TAMPA BAY DEVIL RAYS -- 1998 INAUGURAL OPENING GAME -- PREVIEW STORY for WWSB-TV(ABC)

I covered the Devil Rays in their Inaugural Season of 1998...for WWSB-TV (ABC) in Sarasota, Florida. This preview story aired the night before their first-ever game. No other Major League Baseball venue is more accessible than Tropicana Field. The drive from Sarasota across the Sunshine Skyway may be the coolest drive to any stadium in the nation! --- Support the Rays or you'll lose the Rays!

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[vantageIIx]

@kisscactus The 1998 team had the 3rd best ERA+ in the league. They couldn't hit their way out of a paper bag.

[joekiddlouischama]

They were basically platoon-types and bench players outside of McGriff, who only landed in Tampa because the Braves dumped his salary upon the Devil Rays in order to ink the right-handed first baseman Andres Galarraga instead. 

But marginal lineups represent the nature of first-year expansion clubs.

[kisscactus]

Everyone's talking about the line-up. I'd say it was okay for an expansion team, but what about the pitching? Eeesh!

[jannecechmanek]

@TheSeattlehawk94 "that has so much tome other hands"

Did you have a stroke? I hope your next reply has some information about the social function you're on your way to, because that will totally put me in my place. Or even better yet, tell me how little who cared about losing the argument and that you were only trying to play with my emotions like the puppet master that you are.

[TheSeattlehawk94]

@jannecechmanek The only thing you "proved" is you have no life and are a virgin that has so much tome other hands they look up expansion teams stats for YouTube comments...haha...fail at life

[jannecechmanek]

@TheSeattlehawk94 No, implied they weren't horrible, and I proved you wrong. Then, you said the lineup looked "okay" going into the season, and I proved you wrong.

[TheSeattlehawk94]

@jannecechmanek Never said they were "great" just said they were "okay" compared to most expansion teams, they were...

[jannecechmanek]

@TheSeattlehawk94 McCracken 83 career OPS+ Stocker 85 career OPS+ Boggs 99 OPS+ in the two previous years and was 39 McGriff looked solid Kelley 70 career OPS+ (Pretty damn bad for a number 5 hitter) Sorrento actually looked pretty good, but with old player skill set his sudden decline shouldn't be a surprise Flaherty 81 career OPS+ Martinez the only surprise drop of the bunch Cairo had 62 PA and had an OPS of .693 in the minors That line up looked pretty bad going into the season.

[TheSeattlehawk94]

@jannecechmanek Yeah, that was that seasons stats...Going into that year it looked like an okay lineup...

[jannecechmanek]

@TheSeattlehawk94 Only McGriff had an OPS+ over 100 that year, besides Bubba Trammell who only had 216 PA. (OPS+ is OPS adjusted for the park and the league in which the player played, but not for fielding position. An OPS+ of 100 is defined to be the league average.) As a team they hit .261/.321/.385, which ranked second to last, last, and last in the American league.