Tampa Bay Rays Betting Odds

The Tampa Bay Rays are one of the youngest franchises in Major League Baseball, founded in 1998. They were named after the manta ray that can be found swimming in the nearby waters surrounding the Tampa Bay area. The Rays play at Tropicana Field in St Petersburg and have been to the World Series once.

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History

The Tampa Bay area, which encompasses Tampa, St Petersburg, Clearwater, and Bradenton, had hosted spring training for many major league clubs for decades, and in that time many local businesspeople tried to either purchase the franchises or get other franchises to move to Tampa unsuccessfully. In 1983, Major League Baseball announced it would add two expansion teams, and many assumed that Tampa would be awarded one of them. However, due to complications that arose from Stadium bids, MLB awarded the teams to Denver and Miami. Fortunately, three years later the league added another two teams, and this time gave one of them to Tampa. The other was given to Phoenix. The Rays were originally named the Devil Rays, but shortened their name to the Rays in 2007.

Titles

The Rays have never won a World Series, but they have been to the fall classic once, in 2008. That year they were swept by the Philadelphia Phillies in four games. The Rays started slow that season but ended up surpassing their single-season win record and grabbed a spot in the MLB postseason for the first time in franchise history with a 97-65 record, which was almost 30 wins better than any other season in their 10-year history. In the playoffs, they beat the White Sox 3-games to one in the ALDS and beat the Red Sox 4-3 before advancing to the World Series. Since then, the Rays have made it back to the playoffs three times, in 2010, 2011, and 2013, but have not won a single series. In 2013 they advanced to the ALDS thanks to a Wild Card victory against the Indians.

Famous players

Given the team’s short history, not too many players have made their mark on the franchise. David Price is the most notable, having won the AL Cy Young award in 2012. His rookie year he pitched out of the bullpen throughout the Rays run to the World Series and had a memorable save in game seven against the Red Sox.

In 2018, Pitcher Blake Snell won the AL Cy Young award after a year in which lead the Majors in wins (21) and batting average against (.178) as well as leading the AL in ERA (1.89). His ERA that year was the third lowest in the AL since the designated hitter rule was adopted in 1973.

The Rays have also had three Rookie of the Year award winners play for their team; 3B Evan Longoria won the award in 2008, Pitcher Jeremy Hellickson won in 2011, and Will Meyers won in 2013.

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