Tampa Bay Devil Rays Name Change?

[Survival79]

Rays makeover starts at top

The Devil Rays will be different under Stuart Sternberg.

Parking will be free next season. Relationships throughout the area will be repaired and maintained. Tropicana Field will be cleaned and renovated. The front office will be restructured with an emphasis on communication. Changes will be considered in all facets of the organization, including the team's name.

Q & A with Stuart Sternberg

Please clear up two things being speculated about in the media -- that you've considered changing the name of the team, and that the team would eventually relocate to Tampa. Any merit to either one of those?

We love where we are right now. That's not even on the radar. As far as the name of the team, we'll look at anything that might be more appealing. "Devil Rays" might be the best thing, but the name by no means has to stay "Devil Rays." If we could speculate on anything, and if you bring it up and it has a reasonable sense of idea, we're going to follow through on it.

[ColeJ]

good idea... that's one of the worst team names in all of sports, as far as i'm concerned.

[Cujo]

I say do it. The only person who will be slightly effected by the name change would be Wade Boggs who's 3000th hit came as a D-Ray and who's number is also retired by them. Other than him, nobody else as done a thing for that team since they came into the league.

[tajmccall]

Wow, what would be the historic implications of a team changing its name, without any sort of move? I'm sure it happened a lot before (highlanders to yanks) but in the modern age? I can't think of one instance. Interesting.

Im all for it, they have one of the worst looks in baseball, and the name is as flat as their history.

[ColeJ]

Wow, what would be the historic implications of a team changing its name, without any sort of move? I'm sure it happened a lot before (highlanders to yanks) but in the modern age? I can't think of one instance. Interesting.

Im all for it, they have one of the worst looks in baseball, and the name is as flat as their history.

just last year, the dallas burn became FC Dallas...

[DG_ThenNowForever]

The Tennessee Oilers became the Titans. Does that count?

[jr79]

Kansas City Wiz became the Wizards (if you can call that much of a change) and San Jose Clash became the Earthquakes.

But maybe a new league in its formative years like MLS doesn't count.

On re-reading you're probably just referring to baseball?

Don't forget also the Bullets becoming the Wizards in the NBA.

[Galwegian]

The name itself is sort of blah, but I think what really bugs me about it is how it sort of rhymes with the city name. It just sounds silly and sort of bush.

[slapshot]

Shouldn't Tampa's first priority be fielding a competitive team?

[Gothamite]

Yeah, well, that's not going to happen either.

The Devil Rays are a terrible franchise in a terrible baseball city. They had exactly one sellout in their first six years - any city today that can't sell out two games in the first year of a brand-new franchise has something wrong with it.

They can't relocate to Tampa - their lease with St. Pete is tight. And that lease is the only thing keeping them in the area at all. If they could move to Tampa, they would have already moved to Washington.

[pooter]

I say do it. The only person who will be slightly effected by the name change would be Wade Boggs who's 3000th hit came as a D-Ray and who's number is also retired by them. Other than him, nobody else as done a thing for that team since they came into the league.

Thank goodness that his Hof plaque only says "Tampa Bay" on it.

[pooter]

The Houston Colt .45s changed their name to the Astros.

good idea... that's one of the worst team names in all of sports, as far as i'm concerned.

I agree. They could have done a much better job with the name. There was a story printed in the, I believe, St. Pete Times just after they announced the Devil Rays name. There was some ass-clown that trademarked like 100 or so names with "Tampa Bay ...", "Tampa...", "St. Petersburg...", "Florida..." in the hope that he could extort big money from Namoli when he was naming the team one of those 100 or so names.

The Devil Rays are a terrible franchise in a terrible baseball city. They had exactly one sellout in their first six years - any city today that can't sell out two games in the first year of a brand-new franchise has something wrong with it.

This is a great baseball area. I believe that if the Yankees didn't have such a grip on this area, the people of the area might back the Rays better. Because name me one other MLB city where there is one team that broadcasts their games in another teams market? (Excluding New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and the S.F. Bay area.) That is outrageous. That just pisses me off, plus the Yankees have that stupid woman on their radio broadcasts. Just another reason to hate the Yankees.

They can't relocate to Tampa - their lease with St. Pete is tight. 

