The Sins of the Devil Rays

[@kensuter57]

Man ik it’s hard to turn it down, but major respect for not following along with the ad. Better help seems sketchy at best

[@AndThatsBaseball]

I'm lucky that I don't NEED that money, because in other circumstances, I def would've taken it. They offer a lot, and that's why so many KZbinrs have taken their ad reads this past year, even after the controversy. It really was a situation where the more I looked into them, the worse I felt about supporting them.

[@cococock2418]

@@AndThatsBaseball They offer a lot because they need to offer a lot to silence people's conscious.

[@fortynights1513]

@@AndThatsBaseballI’ve heard some people in comment sections say that the company is hard to cancel if you sign up for it.

[@savage751]

I mean there a lot of "sketchy" companies out there that advertise..ultimately it comes down to the each individual person to do their own research and decide if doing something is in their own interest

[@wafersmash338]

@@AndThatsBaseball I'll be honest, I didn't know they were a sketchy company. Thanks for your integrity

[@rayge7838]

Nash, Dukes, Franco....the Rays need to have some training on how to stay away from underage girls for their stars 😭😭😭

[@AndThatsBaseball]

Criminal organization

[@PeterEBI]

I know 😂

[@matthewcostanza2674]

Well...no training in the world would have made Dukes become a better person.

[@HaydenSimmons44]

I went to a Devil Rays game in 2007 against the Padres. We bought nosebleed seats for like 10 dollars. The staff told us we could sit behind the dugout. There were maybe 100 people there. The Devil Rays lost 9-0. It was sad. But a fond memory.

[@joshnunez5265]

Pretty cool that the staff let you sit where you want though! 9-0 is brutal though, man those were the days 😭😭

[@UpperCumberlandGamers]

​@@joshnunez5265yeah, usually in MLB games if there's a seat below you that is free and unreserved, you can take it

[@Paul-nx3qz]

No you didn’t 😂

[@HaydenSimmons44]

@@Paul-nx3qz Okay... Not really sure what you mean

[@CompWin7Helper]

I believe you, i used to do the same. They don’t allow us to sit in nose bleeds anymore it’s so that the stadium looks more full than it really is. Everyone would just buy the nose bleeds seats for 10 bucks. Now they force u to pay at least 50 bucks for the surrounding seats

[@TheOGSticks11]

Let's not forget one the teams top scouts quit when they told him they 'Had no use for a player' like Albert Pujols in '99/00. The scout quit.

[@elijahechicagobearsboyd5734]

YIKES..

[@ALTAIR2]

That's like when the Astros scout quit because the team didn't draft Derek Jeter

[@TheOGSticks11]

@@ALTAIR2 that's also a very frustrating hindsight.

[@tinypoolmodelshipyard]

​@@TheOGSticks11 not really, the most overhyped player in mlb history.

[@michaelschneider5938]

​@@ALTAIR2I remember this story... The scout was Hal Newhouser who won a couple of MVPs so he knew baseball talent when he saw it. They ended up taking Phil Nevin #1 and the guy he told them to take went on to be one of the top 150 players in the history of baseball

[@legochickenguy4938]

Trading away a 5 WAR player for a manager should be brought up more often in the many discussions about the worst trades of all time

[@AndThatsBaseball]

I think managers were slightly more valuable at the time, but trading your very good starting CF for a manager instead of for actual prospects is hilarious. They barely got anything for the few good players they had in the first 5 years, then Friedman built a pennant winner by trading Toby Hall and Aubrey Huff.

[@ron4255]

As a Mariners fan i will always appreciate Nintendo’s owner for buying the team. Dude never even saw a Mariners game live. Hated flying but wanted to thank the city for being so supportive.

[@Sly_Maverick_31]

Hell yeah, let's go M's!

[@LSTNSCRFN]

Hiroshi Yammauchi

[@SportsFan838]

So that must be the reason why the Mariners are popular in Japan?

