Tampa Bay Rays
The Tampa Bay Rays are a professional baseball club in Florida that began major-league play as the Devil Rays in 1998.
Contents23 sections
Key facts
1986–1990A stadium before a team
St. Petersburg built the Florida Suncoast Dome, but attempts to attract the White Sox, Giants or a 1993 expansion team failed.[1]
March 9, 1995
MLB approved Devil Rays expansion.[2]
Vince Naimoli led the original ownership group.[1]
March 31, 1998Debut
The club lost its Tropicana Field debut 6–11 to Detroit.[3]
August 7, 1999Boggs milestone
Wade Boggs became the first player to reach 3,000 career hits with a home run.[4]
October 2005Sternberg takes control
Stuart Sternberg took control, bringing in Matt Silverman and Andrew Friedman, with Joe Maddon managing from 2006.[1]
2008New name and AL pennant
Renamed the Rays, the team posted its first winning season and reached the World Series, losing to Philadelphia.[3]
2010Division title and no-hitter
Another AL East title accompanied Matt Garza’s first no-hitter in club history.[3]
2011Final-game comeback
Down 0–7 to the Yankees in the regular-season finale, the Rays secured a Wild Card on Evan Longoria’s 12th-inning walk-off homer.[4]
2015Cash takes over
Kevin Cash began managing the club.[4]
2018Snell wins Cy Young
Blake Snell won AL Cy Young.[4]
2020Second World Series
Randy Arozarena hit 10 homers in one postseason.[4]
The World Series ended in six games against the Dodgers.[5]
2021100 wins
The club went 100–62.[3]
January 2022
MLB rejected shared Montreal home games.[6]
2024–2025Hurricane and temporary home
Hurricane Milton destroyed Tropicana Field’s roof in October 2024. The Rays played their 2025 home games at George M. Steinbrenner Field in Tampa.[7]
AECOM Hunt participated in restoration, using updated roof material and repairing wind- and water-damaged facilities.[7]
March 2025
The St. Petersburg ballpark project was abandoned.[8]
September 30, 2025
Patrick Zalupski’s group completed the purchase.[9]
April 6, 2026
The Rays returned to Tropicana Field.[10]
August 28, 2026Ballpark agreement advances
Hillsborough County commissioners voted 5–2 to advance development, funding and non-relocation agreements for the Hillsborough College Dale Mabry campus ballpark. The team anticipated opening in April 2029.[11]
At that announcement, additional ballpark-use, community-benefits and construction-fund trust agreements still required consideration.[11]
2026Fifth division title
A 98–64 record won the AL East.[3]
October 7, 2026
A Yankees sweep secured an ALCS berth.[12]
Ballpark and management
The restored Tropicana Field remains the home venue, with the new owners also upgrading suites and other facilities.[7]
Ken Babby is chief executive officer.[13]
Related Organizations, Websites, and Public Accounts
Tampa Bay Rays: Official website: https://www.mlb.com/rays (opens in a new window).[14]
Tampa Bay Rays: X: https://x.com/Raysbaseball (opens in a new window).[15]
Tampa Bay Rays: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/raysbaseball (opens in a new window).[16]
Tampa Bay Rays: YouTubeYouTubeYouTube is Google’s video-sharing and creator platform, founded in 2005 by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim and acquired by Google in 2006. Built around video uploading, viewing, and creator earnings, the platform has developed Shorts, YouTube Music, Premium, YouTube TV, and products for children, and is headquartered in San Bruno, California, United States.Open the full entry: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZaT7TplNF541ySP8SlHVGA (opens in a new window).[17]
Sources
- Tampa Bay Rays team ownership history (opens in a new window)
- Franchise Timeline (opens in a new window)
- Tampa Bay Rays History (opens in a new window)
- Tampa Bay Rays Starting Nine (opens in a new window)
- 20 facts about LA’s title, 2020 postseason (opens in a new window)
- Major League Baseball ends Tampa Bay Rays pursuit of Sister City plan (opens in a new window)
- Rapid response restores hurricane-damaged Tropicana Field for 2026 Opening Day (opens in a new window)
- Rays will not proceed with plans for new ballpark (opens in a new window)
- Tampa Bay Rays Sold To New Ownership Group (opens in a new window)
- Remarkable efforts restore Trop—and Rays win (opens in a new window)
- Hillsborough BOCC Approves Development and Funding Agreement, Guaranty, and Team Non-Relocation Agreement to Bring Tampa Bay Rays to Hillsborough County (opens in a new window)
- Rays sweep their way past Yankees to reach 3rd ALCS in franchise history (opens in a new window)
- Ken Babby: Chief Executive Officer (opens in a new window)
- Tampa Bay Rays official website (opens in a new window)
- Tampa Bay Rays — x (opens in a new window)
- Tampa Bay Rays — instagram (opens in a new window)
- Tampa Bay Rays — youtube (opens in a new window)