Where would they play in Tampa? Legends Field? Not an option. They would have to build another stadium. Maybe we could get Malcom Glazer to build a stadium down by The St. Pete Times Forum in the Channelside area. ...not

And that lease is the only thing keeping them in the area at all. If they could move to Tampa, they would have already moved to Washington.

If they don't get off their butts and do something, the Rays will be in the same boat that the Expos were in. I feel like I have a right to complain, I'm a season ticket holder.

[CubsFanBudMan]

Cubs were the Orphans, White Stockings, Colts.... so from a "historical" sense, it would be fine for a team within its first 10 years of its existence (or more) to change its name. It would be surprising in today's sports world, but it seems "Devil Rays" would be the perfect experiment, with the backlash from the Devil portion and the failure of the team. Don't know if it will help, but at least it seems like the new owner has the right idea. Dumping Naimoli and LaMar was a nice first step... how LaMar lasted since 1998, I have no idea.

[infrared41]

plus the Yankees have that stupid woman on their radio broadcasts. Just another reason to hate the Yankees.

Well at least you're an honest misogynist.

Now on the topic. What The Rays need most is an actual ballpark to play in. Tropicana Field is like watching a game in a giant basement. It has all the charm of a jail cell. It is by far THE worst park I have ever been to. It's also the most expensive.

Yes they will need a name change because Las Vegas Devil Rays will make no sense.

[Gothamite]

It would be surprising in today's sports world, but it seems "Devil Rays" would be the perfect experiment, with the backlash from the Devil portion and the failure of the team.

What backlash from the Devil portion of the name? I've never seen anything to back that up, save one comment in a press conference in which the organization suggested that they thought people weren't coming to the games because the name scared them off.

[pooter]

Now on the topic. What The Rays need most is an actual ballpark to play in. Tropicana Field is like watching a game in a giant basement. It has all the charm of a jail cell. It is by far THE worst park I have ever been to. It's also the most expensive.

Yes they will need a name change because Las Vegas Devil Rays will make no sense.

Did you ever go there for a hockey game when the Lightning played there? Now that was an experience in itself.

They should have kept the Lightning in St. Pete and build a baseball stadium in Tampa for the Rays.

As far as the Las Vegas Devil Rays...Do you mean the Las Vegas A's?

[Gothamite]

The Devil Rays are a terrible franchise in a terrible baseball city. They had exactly one sellout in their first six years - any city today that can't sell out two games in the first year of a brand-new franchise has something wrong with it.

This is a great baseball area. I believe that if the Yankees didn't have such a grip on this area, the people of the area might back the Rays better. Because name me one other MLB city where there is one team that broadcasts their games in another teams market? (Excluding New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and the S.F. Bay area.) That is outrageous. That just pisses me off, plus the Yankees have that stupid woman on their radio broadcasts. Just another reason to hate the Yankees.

I'm sorry, but it is a terrible baseball market.

What evidence is there that the area could ever support a team? At least Montreal had a history of support. The Tampa Bay area never came out for their club. You can blame some of that on a lousy club, but not all of it. Even at the beginning, support was weak. Even before the market knew what a lousy team they had (and when was an expansion franchise ever any good?), support was awful.

After years of "wanting" a team, they finally get one. How many games do they sell out in that first year, the year of hopes and dreams realized? One. One. That's a terrible baseball market.

Why do the Yankees have such a "grip" on the area? I have two possible causes - one, it's a transient area, filled with people who have moved from other markets and retain old loyalties. Two, the fans only follow winners. Neither one speaks terribly well of Tampa and St Pete as baseball cities.

The Yankees don't have a gun to anybody's head. If Yankee broadcasts continue, it's because that's what the cities want. And again, that doesn't go very far to promoting the notion that it's a "great baseball area."

[Mojomiko]

Let's not forget that not too long ago, the NBA Washington Bullets changed its name to the Wizards because it wanted to be disassociated with the murder capital of the USA (D.C.)

[DGivens87]

Im all for it, they have one of the worst looks in baseball, and the name is as flat as their history.

Get it? D-rays - flat - because a devil ray is a flat animal...oh man...I don't know why I found that so funny.

Good pun, taj

[ShaftDu]

maybe they are just changing it to St. Petersburg Devil Rays of Tampa Bay

sorry

sorry

bad joke

i am truely sorry