Tampa Bay Pro Baseball Team To Remove "Devil" From Name

SportsWrap ^ | Friday, September 21st, 2007 | Ryan Spoon

[Soft Bigotry]

The baseball world has been turned upside down today when perennial American League favorite Tampa Bay Devil Rays shockingly decided to change their name to the Tampa Bay Rays!

[RedMonqey]

And just how does one "devil" an egg? Do you yell curses at it as you cook it???

It's actually very easy to make. However first you have to sell your soul to get the recipe.

Proprietary recipe and ingredients. Just like the Colonel and his chicken licking good but damned for eternity 27 herbs and spices ;->

[bereanway]

I read a couple months ago the Devil Rays were looking at this. They’ve been a laughingstock for so long they stated they’re willing to try anything that might change their luck. Somehow I doubt this is gonna do it.

[byteback]

You can call me Ray...

[usmcobra]

Strangely I think the one of the reasons the Marlins have been successful is the Heat and the Humidity.

Going to the world Series and winning it almost every five years is no mean feat, just ask the Cubs or the Giants.

[GreenAccord]

Florida just is not the right market for a summertime sport. No knock on Florida, just a fact.

I heard an announcer also propose that another factor is the high transient population in Florida (relocated retirees, people from other states) makes for a fan base that is not interested in local teams, especially considering the newness of the teams. Just some more points to ponder.

[CIDKauf]

Yea, call’em “whipped up egg yolks put back in the egg”

[L.N. Smithee]

As unimpressive as the previous three versions of the uniform have been, the new ones are, IMHO, hardly an improvement. There are enough blue uniforms in the majors, for crying out loud.

Worst unis in the bigs? Colorado Rockies, whose logo looks like was sketched on a napkin by one of the owners and that he threatened to pull his millions from the ownership group if it wasn't used. Black, purple, and silver? Dull, dull, dull.

Second worst: Toronto Blue Jays, who threw away one of the coolest, most distinctive-looking uniforms in favor of a cheesy black, silver and blue logo pasted on white and gray suits with no stripes or piping. B-O-R-I-N-G.

[gotribe]

He probably did complain, given their record and lousy stadium location.

[NormsRevenge]

OOiigghh!!!

What next , the Vikings will be the Minnesota Violets?

[frankiep]

I remember a while back that some idiots got all riled up about the name of the New Jersey Devils. Of course, they either didn’t know or didn’t care that the name had nothing to do with anything satanic; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jersey_Devil

[BenLurkin]

The "Rays" starting lineup:

etc

[frankiep]

Even the more successful Marlins have never been able to attract the crowds needed to support a MLB team.

A major reason why the Florida Marlins have trouble with fan support is because their owner, Wayne Huzienga (sp?), $***s on the fan base at every opportunity. The franchise has won two World Series in its very short existence and both times, almost immediately after the last out of the Series was recorded, the team has been completely dismantled and replaced with minor league talent. That's no way to build fan loyalty. Why would anyone want to become a fan of a team that apparently views winning as a reason to clean house and start from scratch?

[Sue Perkick]

LOL. But you got to put secret stuff in them first.

Devil juice.

[Vigilanteman]

Salt Lake City is, I beleive, the largest and fastest growing market without a MLB team. The fan support is there and Larry Miller (who also owns the Jazz) runs a first-class operation. The fan base is also stable and growing.

Portland, Oregon is a fast growing city as well, but doesn't seem to have the fan base. I beleive the SLC Bees actually moved out of there before they settled in Utah. The only other large Rocky Mountain city also has great fan support despite a less than great team, so I think SLC might make the most sense businesswise.

Gander, Newfoundland is sort of a joke-- but a lot of Communists have defected to the West at the refueling stop there. I really don't understand why Canada can't support a second major league team. They certainly have some large cities there.

Of course, my favorite remains Cuba after Castro takes a dirt nap.

Florida has a lot of wonderful things-- Disney World, Gator Football and the most competent Bush to ever serve as an executive. However, summertime baseball just doesn't happen to be one of those things.

[L.N. Smithee]

Ummm, isn’t a devil ray a kind of fish?

The story that I heard many years ago (and have been unable to confirm) is that the proprietors of the Hawaii Winter Baseball league trademarked the word "Stingrays" for a baseball team, so if the Tampa Bay ownership group wanted to name their MLB team "Stingrays," they would have to buy the mark from the Hawaii league.

As the story I heard went, the owners and HWB couldn't come to term$, and the TB group went with their backup plan, naming the team "Devil Rays" after a local species of ray.

This did not set well with many evangelical groups, who didn't even tangentially want the word "Devil" in the team's name. To assuage those concerns, the team removed "Devil" from the uniforms and signage, although "Devil Rays" was still the name of the team.

This wrangling over a winter league team's name didn't stop the Arizona Diamondbacks from adopting the name of an Arizona Winter League team.

[Thrownatbirth]

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Even now, that's costing Abe a bundle.

[MinuteGal]

It was inevitable in this PC world that the word "Devil" wouldn't last in the team name.

After all, how can there be a Devil if there's no God? And if there's no God, how can there be a Devil?

Well, I hope you get my drift.....I sure as Hell don't.....oops!

Leni

[JRios1968]

That would be a marked improvement...

[TotusTuus]

I'm as Christian as the next guy, but hey, don't mess with my team!

Arizona State University

[Brandie]

The whole name is stupid.