The Tampa Bay Devil Rays never had a winning season. The moment they cut out the devil and just became the Rays is when they won a pennant and piled up some wins, but from 1998-2007 they always finished below .500 and most always in dead last in the AL East. It wasn't like they were tanking for draft picks, they just had a hard time figuring things out.
One easy way to turn a franchise around is to bring in a new manager. The fresh perspective and philosophy can usually pay off in a season or two. At one point, the D-Rays brought in Lou Piniella, and while under his leadership they were able to finally finish in 4th place, but they just couldn't get over the hump. Piniella stepped away and Tampa Bay needed a new man at the helm. Enter Joe Maddon freshly hired from the Angels organization.
The team was still rebuilding when 2006 began. Most of the guys breaking spring camp wouldn't be around when the team finally started winning in 2008, but it allowed Maddon to find his managerial feet and style that would lead to success. In the immediate, however, the team finished 61-101, 36 games behind the Yankees to not only finish last place in the division, but also the worst record in baseball.
Tampa Bay's offense was dreadful in 2006, but Crawford found ways to shine through. He led the American League in both Triples (16) and Stolen Bases (58) while leading all Devil Rays with 183 Hits and 77 RBI.
The power hitter of the team with a showing of 24 Home Runs, Wigginton had great position flexibility and a very nice chart if you can ignore that paltry 7 on-base.
Most of the other regulars. Bad on-base figures all around, but some cool charts if you can manage to get the advantage...then again, there's a reason why the team lost 100 games.
...To the bench where I've never seen so many 4 on-base guys. Woof. A lot of new faces though that would play a part in the bright future.
Tampa Bay's all star Scott Kazmir. His 10 Wins made him the only double digit winner on the team and his 3.24 ERA and 163 Strikeouts were also the best on the staff.
Behind Kazmir in the rotation is this collection of arms. Some not so bad, but when the offense can't score runs, it's hard to win.
The primary relievers. No one gained the Closer title, Walker led the team with 10 Saves, while Showdown original Brian Meadows pulled off a career high of 8 before retiring.
Other arms on roster. You get lots of variety when you're so far out of the pennant race. Juan Salas was in the minors in that picture, pitching in the all star futures game, but the uniform checks out for Tampa Bay.
We end this fun with the Lugo brothers. Not all the often that brothers are on the same team. For the record, Julio led the team with the .308 Average. Ruddy, meanwhile, submits a pretty decent card out of the bullpen.
