Since
its inception in 1995 as the 13th Major League Baseball
expansion league, the Tampa Devil Rays have made their
home in St. Petersburg, Florida. Originally, their home
stadium was dubbed the Florida SunCoast Dome when it was
built in 1986 to attract a MLB team. Around 1993, it was
renamed the ThunderDome. However in 1996, Tropicana Dole
Beverages North America and the Devil Rays announced a
deal that changed the stadium name to Tropicana Field,
by which it is still known. Their official foray into
the Major Leagues was in 1998.
Ticket sales
were brisk for the first season, most likely to celebrate
the establishment of the Devil Rays in the area. However,
since then the Devil Rays ticket sales have steadily declined
and, according to baseball-reference.com, have put them
14th out of 14 in attendance statistics against other
teams for the last five years.
In the eight
years of the franchise’s existence, they have had
three team managers, including Larry Rothschild, Hal McRae
and, most recently, Lou Piniella. Unfortunately for the
team’s ticket sales, none of the managers have had
a better than .500 finish with the team.
Eight years
isn’t long to make much of a mark on the world of
baseball, but the Devil Rays have had some memorable players
and plays in that time. Wade Boggs finished his career
with the brand-new franchise and is now a Hall of Famer.
Also of note
is that the Devil Rays have sent at least one person to
the All Star game every year since their first time on
the field. Pitcher Rolando Arrojo started them off on
this streak in 1998, followed by Jose Canseco and Roberto
Hernandez in 1999. In 2000, Fred McGriff joined the group,
while in 2001 Greg Vaughn was the Devils Rays’ representative.
During the following years, one player was sent. In time
order, they were Randy Winn, Lance Carter, Carl Crawford
and Danys Baez.
Most
likely due to their relative newcomer status, the Tampa
Bay Devil Rays are not on the radar screen in many instances.
This could be due to a variety of reasons and the situation
could change with the 2006 season since the team will
have both new owners, two executives sharing the general
manager duties and new team manager Joe Maddon.
.