The Rays have a lot of big plans for not only the up coming season, but for future seasons as well. After having a good past few seasons, the future of the team looks very bright. Key players such as Logan Morrison, Evan Longoria and Steven Souza Jr. all plan keeping the success of the team going by using their steller defense and aggressive offensive, as well as making some small improvements to make the team better as a whole. In terms of pitching, the young star Chris Archer plans on continuing to be the ace of the staff, and will be their go to guy when in a big game. Besides the players, the Rays organization is also planning on moving the location of the stadium from St. Pete to Ybor. This new location change could not only benefit the fans that come to the games, but also the team as well. The new stadium could give the team a new stronger motivation to be the best team in the MLB. All of the new decisions and changes the Rays organization is making should have a positive impact on the team, and I am excited to see what they will do this next season.
When The Rays organization First Started
The Rays have one of the best programs in the MLB right now, but have the Rays always been a successful team? The Rays haven’t always been a winning team. When the organization first started in 1998, the team did not have to much success. For the first decade of play, the Rays finished in last place in the AL East every year except 2004. There were a lot of difficulties that came with starting the new organization. One of the biggest problems that came with starting the organization was finding good enough players that were willing to get paid the amount the organization was paying. The Rays organization did not have as much money as a majority of the teams in the MLB. The Rays worked with what they had but were seeing very little improvement with the team, until the 2008 season came. With the new name and new leadership, the Rays were finally able to have a winning season. Though the Rays were not as good when they first started as they currently are today, if they did not start off to such a bad start, they might not of turned out to be the great hometown team that everyone loves.
The Mascots!
The name of the main mascot for the Tampa Bay Rays is Raymond. He is a fury blue creature that wears a white jersey, large sneakers and a big baseball cap that is on backwards. Raymond is a huge part of the experience of attending a Tampa Bay Rays game. He is involved in a variety of events that take place inside the stadium and out. From taking pictures with young fans and getting on the dugout to dance , to attending charity events that the Rays host, you can always expect to see Raymond at any event the Rays participate in. But not only do the Rays have Raymond, but they also have another new exciting mascot named DJ Kitty! The name perfectly describes what he is, a kitty that is also a DJ. The kitty plays the music in between batters and innings and is always getting the fans up on their feet and into the game. Like Raymond, Dj Kitty also wears the signature Rays baseball cap backwards along with a white jersey. The Rays are the only team in MLB that have two official mascots for their team. Raymond and Dj kitty are both a big part of the Rays organization.
The Guys In Charge
A lot of people tend to think that the manager of the team is the one who has all the power and is also the one who owns the team. Though the managers do have a lot of say so in the Rays organization, they are not the actual owner of the team or organization. The current owner is Stuart Sternberg, and has been the principle shareholder and Managing General Partner of the Tampa bay Rays since 2005. Before Sternberg, the owner of the Tampa Bay Rays was Vince Naimoli, and he was the owner of the organization from 1998-2004. Stuart Sternberg was born in Brooklyn New York, so even though he is the owner of the Tampa Bay Rays, he is also a New York Mets fan! Sternberg hired Matthew Silverman as the teams president. Silverman has remained a low-key owner of the organization and his primary goal is to get the teams finances in order. Another one of the main General Managers for the Rays organization is Erik Neander. If Sternberg isn’t making a final decision for the organization, then Neander is. The Rays owner Stuart Sternberg has made the organization very successful in the past years and he plans on keeping that success going in the future.
Attendance!
A high majority of baseball fans that live in the Tampa Bay area are Rays fans, but most of the fans do not get to attend the games in person due to several reasons. Last year under the leadership of Kevin Cash, the Rays drew in under 1.3 million fans to the Trop. Though 1.3 million is a lot of fans, it is nowhere near the amount of people that should be attending the games. One of the main reasons why the attendance for the games is so low is due to the location of the stadium. It is very inconvenient for people from Tampa to drive to and from the Trop. Most people would rather just watch the game on television, rather than actually going out and watching the game in person. The Rays organization is hoping to solve this problem by switching stadiums from Tropicana Field currently in St. Petersburg to a new Ybor location much closer to the Tampa Bay area. Not only was the location a big factor in why the attendance levels have been so low, but its also because the Rays are a young team trying to build up and haven’t done as well as they have in previous seasons. But with the new team, new manager and new location, hopefully the attendance levels will be higher than last season.
The New Stadium!