[@LSTNSCRFN]

@@SportsFan838 in a way, its actually brought the idea of bringing Japanese & Korean ball players to the majors

[@SportsFan838]

@@LSTNSCRFN That's why I could see multiple series of teams playing in East Asia in the future

[@zhife310]

the thing that makes it the hardest to be a ray fan is the fact that you can’t get attached to players because they more than likely will be traded or won’t renew their contracts in less than 5 years.the one long term contract we give out happened to like children too

[@kenw2225]

Marlins too. 1997 was the best moment of my life probably before turning 10yo. But they tore it down within months. I wasnt even a fan anymore in 2003, but did cheer for them vs yankees in ws. Rays need new stadium location and $ will improve via attendance

[@BlackslooklikeHarambe]

You guys like them young in Florida apparently 😂

[@rackstraw]

Vince Naimoli...I remember the furniture store that leased space in the Trop, complete with price tags hanging from the furniture. George III had some petty feuds, but his with Naimoli was probably justified.

[@AndThatsBaseball]

I didn’t mention that in the video, but reading about how he made the “luxury box” basically just a furniture store made me laugh

[@rackstraw]

@@AndThatsBaseball I wonder how much furniture they sold. Who goes to the ballpark and thinks "You know what I really need today? A dresser!"

[@slinky_malinki5330]

Would love to see a video on how they turned it around so quickly. From the worst team in 2007 to making it to the World Series in 2008, and becoming regular playoff contenders until the early 2010s, going through a "mid" stage when Kevin Cash cane on board, and then making the playoffs 5 years in a row. And all while having a bottom 3 payroll. Definitely gonna have to highlight the insanity of 2011 game 162 and rhe buildup to it.

[@tjmc8846]

Remember 162 like it was yesterday

[@AEMoreira81]

That was a few years after Stuart Sternberg bought the team and initiated the team change from Devil Rays to Rays. 2008 was their first year as Rays.

[@MrLatrunks14]

They are basically the little bit more Successful version of Oakland A's Money ball. But they can never win the ring.

[@AndThatsBaseball]

If they keep making the playoffs at the rate they've done so in the last 15 years, they're bound to win some eventually

[@MillerArant]

Ask the Mariners

[@ghostofyou9721]

I have a feeling they will at some point. Maybe not in my lifetime but they will.

[@JonathanLit]

I’m proud of you for standing up to and rejecting the better help money. The whole thing is a scam and it shows your rock solid integrity. Instant like from me. Keep up the good work!

[@dabigdawg42042]

Great video man. I was a big baseball fan in the 00's and this took me back and unlocked forgotten memories

[@Godishim1]

This an awesome documentary, shout out to u for making it! I’ve been a rays fan since day 1 and always find out so hard to believe how many times things have gone wrong from reading away Bobby Abreu, to Josh Hamilton never panning, to failed Vinny Castilla, Jose canseco, Greg Vaughn season, to somehow ending up in multiple World Series… truly been a crazy journey

[@AndThatsBaseball]

Much appreciated!

[@williamg8269]

Chicago White Sox: "Hold my beer"

[@zach7193]

Man, this is something. It's the Bad News Bears.

[@dfoleyusa]

I think you did the right thing in ditching better help. I have a feeling given the high quality of your content it will look like a blip in the future. I expect this channel to grow quickly as your work here is outstanding. Graphics, clips, reference material is all A+.

[@adamhustler3639]

Makes no sense to me to allow them to take guys from other teams just to trade them. Should had some rule where you had to hold them for at least a year or something

[@AndThatsBaseball]

With mlb expansion expected within the next decade, I wonder how the format of the draft will change.

[@LeanMrfuzzles]

Teams have always been allowed to trade for players and immediately flip them. That happens in every North American sport.

[@adamhustler3639]

@LeanMrfuzzles An expansion draft isn't a trade situation. We're talking about just taking a player from another team to fill your new teams roster, and then flipping him.

[@ScubaFingSteve]

Much respect for turning down better help. Its not easy to turn down that money and I think its appropriate to plug yourself instead of a predatory company

[@VACATETHE48]

I'm currently trying to imagine a Crawford, Hamilton, Zobrist OF for the 2008 Rays. Good grief. That's a dynasty core right there.

