Retired Numbers - Tampa Bay Devil Rays

 After many years of effort, the Tampa Bay area finally debuted a Major League Baseball franchise in 1998. The Devil Rays, like any expansion team, were awful. Unlike their NL sibling in Arizona, the D-Rays could never find their feet in their first decade of existence. The winning would eventually come and the redubbed Rays would enjoy competitive play for years to come, but in their short time, they haven't had many players who would earn the ultimate team honor of a number retirement. There are notable choices however.

#3 - Evan Longoria

In 2008, Tampa Bay would drop the Devil from their name and be known only as the Rays, and with it came the hope that the new name would mark the beginning of a winning era. The help facilitate that hope, they brought up rookie Evan Longoria and he wasted little time in leading the Rays to their first winning record, AL East title and ultimately their first AL pennant. Along the way, Longoria would collect for himself the Rookie of the Year award, first of three straight all-star nominations and he would hit the first postseason Home Run in Rays history. As his career in Tampa Bay would continue through 2017, he would add three Gold Gloves in 2009, 2010 and 2017 as well as a Silver Slugger in 2009. He is Tampa Bay's franchise leader for numerous stats, including Home Runs (261), RBI (892) and Runs (80).

#12 - Wade Boggs

Wade Boggs with the Devil Rays isn't without a certain degree of controversy, mainly because of his Hall of Fame shenanigans. Signing with the team before their inaugural season, Boggs would spend the final two seasons of his Hall of Fame career with the Devil Rays, staying on track to get his 3000th hit in 1999. That season was covered by an official Showdown card in the original set, but 1998 is fair game here. He hit the first home run in Devil Rays history, and also went deep when he got his 3000th hit. Both home run landing spots were honored by Tampa Bay. In 2000, the season after he retired, Tampa Bay would honor him yet again with their first ever number retirement.

#66 - Don Zimmer

Don Zimmer was long finished as a player when the Devil Rays came into being. His existence in the game continued as a Senior Advisor/Coach for the team up until the year he died. Each season with Tampa Bay, we would change the number he wore to match the number of years he was involved in baseball, ending with the #66. In 2015, the Rays decided to honor such a baseball life by retiring the number in his honor.