Baseball Toaster: The Griddle : Tampa Bay's exorcism is complete

A place where a man can slow down to a walk and live his life full measure, but he has to keep his watch on Pacific Time. And the mathematically eliminated are dispatched with a metaphor.

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Rank	Team	W	L	PCT	Division
1	Chicago Cubs	85	55	.607	C1
2	New York Mets	79	61	.564	E1
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4	Milwaukee	80	60	.571	C2
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Rank	Team	W	L	PCT	Division
1	Tampa Bay	85	53	.616	E1
2	Los Angeles Angels	85	54	.612	W1
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7	Toronto	73	66	.525	E4
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9	Cleveland	67	71	.486	C3
10	Detroit	67	73	.479	C4
11	Baltimore	63	76	.453	E5
12	Oakland	63	77	.45	W3
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14	Seattle	54	85	.388	W4

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Tampa Bay's exorcism is complete

2007-11-08 20:54

by Bob Timmermann

The Tampa Bay Devil Rays are no more. They are officially the Tampa Bay Rays now.

The team dropped green from its color scheme and switched to blue. And the team is no longer named for a fish, but rather a ray of sunshine.

The Rays are the first major league team to change its nickname without changing cities since the Houston Colt .45s became the Houston Astros before the 1965 season. If you wish to debate if Oakland's official nickname ever became A's instead of Athletics, the floor is open.

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Comments

2007-11-08 21:11:25

1. KG16

I was under the impression that the Oakland franchise went by both "A's" and "Athletics". But then I don't tend to pay much attention to the junior circuit.

2007-11-08 21:17:21

2. Bob Timmermann

I had thought that Charlie Finley just preferred "A's" or "Swinging A's".

2007-11-08 21:18:06

3. Sam DC

A few days ago, I was watching ESPN, and a report came on about the New Orleans Hornets.

"Why would they give up the name 'Jazz,'" I though. "What a wonderful New Orleans name, so perfect for a flowing, improvisational sport like basketball, and you've got the legacy of Pistol Pete to work with.

"Why on earth would you switch to something as dull as 'Hornets.'"

And then I returned to reality and became very concerned about the aging process and my mental health.

2007-11-08 21:54:37

4. chris in illinois

NOW the Tampa franchise is tuly ready to dominate...

2007-11-08 22:20:35

5. Mattpat11

Well, Tampa just went from a really ugly color scheme to a different kind of ugly color scheme.

2007-11-08 22:39:24

6. Robert Daeley

So, so stupid. I wrote about this last year

http://www.celsius1414.com/node/459

when I first heard of the plan. Devil Rays are so cool.

Might as well call themselves the Tampa Sunbeams. Bah.

2007-11-08 23:39:30

7. xaphor

Any irony in the Rays playing their home games permanently shielded from the sun? And what becomes of their devil ray tank?

Replace it with a giant microwave.

2007-11-09 00:05:39

8. Ken Arneson

I believe the A's official/legal name since moving to Oakland has always been "Oakland Athletics Baseball Club".

2007-11-09 06:10:34

9. 110phil

And in related news, the New Jersey Devils have changed their name to the New Jersey S.

2007-11-09 08:07:20

10. Woden325

It appears that they're keeping the Devil Ray on the jersey sleeves, for some reason.
http://tinyurl.com/24648y

I'm underwhelmed. The Colt .45's to Astros change made sense, and was kind of hip at the time. This change is just lily-livered.

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