Tropicana Field, or also commonly known as the Trop, has been the home for the Tampa Bay Rays ever since 1998 when their inaugural season started. It took almost two years and about $138 million to build the dome. Not only is it the home of the Rays, but it is also used for college football as well. The St. Petersburg Bowl and the annual Postseason Bowl are both held at Tropicana Field. It is currently the only non-retractable domed stadium in Major League Baseball, and is the smallest Stadium as far as seating capacity goes. Even though the Trop is a very nice stadium, the Rays organization is looking to move from Tropicana to a new stadium somewhere close to downtown Tampa. The Rays organization and officials from Hillsborough County reached a deal to gain control of about 14 acres in the Ybor City-Channel District near downtown, and plan to start new construction by 2018. This new complex will be located roughly about 23 miles from Tropicana Field. The new stadium will not have the convenience of the dome, but will have a higher seating capacity then the Trop. So not only do the Rays have a new coach and new star players, but they will be getting the new stadium to go along with it.
The Future of the Ray’s!
For the past few years the Ray’s organization have had a very solid team overall, but could use some work. The organization has traded and added new players, coaches and staff members to not only try and keep the success of the team, but to better the team as a whole. The Ray’s have a very young team with the exception of a few veterans. The Ray’s have signed a lot of young talent in hopes of making a good run in the play-offs next year, and I believe they have a very good chance in doing so. Bringing in the new coach Kevin Cash has brought the Ray’s organization a lot of new opportunities. His history of the game and the style of coaching that he brings to the table does this young Ray’s team a lot of good. Not only is this Ray’s team well coached and mostly made up of young athletes, but they have also signed Danny Espinosa in hopes of filling another spot as one of the veteran leaders on the team. The Ray’s are hoping that this combination of young talent mixed with the leadership of the veteran guys will give them a better chance of winning the play-offs.
Outside The Field
The Rays organization does many things outside of the baseball field for the community. A vast majority of people do not realize how much their organization really does. The Rays host a variety of fundraisers and charity events for the local community. Not only do they participate in multiple charity events, but they have also awarded five different scholarship programs that give over $50 million. The Rays organization donates the most money to the Rays-Helios scholarship. This scholarship is for students in Hillsborough, Pinellas, Sarasota, Manatee and Pasco counties, and provides a unique opportunity for low income families to escape the cycle of poverty through education! Many of the players and coaches are involved in charity events. The Rays host three major charity events. The Rays Fan Fest and Charity yard sale which is held by the players themselves and raises over $100,000 annually is one of the best charity events for the community. The other major event that the Rays hold is the Charity Golf Classic. Players get to let loose in the offseason by playing golf with there biggest fans, and also raising over $150,000 for cancer research. So not only do the Rays show a good example on the field, but they also do a lot of good outside of it as well.
The Team Captain
The Rays organization has had many great players over the years, but one of their best current players is Evan Longoria. Evan Longoria was drafted in 2008 right after the Rays organization switched from the Tampa Bay Devil Rays to just the Rays. Longoria has been one of the teams main captains, and should continue his role on the team until 2023 when his contract expires. He was named rookie of the year his first season in 2008, and also made the American League All-Star team that season. Evan made the All-Star team three years in a row after his glorious rookie season, and could potentially make it in the upcoming season. Longoria had one of the biggest hits in Rays history when he hit a walk off homerun in extra innings of the last game of the 2011 season to tie with the Red Sox in the race for the wildcard spot. Outside of the game, Evan has done a lot of good deeds for the community, such as donating over $1 million to the Rays Baseball Charitable Foundation, as well as a $500,000 donation for the cool climbing exhibit at Great Explorations museum. He is a great mentor and role model on and off the field. 
Did you know?
I’m taking the opportunity to write this blog to inform you of some facts and previous history of the Tampa Bay Rays. Did you know that they weren’t always called the Rays? The original name was the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, which was switched in 2007 to try and reinvent the Rays and start off fresh. Not only did the name change, but the colors changed as well. Navy blue and light blue replaced the green and black as the primary colors. And it worked! The Rays won the World Series the very next year in 2008 defeating the Philadelphia Phillies in a best of 7 game series. Do you know who the highest paid Rays player is? It’s Evan Longoria. He signed a 15 year contract for 144.5 million dollars. The 2nd highest paid Rays player is Kevin Kiermaire with a 6 year contract for 53 million. Both of those men have special roles on the team and are both two key components to the team’s success this year. Kevin Cash has been the manager of the Rays since 2015, and will continue to manage them at least through the 2018 season and possibly longer. Those are just a few fun facts about the Rays. Thank you for taking an interest in reading my blog post.
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