Saint Petersburg in Florida is a famous destination for those planning to go on vacation. There are variety of attractions that vacationers can enjoy. They have a wide range of museums and art galleries. They also have beautiful sites and when you are tired of exploring the many impressive places you can dine at their excellent restaurants.
St. Pete is also home to one of the youngest teams in Major League Baseball, the Tampa Bay Rays. The founding of the team took place a decade ago. Talks about having a major league baseball team in St. Petersburg began in the mid-1960s. After several attempts, the American League approved having an expansion team in St. Pete. They are scheduled to begin play in 1998 along with the D-back of the National League.
After approval, they chose Chuck LaMar as the team’s general manager. They hired Larry Rothschild to manage the team. The Expansion Draft helps them acquire players that will potentially lead them to success. His first choice was Tony Saunders.
They lost their first major game to the Detroit Tigers on March 31, 1998. It was memorable, however, because Baseball Hall of Famer Wade Boggs hit the franchise’s first home run. Another moment for Wade Boggs came in 1999. He marked the 3,000th hit of his career with a home run, the most memorable way to do it. After he retired, the Bay Rays retired his jersey.
While they did have some memorable moments with Wade Boggs, it wasn’t enough to make the team successful overall. After his retirement, the team continued to struggle to win. Not even the acquisition of baseball stars in 2000 and 2001 did magic for them.
The team changed Rothschild as their coach. Hal McRae took over management of the team. In 2002, they focused on building new players. Although promising new talent emerged, the season became the worst in franchise history.
Lou Piniella managed the team from 2003 to 2005. He was able to improve the team’s standing somewhat during his leadership. Interesting moments occurred when he took office. An incident occurred in 2003 during Geremi Gonzales’ pitch against Sammy Sosa of the Chicago Cubs. The bat Sosa used broke, revealing it to be a corked bat. Major League Baseball prohibits the use of such bats.
There were major management changes to the team after Stuart Sternburg bought it in 2004. Joe Maddon managed the Tampa Bay Rays after Piniella left. The team focused on its young players. They also improved their marketing strategies to attract more audiences during home games.
Although the changes had some positive impacts, the team continued to struggle due to injuries and trading their experienced players with other teams.
The recent changes are promising for the team. They are off to a good start and have won more games than before. They had their best year in 2008, earning their first postseason berth.
