On March 31, 1998, baseball in Tampa Bay changed forever.
After decades of pursuit, speculation and near misses, the region finally had a Major League Baseball team of its own.
The Tampa Bay Devil Rays took the field at Tropicana Field.
For the first time, the question wasn’t whether Major League Baseball would come to Tampa Bay.
It was here.
A Long Road to Opening Day
The arrival of the Devil Rays represented much more than the creation of another expansion franchise.
Tampa Bay had spent years trying to reach this moment.
The region had been connected to spring training and professional baseball long before the Devil Rays existed, but securing a permanent Major League Baseball franchise proved considerably more difficult.
By 1998, the waiting was finally over.
A New Identity
Everything was new.
The uniforms.
The players.
The colors.
The name.
Even the idea of checking the standings and finding Tampa Bay listed alongside established American League franchises was new.
Nobody knew exactly what the Devil Rays would eventually become.
That’s part of what makes the beginning so interesting to revisit.
Before the Pennants
It’s easy to view franchise history backward.
Today we know about the postseason appearances, division races, World Series trips and generations of players who eventually wore Tampa Bay uniforms.
None of that existed on Opening Day 1998.
There was no 2008 miracle season.
There was no American League championship banner.
There weren’t decades of Rays memories.
There was simply a new baseball team playing its first game.
Where Rays History Begins
Every franchise eventually accumulates enough history that its beginning can feel distant.
But everything Rays fans follow today traces back to that first season.
Before Tampa Bay became the Rays, it had to become the Devil Rays.
Before the organization learned how to win, it had to begin.
March 31, 1998 wasn’t merely another Opening Day.
It was the opening day for an entire franchise.