[@Gofindnory]

Bro I subscribed cause your music choices are literally the best

[@christophermsimon9956]

I thought I was watching too much Drake Kendrick stuff and I was hallucinating lmao w the 6:16 in the background

[@TB3SportsTalk]

Dude! That video was amazing! That was such a good telling of the Rays story. Life long Rays fans and first day Rays fans should watch this

[@AndThatsBaseball]

I appreciate that, thanks for watching!

[@hitchikerspie]

Brilliantly done, almost inspires me to make a video for my favourite team

[@AndThatsBaseball]

Go for it

[@achill69]

Nice use of The All-Father at the end 👌🏾

[@AndThatsBaseball]

Goated gsme

[@jonathenbarfalomew7730]

Great video! Enjoyed it this morning while cleaning the garage

[@AndThatsBaseball]

ATB has gritty, hard working viewers!

[@yeameat3463]

As a rays fan the first couple years were rough but recently it’s been getting a lot better only if stu would actually spend money 😢😢😢

[@AndThatsBaseball]

Stu has made great hires, but he's seriously limiting the org by not spending

[@ToMaToEsGrOw]

He is. On a new stadium.

[@kyleolson8977]

On the checklist for starting the team in 1998, you forgot "creating awesome 3D TV graphics" as seen at 5:54.

[@yourwh0lefamily]

The fact that you have the song from pokemon crystals ice caves blew my freaking mind

[@mistahswags]

6:16 beat in the background is so elite

[@chrisg334]

What is crazy is they improved dramatically but still have next to no fan support. Every game is empty unless they play a team with a large fan base.

[@AEMoreira81]

Their major issue is stadium location. They have everything else going for them.

[@Andrew_John_28]

I appreciate the tlou2 and gtaIV music featured throughout the video

[@seanboy316]

He did earn this one with this video. Well done. You've got my subscription!

[@wesjones565]

Good job! I’m not a Rays fan but I love baseball. This video had the right amount of stats and info to make it entertaining.

[@Alpha-du4on]

You always pick the best background instrumentals for your videos

[@AndThatsBaseball]

I try, so I’m glad you like them

[@ctcards2636]

Love your videos. My one critique is when ya show... say lineup of the 04 Rays around the 27 min mark, its only on the screen for a sec. Please leave the stats you take the time to put up in the video, for a lil longer. Thats all i ask. Other than that i see perfection in these videos, you nail these. I am addicted. For sure :-) Thanks and please i hope you dont take my critique the wrong way. ;-)

[@AndThatsBaseball]

I appreciate the feedback

[@kenw2225]

Your acct blowing up. I think you had 3.54k subs when i subbed. Good work

[@jacobthomas8598]

dan wheeler was my top tier coach down in clearwater fl hes a really nice guy who cared about his players

[@AndThatsBaseball]

For a 34th round pick to make the league as young as he did, he must be an incredibly hard worker, as well

[@djembe_]

Props for turning down better help. Made me subscribe.

[@akhaotic]

if you’ve never read beyond belief (josh hamiltons autobiography) it’s definitely worth the read. his story really is quite unbelievable when you know the main gist of it but knowing the smaller details really adds to it.

[@ghostofyou9721]

I didn't know they traded for Ben Zobrist who is a Cubs hero. I love the guy.

[@sneakdisser5204]

yea kid you got the voice and the editing and the talent you're gonna go far

[@Crescens1080]

As a long long long time Rays fan this was a great look back at the poor years and poor decisions. Chuck Lamar was full of them, like that Ben Grieve trade... still my least favorite Ray by how little he cared.

[@garydavis5703]

Love these type video documentary's... Been a Texas Rangers fan since they moved to Arlington, TX, back in 1972: highs and lows...World Series losses in 2010 and 2011, and winning the Holy Grail in 2023...Don't give up hope....Tampa Bay Rays have it all going for you....If my Rangers can win it all, I know you all can, too.....

