The Tampa Bay Rays are a professional baseball team based in St. Petersburg, FL. They are currently a member of the East Division of the American League. Since their inception, their home venue has been Tropicana Field. Their current manager is Joe Maddon. It took nearly three decades of unsuccessfully trying to gain an expansion franchise or enticing existing teams to relocate to the Tampa Bay area. But an ownership group led by Vince Naimoli was approved in 1995. The Tampa Bay Devil Rays began play in the 1998 Major League Baseball season.
The team finished in last place in the American League East in all but the 2004 season, when they finished in fourth place. Following the 2007 season, Stuart Sternberg, who had purchased controlling interest in the team from Vince Naimoli two years earlier, changed the team's name to "Rays" to represent the team as "...a beacon that radiates throughout Tampa Bay and across the entire state of Florida".
In 2008 , the Rays had their first winning season with a 97–65 record and won their first AL East championship. They defeated the rival Boston Red Sox to win the American League Championship, but lost to the National League champion Philadelphia Phillies in that year's World Series. Since then, the Rays won their second AL East championship in 2010 and have qualified for the postseason as a wild card team in 2011 and 2013.
The Tampa Bay Rays' chief rivals are the Boston Red Sox and the New York Yankees. The Rays also have an intrastate rivalry with the National League's Miami Marlins, a team they play in the "Citrus Series". The Rays lead the series 44–43.
American League Pennant 2008
East Division titles 2010 · 2008
Wild card berths 2013 · 2011
Tropicana Field
One Tropicana Drive
St. Petersburg, FL 33705
Comments
Go rays it's my birthday and
Go rays it's my birthday and long will hit a walk off homer Tuesday and I'll be there right on the third base side wearing a Rays hat and longoria t shirt
How to increase Fans and Season tickets!!!
I truly believe owners and management do not have any imagination. They don't know how to think out of the box. It takes people with guts to make things happen. Please take this seriously. Go and sign TIM TEBOW. Most baseball reporters do not believe he has it to be a MLB player. They are wrong!! A change in a team (Florida Team) not the Mets! Can you see it?? Yes, put him in the farm team at Durham, NC Work with him to get his confidence up. Then, early move to the MLB Tampabay Rays and watch how the Team makes it BIG!! Be bold and get this player before it's to late. This New year is the time to make that move.