The Rays have played in Tropicana Field since their inaugural season in 1998.

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 (MLB) American League (AL). Since their inaugural season in 1998, the Rays have played their home games at Tropicana Field.[1] The team was originally known as the "Tampa Bay Devil Rays", which was inspired by a common nickname of the manta ray, but after the 2007 season, they shortened their official name to the "Tampa Bay Rays."[2]

Tampa Bay made their Major League debut in 1998, where they were an expansion team.[3] For their first ten seasons, Tampa Bay struggled, never had a winning record, and always finished fifth in the American League Eastern Division, except for a fourth-place finish in the 2004 season. Since 2008 however, the Rays have advanced to the postseason eight times and have played in the World Series twice, in 2008 and 2020. In 2021 the Rays achieved a 100-win regular season for the first time.

Table Key

ALDS
 American League Division Series
ALCS
 American League Championship Series
MVP
 Most Valuable Player Award
CYA
 Cy Young Award
ROY
 Rookie of the Year Award
MOY
 Manager of the Year Award
CB POY
 Comeback Player of the Year Award
WS MVP
 World Series Most Valuable Player Award

Regular season results

World Series champions † AL champions * Division champions ^ Wild card berth ¤
Season Level League Division Finish Wins Losses Win% GB Post-season Awards
Tampa Bay Devil Rays
1998 MLB AL East 5th 63 99 .389 51
1999 MLB AL East 5th 69 93 .426 29
2000 MLB AL East 5th 69 92 .429 18
2001 MLB AL East 5th 62 100 .383 34
2002 MLB AL East 5th 55 106 .342 48
2003 MLB AL East 5th 63 99 .389 38
2004 MLB AL East 4th 70 91 .435 30½
2005 MLB AL East 5th 67 95 .414 28
2006 MLB AL East 5th 61 101 .377 36
2007 MLB AL East 5th 66 96 .407 30 Carlos Peña (CB POY)[4]
Tampa Bay Rays
2008 MLB AL * East ^ 1st 97 65 .599 – Won ALDS (White Sox) 3–1
Won ALCS (Red Sox) 4–3
Lost World Series (Phillies) 4–1 * 		Evan Longoria (ROY)[5]
Joe Maddon (MOY)[6]
2009 MLB AL East 3rd 84 78 .519 19
2010 MLB AL East ^ 1st 96 66 .593 – Lost ALDS (Rangers) 3–2
2011 MLB AL East 2nd ¤ 91 71 .562 6 Lost ALDS (Rangers) 3–1 Jeremy Hellickson (ROY)[5]
Joe Maddon (MOY)[6]
2012 MLB AL East 3rd 90 72 .556 5 David Price (CYA)[7]
Fernando Rodney (CB POY)[8]
2013 MLB AL East 2nd ¤ 92 71 .564 5½ Won ALWC (Indians)
Lost ALDS (Red Sox) 3–1 		Wil Myers (ROY)[5]
2014 MLB AL East 4th 77 85 .475 19
2015 MLB AL East 4th 80 82 .494 13
2016 MLB AL East 5th 68 94 .420 25
2017 MLB AL East 3rd 80 82 .494 13
2018 MLB AL East 3rd 90 72 .556 18 Blake Snell (CYA)[7]
2019 MLB AL East 2nd ¤ 96 66 .593 7 Won ALWC (Athletics)
Lost ALDS (Astros) 3–2
2020 MLB AL * East ^ 1st 40 20 .667 – Won ALWC (Blue Jays) 2–0
Won ALDS (Yankees) 3–2
Won ALCS (Astros) 4–3
Lost World Series (Dodgers) 4–2 * 		Kevin Cash (MOY)[6]
2021 MLB AL East ^ 1st 100 62 .617 – Lost ALDS (Red Sox) 3–1 Randy Arozarena (ROY)[5]
Kevin Cash (MOY)[6]
2022 MLB AL East 3rd ¤ 86 76 .531 13 Lost ALWC (Guardians) 2–0
2023 MLB AL East 2nd ¤ 99 63 .611 2 Lost ALWC (Rangers) 2–0
Totals Wins Losses Win%
2,011 2,097 .490 All-time regular season record (1998–2023)
28 36 .438 All-time postseason record
2,039 2,131 .489 All-time regular and postseason record

Record by decade

The following table describes the Rays' MLB win–loss record by decade.

Decade Wins Losses Pct
1990s 132 192 .407
2000s 694 923 .429
2010s 860 761 .531
2020s 325 221 .595
All-time 2,011 2,097 .490

These statistics are from Baseball-Reference.com's Tampa Bay Rays History & Encyclopedia,[9] and are current through the 2021 regular season.

Post-season record by year

The Rays have made the postseason nine times in their history, with their first being in 2008 and the most recent being in 2023.

Year Finish Round Opponent Result
2008 American League Champions ALDS Chicago White Sox Won 3 1
ALCS Boston Red Sox Won 4 3
World Series Philadelphia Phillies Lost 1 4
2010 AL East Champions ALDS Texas Rangers Lost 2 3
2011 AL Wild Card ALDS Texas Rangers Lost 1 3
2013 AL Wild Card Champions ALWC Cleveland Indians Won 1 0
ALDS Boston Red Sox Lost 1 3
2019 AL Wild Card Champions ALWC Oakland Athletics Won 1 0
ALDS Houston Astros Lost 2 3
2020 American League Champions ALWC Toronto Blue Jays Won 2 0
ALDS New York Yankees Won 3 2
ALCS Houston Astros Won 4 3
World Series Los Angeles Dodgers Lost 2 4
2021 AL East Champions ALDS Boston Red Sox Lost 1 3
2022 AL Wild Card ALWC Cleveland Guardians Lost 0 2
2023 AL Wild Card ALWC Texas Rangers Lost 0 2
9 Totals 7–9 28 36

See also

References

  1. ^ "Tropicana Field". MLB.com. Retrieved October 5, 2008.
  2. ^ "Time to shine: Rays introduce new name, new icon, new team colors and new uniforms". MLB.com. Retrieved October 5, 2008.
  3. ^ "Rays Timeline 1995–1996". MLB.com. Archived from the original on June 19, 2009. Retrieved October 5, 2008.
  4. ^ Bill Chastain (October 26, 2007). "Pena honored as AL comeback player". MLB.com. Retrieved October 7, 2008.
  5. ^ a b c d "Rookie of the Year Award Winners". Baseball-Reference.com. November 10, 2008. Retrieved November 14, 2008.
  6. ^ a b c d "Manager of the Year Award Winners". Baseball-Reference.com. November 12, 2008. Retrieved November 14, 2008.
  7. ^ a b "Most Valuable Player MVP Awards & Cy Young Awards Winners". Baseball-Reference.com. November 14, 2012. Retrieved November 14, 2012.
  8. ^ Bill Chastain (October 19, 2012). "Rodney is Comeback, Delivery Man awards winner". MLB.com. Retrieved October 19, 2012.
  9. ^ "Tampa Bay Rays History & Encyclopedia". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 30, 2018.

External links

Major League Baseball season-by-season team history
Tampa Bay Rays
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