Tampa Bay Rays

American League East club from St. Petersburg, Florida, that began play as the Devil Rays in 1998.

via Wikipedia: Tampa Bay Rays · see source

The Tampa Bay Rays are a professional baseball club from the Tampa Bay area that plays in the East Division of the American League. Home games are held at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida, and the Rays are one of only two big league teams in the state, the other being the Miami Marlins. The franchise started life as the Tampa Bay Devil Rays in 1998 and spent its first decade near the bottom of the standings. Since dropping the Devil from its name, the club has become a steady contender, winning pennants in 2008 and 2020, though it is still among the five MLB teams without a World Series title.

Quick Facts

Established: 1998
Current league: American League
Division: East Division
Ballpark: Tropicana Field (1998–2024, 2026–present)
Pennants: 2008, 2020

Facts from the source article.

Background

Tampa Bay chased a big league team for close to three decades. Several existing clubs, the Minnesota Twins among them, seriously weighed a move to Tampa or St. Petersburg before staying put, and St. Petersburg built the Florida Suncoast Dome, now Tropicana Field, to lure one; the building opened in 1990. The region missed out when MLB expanded for the 1993 season, and an attempt by Vince Naimoli to buy and relocate the San Francisco Giants was blocked. Naimoli sued, and on March 9, 1995, his group was granted an expansion club. He wanted the name Sting Rays, but the Maui Stingrays held it and asked $35,000, so he settled on Devil Rays. The team played its first game on March 31, 1998, losing 11-6 to the Detroit Tigers before 45,369 fans.

Did You Know?

Wade Boggs hit the first home run in franchise history on opening day in 1998.
Boggs collected his 3000th career hit, a home run, on August 7, 1999.
Fans approved the Devil Rays name in a telephone poll; the fallback choice was Manta Rays.