The Devil packs his bags

Tampa Bay drops Devil from its nickname | Star News Services

The Tampa Bay Devil Rays are no more.

Trying to reinvent itself, the team officially shortened its nickname to simply “Rays” during a celebration that brought a crowd of about 7,000 to a downtown park Thursday night in St. Petersburg, Fla.

New team colors and uniforms also were unveiled during a fashion show featuring current players, manager Joe Maddon, senior adviser Don Zimmer and former Tampa Bay stars Wade Boggs and Fred McGriff as models.

Navy blue and light blue have replaced green and black as the primary colors.

The club’s new logo, as well as the home and road uniforms for next season, feature the word Rays in navy blue lettering with a light blue shadow.

Team officials and local fans have routinely referred to the club as “Rays” for much of the expansion team’s existence, however it wasn’t until Stuart Sternberg took over as principal owner two years ago that consideration as given an actual name change.