Baseball Teams - American League East
Tampa Bay Rays
| Team's name: Tampa Bay Rays League: American League Division: East  Location: St. Petersburg, Florida Nickname: The Rays, The Devil Rays, The D-Rays Mascot: Raymond (seadog) Team Colours: White, Navy Blue, Columbia Blue and Gold Joined the League: 1998 Team's President: Matthew Silverman Manager: Joe Mandon General Manager: Andrew Friedman Baseball Field: Topicana Field Current Capacity: 38,437 First Year of Baseball: 1998 League Titles: AL Pennants: 2008 East Div: 2008 Wild Card berths: none World Series: none |
The Tampa Bay Devil Rays are one of the newest franchises in baseball history. Local groups in Florida had sought a MLB franchise throughout the 1980s and 1990s, but it wasn’t until 1995 that a new expansion franchise was awarded to Naimoli’s Tamp Bay group. The new team was scheduled to begin playing in 1998.
The Rays played their first game in March of 1998 against the Detroit Tigers. Although the team lost the game 11-6, they began with the right foot forward. Wade Boggs, who hit the team’ first home run, would also make his 3000th career hit on a home run a year later – the only player ever to do so. He would go on to make the Hall of Fame in 2005.
The team struggled in the early 2000s until 2004, when the Rays finally leapt out of last place for the first time in the team’s short professional history. They were fourth in their division and held a 70-91 record and a .435 percentage. Tampa Bay had finally begun to develop strong talent with young hitters like Aubrey Huff, Carl Crawford, and Rocco Baldelli.
In 2005, a change of ownership altered the team’s management, replacing Lou Piniella with Joe Madden. The team did well that season, and in 2006, further changes were made. Veteran players were replaced by younger talent. The team nevertheless drooped that season, finishing with the league’s lowest record at 61-101.
Although 2006 saw the team’s offense improve dramatically – it was third in the AL for both home runs and steals – a lack of bullpen efficiency left them again with the league’s worst record.
After a change in the team’s look and salary, Tampa Bay found its salvation in 2008. The team had a brilliant start, first in the AL East for the first third of the season. Despite a few periods of shakiness, the team was able to maintain its division lead and nabbed its first division title.
The team also entered the playoffs for the first time in the franchise’s history. The Rays went on to defeat the Chicago White Sox and the Boston Red Sox before finally being trumped by the Philadelphia Phillies in the World Series. It finished out the season with a 97-65 record, the best in its history.
Tampa Bay 2010 Roster
| Pitchers | |||||||
| NO. | NAME | POS | BAT | THW | AGE | HT | WT |
| 49 | Winston Abreu | RP | R | R | 32 | 6-2 | 170 |
| 50 | Grant Balfour | RP | R | R | 32 | 6-2 | 195 |
| 73 | Joe Bateman | RP | R | R | 29 | 6-1 | 185 |
| 47 | Jeff Bennett | RP | R | R | 29 | 6-3 | 200 |
| -- | Joaquin Benoit | SP | R | R | 32 | 6-3 | 220 |
| 36 | Randy Choate | RP | L | L | 34 | 6-1 | 200 |
| 31 | Lance Cormier | RP | R | R | 29 | 6-1 | 200 |
