R a y s 5 CONTENTS CHAPTERS A Devilish Debut 6 Treading Water 15 Lou Leads the Way 22 The Kazmir Years 29 Rays Redemption 34 AROUND THE HORN Just Visiting 12 Tampa Bay’s Home Turf 20 A Game with Two Ends 24 Tampa Bay Turns a Triple 31 Change for the Better 38 The Skipper’s Ride 43 ALL-TIME RAYS P Scott Kazmir 8 C Toby Hall 13 1B Fred McGriff 14 2B Miguel Cairo 18 3B Evan Longoria 23 SS Julio Lugo 28 LF Carl Crawford 30 CF Randy Winn 35 RF Aubrey Huff 39 M Joe Maddon 40 Index 48
6 R a y s A DEVILISH DEBUT rchaeologists believe that humans known as Paleo Indians existed in Florida 12,000 to 14,000 years ago and that a tribe known as the Manasota lived in the Tampa Bay area as far back as 4000 B C It’s not hard to see why early peoples might have chosen to inhabit this place as it features abundant sea sun and sand as well as warm temperatures year round Today when people speak of the Tampa Bay area they are usually referring most specifically to the two large neighboring cities of Tampa and St Petersburg In 1998 a professional baseball team also made itself at home next to this bay It was then after the area had already spent decades playing host to big-league baseball teams holding spring training in south Florida that Tampa Bay first fielded a Major League Baseball team of its own Thanks to a public name-the-team contest the new American League AL club took the field as the Devil Rays A common sight in the Bay waters devil rays also called manta rays are odd-looking marine creatures that get their name from unique fins near their heads that resemble devils horns A
Tampa pictured and neighboring St Petersburg lend themselves to indoor baseball as the cities feature hot humid and often stormy summers
