St. Petersburg Devil Rays

Florida State League (1997-2000)

Tombstone

Born: September 16, 1996 – Affiliation change from St. Petersburg Cardinals¹
Folded:

First Game: April 3, 1997 (W 5-4 vs. Lakeland Tigers)
Final Game: September 3, 2000 (L 6-5 @ Dunedin Blue Jays)

FSL Champions: 1997

Stadium

Al Lang Stadium (6,750)²
Opened: 1947

Dimensions (1998): LF 325′, CF 400′, RF 325′³

Ownership & Affiliation

Owner: Tampa Bay Devil Rays (Vince Naimoli)

Major League Affiliation: Tampa Bay Devil Rays

Attendance

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Print Download

Source: The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball (3rd ed.), Lloyd Johnson & Miles Wolff, 2007

Background

The St. Petersburg Devil Rays were one of the original farm teams of the Tampa Bay Rays (known back then as the Devil Rays). The team began play in 1997, one year ahead of its Major League patron’s expansion debut, and set up shop at Al Lang Stadium in downtown St. Pete, just over a mile away from the Major League Rays’ home at Tropicana Field.

St. Petersburg won the Class A Florida State League championship during their debut season under the Devils Rays banner in 1997, defeating the Vero Beach Dodgers 3 games to 2 in a best-of-five series that September. St. Pete also led the FSL in attendance that summer with an announced turnstile count of 154,670 fans.

End of an Era

At the end of the 2000 season, the Tampa Bay Devil Rays sold the St. Petersburg franchise back to the Florida State League. The move brought to an end a largely uninterrupted tradition of Minor League Baseball in St. Pete dating back to the conclusion of World War II, as no other Major League organization would be likely to operate a minor league farm team in the Tampa Bay Rays’ backyard.