The Tampa Bay Rays, a professional baseball team based in St. Petersburg, FL, are members of the MLB’s American League East Division and have played in Tropicana Field since 1998. From the beginning until November 2007, they were called the “Devil Rays,” after the marine creature of a similar name, the manta ray. The new name, described by principal owner Stuart Sternberg, was chosen because they are “a beacon that radiates throughout Tampa Bay and across the entire state of Florida. They still have the original manta ray logo as an alternate, although it’s in their new colors. The team was founded in 1998 in St. Petersburg and is one of four teams to never have played in a World Series; the others are: the Texas Rangers, Washington Nationals and Seattle Mariners. They are the only team to never have made it to the playoffs, though, and finished in last place in all seasons except 2004 when they finished 4th in their division.

St. Petersburg is the spring training home for 9 teams: the Baltimore Orioles, Boston Braves, New York Giants, New York Mets, Philadelphia Phillies, St. Louis Browns, St. Louis Cardinals along with the Rays. Tampa has been the spring training host for 7 teams: the Boston Red Sox, Chicago Cubs, Chicago White Sox, Cincinnati Reds, Detroit Tigers, Washington Senators and New York Yankees. The Rays’ rivals include the Boston Red Sox, New York Yankees and NL Florida Marlins. The rivalry with the Boston Red Sox is due in large part to Lou Piniella’s history with them from when he played for the New York Yankees in the 70s. When Piniella was manager, the Rays had quite a few tense moments and bench-clearing brawls.