| 74 | Jason Cromer | RP | R | L | 29 | 6-4 | 225 |
| 40 | Wade Davis | SP | R | R | 24 | 6-5 | 220 |
| 72 | Richard de los Santos | RP | R | R | 25 | 6-1 | 170 |
| 54 | Mike Ekstrom | RP | R | R | 26 | 5-11 | 190 |
| 22 | Matt Garza | SP | R | R | 26 | 6-4 | 215 |
| 58 | Jeremy Hellickson | SP | R | R | 22 | 6-1 | 185 |
| 52 | Carlos Hernandez | SP | B | L | 29 | 5-11 | 205 |
| 39 | J.P. Howell | RP | L | L | 26 | 6-0 | 180 |
| 57 | Jake McGee | SP | L | L | 23 | 6-3 | 230 |
| 34 | Jeff Niemann | SP | R | R | 27 | 6-9 | 260 |
| 76 | Heath Phillips | SP | L | L | 27 | 6-3 | 275 |
| 14 | David Price | SP | L | L | 24 | 6-6 | 225 |
| 75 | Heath Rollins | SP | L | R | 24 | 6-1 | 185 |
| 33 | James Shields | SP | R | R | 28 | 6-4 | 220 |
| 21 | Andy Sonnanstine | SP | L | R | 26 | 6-3 | 190 |
| 29 | Rafael Soriano | RP | R | R | 30 | 6-1 | 220 |
| 68 | R.J. Swindle | RP | L | L | 26 | 6-3 | 190 |
| 59 | Dale Thayer | RP | R | R | 29 | 6-0 | 195 |
| 35 | Dan Wheeler | RP | R | R | 32 | 6-3 | 220 |
| Catchers | |||||||
| NO. | NAME | POS | BAT | THW | AGE | HT | WT |
| 65 | Craig Albernaz | C | R | R | 27 | 5-8 | 195 |
| 61 | Nevin Ashley | C | R | R | 25 | 6-1 | 215 |
| 67 | Alvin Colina | C | R | R | 28 | 6-3 | 210 |
| 28 | John Jaso | C | L | R | 26 | 6-2 | 205 |
| 41 | Jose Lobaton | C | B | R | 25 | 6-0 | 195 |
| 30 | Dioner Navarro | C | B | R | 26 | 5-9 | 205 |
| 10 | Kelly Shoppach | C | R | R | 29 | 6-0 | 220 |
| Infielders | |||||||
| NO. | NAME | POS | BAT | THW | AGE | HT | WT |
| 16 | Willy Aybar | 1B | B | R | 27 | 5-11 | 205 |
| 8 | Jason Bartlett | SS | R | R | 30 | 6-0 | 190 |
| 64 | Tim Beckham | SS | R | R | 20 | 6-0 | 190 |
| 9 | Hank Blalock | 3B | L | R | 29 | 6-1 | 200 |
| 15 | Reid Brignac | SS | L | R | 24 | 6-3 | 195 |
| 69 | Angel Chavez | SS | R | R | 28 | 6-0 | 185 |
| -- | Christopher De La Cruz | SS | B | R | 27 | 6-0 | 160 |
| 26 | Joe Dillon | 3B | R | R | 34 | 6-2 | 215 |
| 63 | J.J. Furmaniak | SS | R | R | 30 | 6-0 | 190 |
| 24 | Dan Johnson | 1B | L | R | 30 | 6-2 | 215 |
| 37 | Elliot Johnson | SS | B | R | 26 | 6-0 | 190 |
| 3 | Evan Longoria | 3B | R | R | 24 | 6-2 | 210 |
| -- | Omar Luna | 2B | R | R | 23 | 5-11 | 165 |
| -- | Shawn O'Malley | SS | R | R | 22 | 5-10 | 155 |
| 23 | Carlos Pena | 1B | L | L | 31 | 6-2 | 225 |
| 32 | Chris Richard | 1B | L | L | 35 | 6-2 | 210 |
| 1 | Sean Rodriguez | 2B | R | R | 24 | 6-1 | 215 |
| 43 | Ryan Shealy | 1B | R | R | 30 | 6-5 | 240 |
| 18 | Ben Zobrist | 2B | B | R | 28 | 6-3 | 200 |
| Outfielders | |||||||
| NO. | NAME | POS | BAT | THW | AGE | HT | WT |
| 5 | Pat Burrell | LF | R | R | 33 | 6-4 | 235 |
| 13 | Carl Crawford | LF | L | L | 28 | 6-2 | 215 |
| -- | Rashad Eldridge | OF | B | R | 28 | 6-1 | 185 |
| -- | Reid Fronk | RF | L | R | 23 | 6-1 | 185 |
| 27 | Desmond Jennings | LF | R | R | 23 | 6-2 | 180 |
| 20 | Matt Joyce | LF | L | R | 25 | 6-2 | 205 |
| 19 | Gabe Kapler | RF | R | R | 34 | 6-2 | 205 |
| -- | John Matulia | LF | L | L | 23 | 6-0 | 175 |
| 38 | Fernando Perez | CF | B | R | 26 | 6-1 | 195 |
| 11 | Justin Ruggiano | LF | R | R | 27 | 6-2 | 205 |
| -- | Emeel Salem | CF | L | L | 25 | 6-0 | 180 |
| 2 | B.J. Upton | CF | R | R | 25 | 6-3 | 185 |