top 10 for many offensive categories in Rays history like
having the fifth highest on base percentage, batting average, sixth most stolen
bases, seventh most singles, seventh highest offensive WAR and seventh highest WAR
for a position player to name some.
Toby Hall spent seven seasons behind the plate for the Rays as their greatest/longest tenured catcher where he finished with the fourth highest defensive WAR, seventh most doubles, eight most singles, ninth most RBIs, games played, tenth most at bats and hits in Rays history.
Scott
Kazmir pitched six seasons for the Rays where he made two of his three All-Star
appearances, was the first Rays player to have a 200-strikeout season and led
the AL in strikeouts once while there. He also finished in the top 10 for many
pitching categories in Rays history like having the third most wins, third
highest WAR for pitchers, fourth most strikeouts, innings pitched and games
started to name some.
James
Shields pitched seven seasons for the Rays where he made his only All-Star appearance
and is only Rays pitcher to win a World Series game while there. He also
finished in the top 10 for many pitching categories in Rays history like having
the most wins, innings pitched, strikeouts, games started, complete games, shutouts
and second highest WAR for pitchers to name some.
David
Price pitched seven years for the Rays where he four of his five All-Star appearances,
led the AL in ERA once, led the majors in strikeouts once, led the AL in wins
once, was the first 20-game winner in Rays history and won the AL CY Young
award once while there. He also finished in the top 10 for many pitching categories
in Rays history like having the lowest ERA, the highest WAR for position
players, the best win-loss percentage, second most wins, complete games and innings
pitched to name some.
Matt
Garza pitched three seasons for the Rays where he pitched a no-hitter the first
in Rays history and was the 2008 ALCS MVP while there. He also finished in the
top 10 for many pitching categories in Rays history like having the second most
shutouts, third most complete games, seventh lowest ERA, seventh highest WAR for
pitchers and eight most innings pitched to name some.
Jeremy
Hellickson pitched five seasons for the Rays where he won AL Rookie of the Year
and won his only gold glove while there. He also finished in the top 10 for
many pitching categories in Rays history like having the fifth lowest ERA, sixth
most wins, seventh most innings pitched and game started to name some. Other notable
pitchers in Rays history have been Wilson Alvarez, Hideo Nomo, Jason Hammel, active
pitchers Edwin Jackson, Alex Cobb, Drew Smyly, Matt Moore, Jake Odorizzi and
Chris Archer.
Rocco Baldelli spent six seasons in the outfield for the Rays where he
finished third in AL Rookie of the Year while there. When he retired he became
a minor league coach, then a roving minor league instructor, then the first
base coach and then major league field coordinator. He also finished with the
fifth highest slugging percentage, eight highest batting average, ninth most
triples, tenth most RBIs and stolen bases in Rays history.
Randy
Winn spent five seasons in the outfield for the Rays where he made his only
All-Star appearance while there. He finished with the fourth most triples,
seventh most stolen bases, eight highest on base percentage, ninth highest
batting average and tenth most singles in Rays history. Other notable
outfielders in Rays history have been Johnny Damon, Manny Ramirez, Pat Burrell,
Jose Canseco, Luke Scott, Cliff Floyd, Jonny Gomes, Delmon Young, Ben Grieve,
active players Matt Joyce, Desmond Jennings, Corey Dickerson, Kevin Kiermaier,
Steven Souza and Wil Myers.
Miguel
Cairo spent three seasons in the infield for the Rays where he finished with
the eight most stolen bases and tenth highest defensive WAR in Rays history
while there.
Jorge
Cantu spent four seasons in the infield for the Rays where he was the Rays team
MVP in 2005 while there. Other notable infielders in Rays history have been
Tino Martinez, Rey Sanchez, Jason Bartlett, Chris Gomez, Ty Wigginton, Alex Gonzalez, Vinny Castilla, active players Asdrubal Cabrera, Yunel Escobar, Evan Longoria and Hall of Famer Wade Boggs.
Dioner
Navarro spent five seasons behind the plate for the Rays where he made his only
All-Star appearance while there. Other notable catches in Rays history have
been Jose Molina and Wilson Ramos who is active.
Roberto
Hernandez was the Rays closer for three seasons where he made one of his two
All-Star appearances while there. He also finished with the most saves, games
finished and ninth most games played in Rays history.
Esteban
Yan was the Rays closer for five seasons where he hit a homerun and was mentioned
on the Simpsons while there. He also finished with the second most games finished,
fourth most games played and seventh most saves in Rays history.
Fernando
Rodney was the Rays closer for two seasons where he made one of his three
All-Star appearances, won AL Comeback Player of the Year and relieve of the
year once while there. He also finished with the third most saves and fifth
most games finished in Rays history.
Dan
Wheeler spent seven seasons in the bullpen for the Rays where he was one of
four pitchers to appear in 70 games for four seasons straight while there. He
also finished with the fifth most games played and tenth most games finished in
Rays history.
Joel
Peralta spent four seasons in the Rays bullpen where he appeared in the second
most games in the AL in 2010 with 70 which would be the start of three straight
seasons of appearing in 70+ games, led the AL in games appeared once and led the AL in holds once while there. He also finished with the second most games
played in Rays history.
JP
Howell spent seven seasons in the bullpen for the Rays where he finished with
the sixth most games played in Rays history while there. Other notable
relievers in Rays history have been Kyle Farnsworth, Grant Balfour, Danys Baez,
Rafael Soriano and Troy Percival.
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