Tampa Bay Rays

This is the most complete record book ever written about the Tampa Bay Rays because it places every season and career record in chronological order in batting, pitching and fielding.

Typical record books eliminate old records when new ones are created but this book never eliminates records. Instead all new records are simply added to the existing chronology lists so that no players or their records are ever forgotten and the history of records is forever preserved.

Four never before seen features are presented. First are the “Chronology Lists,” which begin with the original “Record Setters,” in the Rays first year of play. Thereafter, every subsequent “Record Breaker” is listed and ends with the present record holder. These lists are valuable because they show how long each record lasted before broken and whose records were most difficult to break.

The second feature are the “Record Holders Lists” which are found at the end of each chapter showing which players have produced the most records. This gives players honor and recognition.

The third feature is the individual “Record Profiles,” which tally all records in each chapter and display them in one unique file. This gives further honor and recognition to the team’s greatest players.

The fourth never before seen feature are the “Composite Record Holders Lists” which are a compilation of every season and career record of every player in the Ray’s history. Two lists are presented, one for players and one for pitchers. The lists begin with the player and pitcher with the most records and ends with those with the fewest. No one is left out; nothing could be more complete and easy to understand. Now for the first time, it will be learned exactly how many records every player has created. This information was never before available.

To better understand the chronology lists a sample of the season stolen base record is seen below.

SUMMARY
This is the complete history of the season stolen base record. Randy Winn was the original “Record Setter” in 1998 and his record was broken by Miquel Cairo in 2000. In 2001 the new leader was Jason Tyner who stole 31 bases but could only hold onto his record for two years before it was broken by Carl Crawford in 2003. Crawford broke his own record in 2004 and is the present record holder. He is also the only two-time record breaker in stolen bases.

This entire book is written using this newly developed “Chronology Concept.” It is record keeping at its best. Nothing could possibly be more complete.

TEAM HISTORY
On March 9, 1995 an ownership group led by Vincent J. Naimoli was approved for an expansion franchise after nearly three decades of unsuccessful attempts by Tampa groups to gain an expansion team or entice an existing team to relocate to the Tampa Bay area. The Tampa club began play in the 1998 MLB season in St. Petersburgh, FL in Tropicana Field. They were an expansion team playing in the Eastern Division of the American League. They were called the Tampa Bay Devil Rays.

Their first decade of play was marked with futility and they finished last in all but 2004 when they finished next to last.
In 2005, Stuart Sternberg took controlling interest from Vince Naimoli and changed the team name to the Tampa Bay Rays. Once they got rid of the Devil things began looking up. They had had their first winning season in 2008 winning their first pennant but losing in the World Series. Since then they have been consistent contenders gaining post season births in 2010, 2011 and 2013.