The Tampa Bay Rays are a professional baseball
team based in St. Petersburg, Florida. The Rays are a member of
the Eastern Division of Major League Baseball's American League.
From 1998 to the present, the Rays have played in Tropicana Field.
From their inception up until November
2007, the organization's name was the "Devil Rays",
after the common nickname for the manta ray. They were nicknamed
"The D-Rays", a shortened version of the Devil Rays
name. The new name "Rays" is described by principal
owner Stuart Sternberg as the team representing, "A beacon
that radiates throughout Tampa Bay and across the entire state
of Florida."
An expansion franchise, the club was founded
in St. Petersburg in 1998. They are one of four active teams never
to have played in a World Series, the others being the Texas Rangers,
the Washington Nationals, and the Seattle Mariners. They are the
only team to have never made it to the playoffs, having finished
in last place in every season of their existence, with the exception
of 2004, when they finished fourth in their division.