The 2002 Tampa Bay Devil Rays season was their fifth since the franchise was created. This season, they finished last in the

AL East The American League East is one of Major League Baseball's six divisions. MLB consists of an East, Central, and West division for each of its two 15-team leagues, the American League (AL) and National League (NL). This division was created before ...

division, and managed to finish the season with a record of 55–106. Their

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities o ...

was

Hal McRae Harold Abraham McRae (; born July 10, 1945) is a former left fielder in Major League Baseball who played for the Cincinnati Reds (1968, 1970–72) and Kansas City Royals (1973–87). Utilized as a designated hitter for most of his career, McRae ...

who entered his first full season and last season with the Devil Rays.

Offseason

*November 8, 2001: Ryan Freel was signed as a free agent with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays.

Regular season

Season standings

American League Wild Card

Record vs. opponents

Opening Day starters

* Brent Abernathy * Steve Cox * Chris Gomez * Ben Grieve * Toby Hall * Bob Smith * Tanyon Sturtze * Jason Tyner * Greg Vaughn * Randy Winn

Notable transactions

* June 4, 2002:

B. J. Upton Melvin Emanuel Upton Jr. (born August 21, 1984), known as B. J. Upton, is an American former professional baseball outfielder. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays / Rays, Atlanta Braves, San Diego Pad ...

drafted by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays in the 1st round (2nd pick) of the 2002 amateur draft. Player signed September 16, 2002. *June 4, 2002:

Elijah Dukes Elijah David Dukes, Jr. (born June 26, 1984) is an American former professional baseball player. A right-handed outfielder, he played in Major League Baseball for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays and Washington Nationals. Biography High school years Du ...

drafted by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays in the 3rd round of the 2002 amateur draft. Player signed August 21, 2002. *September 22, 2002: Released

Toe Nash Gregory Nash (born February 16, 1982), nicknamed "Toe" or "Big Toe", is a retired professional baseball player. He played minor league baseball in the Tampa Bay Devil Rays (now Rays) organization in 2001. Standing at and weighing , Nash receive ...

, the day after he was released from jail.

Roster

Citrus series

The annual

interleague Interleague play in Major League Baseball refers to regular-season baseball games played between an American League (AL) team and a National League (NL) team. Interleague play was first introduced during the 1997 Major League Baseball season. Pr ...

games between the Florida Marlins and the Tampa Bay Devil Rays were played in June and July. They are known as the

Citrus Series The Citrus Series is the name given to the interleague series between the Miami Marlins and Tampa Bay Rays in Major League Baseball. The Marlins broke into the league in as the Florida Marlins, while the Rays had their first season in as the ...

. The Devil Rays won the series 4-2.

Player stats

Batting

Starters by position

''Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in''

Other batters

''Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in''

Pitching

Starting pitchers

''Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts''

Other pitchers

''Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts''

Relief pitchers

''Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts''

ESPN25 Worst Team of All-Time

In 2004,

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

was celebrating 25 years of the network since its founding in 1979. The network decided to honor the first 25 years from the best to the worst and everything else in between. The Rays were ranked 16th in the actual ESPN Worst Team Result of the first 25 years conducted by ESPN and its users. The users put them higher at 13th than the original airing as the worst team by only 3 spots.

Farm system

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: DurhamJohnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., ''The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball'', 3rd edition. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 2007

References

2002 Tampa Bay Devil Rays at Baseball Reference.com2002 Tampa Bay Devil Rays team page at www.baseball-almanac.com
{{Tampa Bay Rays Tampa Bay Devil Rays seasons Tampa Bay Devil Rays season Tampa Bay Devil Rays