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The map features the full 25-man Tampa Bay Rays World Series roster. The locations on the map are for where each Tampa Bay Rays player (and their manager) went to high school. Instead of making this map one that records birthplaces, I tried to make it better reflect where each player grew up (ie, their home town).
Here are the 5 longest serving players on the Devil Rays/ Rays…1. Carl Crawford, OF (since July 20, 2002). 2. Rocco Baldelli, OF (since March 31, 2003). 3. B.J. Upton, OF (since August 2, 2004). 4. Scott Kazmir, P (since Aug. 23, 2004). 5. Edwin Jackson, OF (since April 22, 2006).
As with the Phillies current roster, the Rays have 2 players who went to high school in the same town. Rocco Baldelli and bullpen pitcher Dan Wheeler both attended schools in Warwick, Rhode Island. Two Latin American players now on the Rays were signed in their teens by MLB clubs. Venezuelan catcher (and All-Star) Dioner Navarro was signed by the New York Yankees when he was 16. Dominican outfielder Willy Aybar was signed by the Los Angeles Dodgers when he was 17. And there is one Ray, back-up catcher Michel Hernandez, who fled Cuba when his ball club, Havana Industrial, was playing in Mexico, in 1996. 18 years old at the time, Hernandez sought and received asylum in Venezuela, where he still lives.
Tampa Bay Rays’ regular season statistics {Click here}.
Philadelphia Phillies’ regular season statistics {Click here}.
Here is a nice feature on the MLB site that ties in with the two roster/hometowns maps I posted today: {Click here for mlb.com’s Pennant Traces}.
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Thanks to the contributors to the Tampa Bay Rays pages on Wikipedia {Click here}. Thanks to Baseball Cube {Click here}.
