Tampa Bay Rays
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Tampa Bay Rays founded in 1998 |
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| Full name |
| Tampa Bay Rays |
| abbreviation |
| TB |
| earlier names) |
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| Club colors |
| Navy blue, turquoise, white, gold
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| league |
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| Ball park (s) |
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Tropicana Field (since 1998) |
| successes |
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| Website : http://tampabay.rays.mlb.com/ |
The Tampa Bay Rays are an American baseball team. You play in the Eastern Division of the American League .
Founded in 1998 by Vince Naimoli , the franchise is based in St. Petersburg , Florida ; the original name was Tampa Bay Devil Rays until 2007 . The Rays have played their home games at Tropicana Field since they were founded . After a long series of failures, the Rays have established themselves and were able to intervene in the battle for the league and World Series titles in both 2008 and 2010. In the 2011 season they were in the postseason as a so-called wild card team .
history
Established 1998 to 2007 (Devil Rays)
In the still relatively short history of the club, the then Devil Rays were initially subscribed to the last place in their division, the American League East. The negative climax was the 2002 season with a result of 55 wins against 106 defeats; a positive highlight was the fourth division position in 2004 with a result of 70:91.
Carl Crawford , who in the outfield for the since 2002 expansion team from Florida plays at this time, despite the failure of the team to the driving force of the franchise was. A consistent focus on the youth was made easier by the fact that the Rays were given access to the best talent, precisely in line with the draft system, because of the poor season results . The following first round elections (top picks) made it to the regular players for the Rays:
- Rocco Baldelli (2000, overall 6th player in the draft), outfield, in the MLB for the Rays from 2003-2008
- BJ Upton (2002, No. 2), Outfield, since 2004
- Delmon Young (2003, No. 1), Outfield, 2006-2007
- Jeff Niemann (2004, No. 4), pitcher , since 2008
- Evan Longoria (2006, No. 3), Third Base, since 2008
- David Price (2007, No. 1), pitcher, since 2008
In addition, for financial reasons, players rather than stars who had already passed the zenith of their careers were hired. B. Wade Boggs .
In the manager position, neither Larry Rothschild (1998-2001) nor Lou Piniella (2003-2005), who traveled widely as a player and coach, were able to provide decisive impulses during this period. From 2006 to 2015, Joe Maddon was the manager of the Rays.
Since 2008: restart as Rays
Despite the many good young prospects who were in the Rays farm system, the first successes were not recorded until the 2008 season . After being renamed, the team surprisingly won its division ahead of the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees , reaching the postseason for the first time in its history. In their first play-off participation, the Rays won the American League championship for the first time over the Chicago White Sox (3-1 in the Division Series ) and the Boston Red Sox (4-3 in the League Series ) . In the 2008 World Series, the team finally lost 4-1 to the Philadelphia Phillies . The regular players Evan Longoria , who was rookie of the year, Carlos Peña , BJ Upton and Akinori Iwamura were responsible for the success this year , while the successful Crawford was plagued by injuries and could only play 109 games.
2009 season
In the 2009 season, the Rays could not build on the success of 2008 to the same extent. The chances of reaching the play-offs that still existed until the end of August were clearly gambled away with an 11-game series of defeats. Overall, they achieved a positive overall record for the second time with 84 wins compared to 78 defeats and thus took third place in their division. While Crawford was able to build on old successes, Iwamura and Peña were each long due to injuries. Exceptional were against this season with their respective best career year Jason Bartlett (.320 AVG ) and the highly versatile Ben Zobrist , the various positions began at five (.297 AVG, 27 home runs ).
2010 season
In the season that ended in October, the Rays showed outstanding performance at the beginning and led the AL East Division for a long time from April 22nd, now with a 5.5 game lead. By far the best start to the season of all time for the Rays was followed by constant performances, which culminated in a neck-and-neck race with the New York Yankees for the division's lead.
Five game days before the end of the season, the entry into the postseason could be booked, on the last game day the Rays secured the win of the East Division for the second time. In the first round of the postseason, the American League Division Series 2010 , they then failed in the decisive fifth game against the Texas Rangers . Overall, this meant the second best season of all time for the Rays (after 2008).
