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
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.
Postseason appearances
| Year | Wild Card Game/Series | LDS | LCS | World Series | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | None (Won AL East) | Chicago White Sox | W (3–1) | Boston Red Sox | W (4–3) | Philadelphia Phillies | L (1–4) | |
| 2010 | None (Won AL East) | Texas Rangers | L (2–3) | |||||
| 2011 | None (Won AL Wild Card) | Texas Rangers | L (1–3) | |||||
| 2013 | Cleveland Indians W | Boston Red Sox | L (1–3) | |||||
| 2019 | Oakland Athletics W | Houston Astros | L (2–3) | |||||
| 2020 | Toronto Blue Jays | W (2–0) | New York Yankees | W (3–2) | Houston Astros | W (4–3) | Los Angeles Dodgers | L (2–4) |
| 2021 | None (Won AL East) | Boston Red Sox | L (1–3) | |||||
| 2022 | Cleveland Guardians | L (0–2) | ||||||
| 2023 | Texas Rangers | L (0–2) | ||||||
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 | ||