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60 free Tampa Bay Rays trivia questions with answers — sports quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
This Tampa Bay Rays trivia quiz covers the whole franchise: the decades of failed bids for a team, Vince Naimoli's lawsuit-settled expansion club, the Devil Rays' rainbow jerseys and Hit Show, Wade Boggs's 3,000th hit, Lou Piniella, Joe Maddon and the 9=8 pennant winners of 2008, David Price and Blake Snell's Cy Youngs, the opener, Randy Arozarena's record October, the Montreal split-season plan, Hurricane Milton and the 2025 sale. Expect easy questions on the ballpark, the mascots and the biggest names, plenty of history for regular fans, and hard ones about the Maui Stingrays, the Whitecaps and Panthers bids, and the club whose 1970s uniforms inspired the fauxbacks. Uniforms, the cowbell and the Skyway cap get their turn too. Every answer was checked against primary and encyclopaedic sources before it went in, so when you miss one you can trust the explanation. Play it solo or run it as a round at your next watch party. For the wider game, our MLB baseball trivia page is the natural next stop.
30 of 60 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01In which city is the Rays' home ballpark, Tropicana Field, located?
St. Petersburg
The dome was built in the late 1980s as the Florida Suncoast Dome to lure a team; the Rays did not arrive until 1998.
Q 02In which season did the franchise begin play as the Tampa Bay Devil Rays?
1998
They joined alongside the Arizona Diamondbacks after decades of failed expansion and relocation bids.
Q 03Which owner won the Tampa Bay expansion franchise in 1995, partly settling his suit over a blocked Giants purchase?
Vince Naimoli
He had agreed to buy the San Francisco Giants and move them to St. Petersburg in 1992 before MLB owners vetoed it.
Q 04Naimoli's first choice of name, 'Sting Rays', was already owned by a minor-league club in which location?
Maui
The Maui club offered to sell the name for $35,000; Naimoli picked a different species of ray instead.
Q 05Which alternative name did Naimoli offer to adopt if fans rejected 'Devil Rays' in a telephone poll?
Mantas
Some local pastors objected to the word 'devil', but fans approved the name.
Q 06Which two failed 1990s expansion bids were led by Roy Disney and Frank Morsani?
Whitecaps and Panthers
Morsani later sold the 'Panthers' trademark to Wayne Huizenga, who used it for his NHL team.
Q 07Which future star outfielder did the Devil Rays draft in 1997 and trade for Kevin Stocker?
Bobby Abreu
The deal is widely regarded as one of the worst in recent MLB history.
Q 08Which two Tampa natives and future Hall of Famers did the Devil Rays add before their first season?
Fred McGriff and Wade Boggs
Boggs hit the team's first home run and later got his 3,000th hit, a homer, as a Devil Ray in 1999.
Q 09Who was the Devil Rays' first manager, hired in November 1997?
Larry Rothschild
He was fired partway through 2001 after consecutive 69-win seasons.
Q 10Which team did the Devil Rays face in their first-ever game on March 31, 1998, an 11–6 loss?
Detroit Tigers
Rookie Rolando Arrojo won the next day for the franchise's first victory.
Q 11Wade Boggs's 3,000th career hit, achieved as a Devil Ray in 1999, was notable for being what?
A home run
He remains the only player to reach 3,000 with a homer, doing it against Cleveland on August 7, 1999.
Q 12What was the Devil Rays' aging slugger group of McGriff, Castilla, Canseco and Vaughn nicknamed?
The Hit Show
They were mostly past their prime, and the team lost 93 games in 2000.
Q 13What was the Devil Rays' franchise-worst record, set in 2002?
55–106
Hal McRae was moved to the front office and Tampa native Lou Piniella took over.
Q 21Which team beat the Rays four games to one in the 2008 World Series?
Philadelphia Phillies
The Rays lost again in the 2020 Series to the Dodgers and remain one of five teams without a title.
Q 22What was the Rays manager's mathematical mantra for the 2008 season?
9=8
Nine players playing nine hard innings would make one of the eight playoff teams; it became 9=4, 9=2 and 9=1 as the run went on.
Q 23What was the nickname for the mohawk haircuts Rays players sported during the 2008 World Series run?
Rayhawks
The trend lasted for several years until Maddon left after 2014.
Q 14Which Tampa native, who had won a World Series with the Reds, managed the Devil Rays from 2003 to 2005?
Lou Piniella
He grew frustrated with ownership and was bought out for $2.2 million by new owner Stuart Sternberg.
Q 15Which outfielder led the AL in triples and steals in 2004 and holds the franchise record with 60 steals?
Carl Crawford
His 19 triples in 2004 are also a team record.
Q 16Which manager, hired from the Angels in 2006, led the Rays to their first pennant?
Joe Maddon
He left after 2014 when Andrew Friedman's departure triggered an opt-out; his Rays record was 754–705.
Q 17Which executive did Stuart Sternberg install to run baseball operations in 2006, replacing Chuck LaMar?
Andrew Friedman
He built the 2008 pennant winner and left for the Dodgers in 2014.
Q 18When the team dropped 'Devil' in 2008, the shortened name was said to also refer to what?
Sunshine
A sunburst appears on the uniform front and a manta ray on the sleeve.
Q 19What was the Rays' payroll in 2008, still the lowest in baseball, after Sternberg finally raised it?
$43 million
That team went from the worst record in the league to the AL pennant.
Q 20Which team did the Rays beat in seven games in the 2008 ALCS to reach their first World Series?
Boston Red Sox
They had beaten the White Sox in the ALDS for their first-ever playoff series win.
Q 24Which pitcher threw the Rays' first no-hitter, against Detroit in 2010?
Matt Garza
That team had the AL's best record but lost to Texas in the ALDS.
Q 25Whose 12th-inning walk-off homer against the Yankees clinched the 2011 wild card on the final night?
Evan Longoria
The Rays edged Boston, whose collapse ended the same night in Baltimore.
Q 26Who became the first Rays pitcher to win the Cy Young Award, in 2012?
David Price
He was traded to Detroit in 2014 for a package including Willy Adames.
Q 27Who was named the Rays' manager in December 2014, the youngest in the league at the time?
Kevin Cash
He was 37 and led the Rays to the 2020 pennant.
Q 28Which pitcher went 21–5 with a 1.89 ERA in 2018 to win the Rays' second Cy Young Award?
Blake Snell
Both figures remain franchise single-season records; he was traded to San Diego after 2020.
Q 29What pitching innovation did the 2018 Rays pioneer, with a 'bulk man' following a short first stint?
The opener
Traditionalists grumbled, but the Rays had the AL's second-best team ERA.
Q 30Which team received Chris Archer in the 2018 trade sending Glasnow, Meadows and Baz to Tampa?
Pittsburgh Pirates
The same off-season saw Evan Longoria dealt to the Giants and Jake Odorizzi to the Twins.