2011 season
The team's owner, Stuart Sternberg , announced a significant cut in player salaries during the 2010 season. After the 2010 season, numerous regular players left the team, some as part of the free agent system. These include, in particular, Carl Crawford as the longstanding face of the franchise, Carlos Peña and the pitcher Matt Garza , who created the first no-hitter for the Rays in 2010 . This rejuvenation of the team is accompanied by the change of veterans like Johnny Damon or Manny Ramirez .
Placements in recent years
The Rays were trained by Joe Maddon until 2015, and since then Kevin Cash - a former Rays player himself - has been steering the team.
| American League East 2008-2018 | ||||||
| year | 1. | 2. | 3. | 4th | 5. | Postseason |
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| 2008 | 97-65 | BOS (2.0) | NYY (8.0) | GATE (11.0) | BAL (29.0) | AL |
| 2009 | NYY (19.0) | BOS (11.0) | 84-78 | GATE (9.0) | BAL (20.0) | –– |
| 2010 | 96-66 | NYY (1.0) | BOS (7.0) | GATE (11.0) | BAL (30.0) | ALDS |
| 2011 | NYY (6.0) | 91-71 | BOS (1.0) | GATE (10.0) | BAL (12.0) | ALDS |
| 2012 | NYY (5.0) | BAL (3.0) | 90-72 | GATE (20.0) | BOS (24.0) | –– |
| 2013 | BOS (6.0) | 91-71 | BAL (6.0) | NYY (6.0) | GATE (17.0) | ALDS |
| 2014 | BAL (19.0) | NYY (7.0) | GATE (6.0) | 77-85 | BOS (6.0) | –– |
| 2015 | GATE (13.0) | NYY (7.0) | BAL (1.0) | 80-82 | BOS (2.0) | –– |
| 2016 | BOS (25.0) | BAL (21.0) | GATE (21.0) | NYY (16.0) | 68-94 | –– |
| 2017 | BOS (13.0) | NYY (11.0) | 80-82 | GATE (4.0) | BAL (5.0) | –– |
| 2018 | BOS (18.0) | NYY (10.0) | 90-72 | GATE (17.0) | BAL (43.0) | –– |
The colored cells describe your own performance in the AL East, the numbers in brackets the distances to the other teams at the end of the season.
WC = Wild Card, ALDS = AL Division Series achieved, ALCS = AL Championship Series achieved, AL = AL Pennant (World Series lost), WSC = World Series Champion
successes
- AL Champion: 2008
- Division title: 2008, 2010
- Wild-Card AL: 2011, 2013, 2019
player
All Time Home Run Leaders
- Carlos Peña 144 *
- Aubrey huff 128
- Evan Longoria 113 *
- Carl Crawford 104
- Fred McGriff 99
- BJ Upton 90 *
Note: * still active for the Rays
As of Sept. 29, 2011
Members of the Baseball Hall of Fame
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Tampa Bay Devil Rays
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Players in bold are depicted with Rays badges on their Hall of Fame boards. |
Numbers that are no longer assigned
 Wade Boggs 1998–1999 since 2001 |
 Don Zimmer Coach since 2015 |
 Jackie Robinson entire MLB since 1997 |
Player of the Rays
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic , the number of players in the active squad at the beginning of the 2020 MLB season on 23/24. July increased to 30 players. Two weeks later there was a scheduled reduction to 28 players. Another two weeks later, the number of players is to be reduced to 26 and maintained for the entire 2020 season. In the case of double-headers , the teams may appoint a 27th player to the active squad.
Tampa Bay Rays minor league teams
- AAA: Durham Bulls , Durham , North Carolina
- AA: Montgomery Biscuits , Montgomery , Alabama
- Advanced A: Charlotte Stone Crabs , Port Charlotte , Florida
- A: Bowling Green Hot Rods , Bowling Green , Kentucky
- Short A: Hudson Valley Renegades , Wappingers Falls , New York
- Rookie: Princeton Rays , Princeton , West Virginia
See also
Individual evidence
- ^ Crawford's likely departure will reshape Rays . MLB.com. Retrieved October 13, 2010.
- ↑ Hot Stove Tracker . MLB.com. Retrieved February 1, 2011.
- ↑ Rays set to introduce Manny, Damon . MLB.com. Retrieved February 1, 2011.
- ↑ https://www.mlb.com/news/mlb-roster-transaction-rules-for-2020-season (English) accessed on: August 16, 2020
Web links
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