[@tonygonsolin8588]

Love your videos mate

[@sambub]

yo I really enjoyed the deep dive but mad respect for turning down the sponsorship and promoting yourself in its place. that is so cool and you got a sub from me. cheers and thanks, you really produce some excellent material!

[@GizmoBeach]

Tampa Bay finished last in the AL East every year but one (were a few games ahead of Toronto one year under Piniella) from 1998-2007 and had several 100-loss seasons. But they damned-sure turned it around, despite that park’s bad location and fan apathy. I’m old enough to remember Seattle’s return to MLB in 1977 and how long it took to have a winning season. They’ve had nothing close to Tampa’s playoff history, either.

[@DRT_Music]

6:16 beat too omg 🔥🔥🔥

[@DarthPlagueisTheWise620]

Perna was talking about receiving all that backlash during a recent stream of his

[@AndThatsBaseball]

I love Perna I felt awful for him reading those comments

[@KennyFrierson]

More Devil than Ray back in the day

[@ronanaviation9520]

I refuse to believe that the Rays are worse than the Seattle Mariners

[@Danielvogelbachstan]

Rays never had no Griffey or Ichiro

[@ronanaviation9520]

@@Danielvogelbachstan Mariners never won a pennant, took 15 years to finish above .500, only went to the playoffs 5 times, choked a record season, and had a 20+ year playoff drought

[@Trillyana]

The Mariners are the only current MLB team that has never been to the World Series

[@TheSputerbaugh]

Thank you so much for this. It brings me joy.

[@terminator6950]

I will say, there are teams (or eras of teams) that were way worse. You just have to go back really far. The Expansion Washington Senators with only one winning season in their eleven miserable seasons in the MLB. The St. Louis Browns; who only won ONE pennant in their 52 years of existence. And TWELVE winning seasons total. The Philadelphia Athletics (who followed a formula of having a dynasty, then falling off a cliff and being absolutely horrible for years), The KANSAS CITY Athletics were awful; never winning more than 74 games in a season. The Phillies from 1916 to 1949 were horrendous (a grand total of TWO winning seasons during that span of 33 years [1916 and 1917, which after they won the NL pennant in 1915. Then they went 33 years without a winning season, before a a miraculous pennant win in 1950. The Boston Braves won two pennants and one World Series title in 41 years, twelve winning seasons overall. And four of those came during the late 1940s and 1950 where they were carried by Warren Spahn and Johnny Sain. And a span from 1915 to 1945 where they had 8 winning seasons and 23 losing seasons. Their winning seasons came in streaks of either two or three, before having MORE (sometimes way more) than three losing seasons. So yes, there were teams, either still around or defunct, who had stretches worse than the Devil Rays, but the Devil Rays awful seasons are probably more well-known because they happened recently, and there was more sports coverage and more media coverage, so people were able to see firsthand how dreadful the team was, and how horrible/ troubled some of the players were as human beings. And also how incompetent the ownership of this team was.

[@AndThatsBaseball]

I do think it’s more difficult to be this bad in the modern era. The draft, tv revenue sharing, and ease of access to data have leveled the playing field for smaller teams. So even though the title is slightly disingenuous, I think there’s still an argument to be made that the decade of the devil rays is a mix of the worst management and luck for any era of a ballclub. But just as you say, there were plenty of crazy stories that went unreported on the most awful teams of past eras.

[@briancalifornia1]

I noticed on their throw backs their hats and batting helmets don't haver the TB with the sting ray

[@foramoreperfectamerica8490]

Pokemon music remix, nice.

[@bloodwrage]

Lmao that n spouting off at the end is hilarious

[@richardtherichard26]

21:58 Record not withstanding devil rays is a bad ass name and the purple and green unis are some the best mlb unis ever

[@AndThatsBaseball]

I can’t believe the OG unis only lasted 3 years

[@HangingGarden606]

5:55 This is everything

[@moldybread2345]

You should do a video like this about the 2000s and early 2010s Detroit Tigers

[@Trillyana]

My only real memory of Carlos Peña is when the Yankees were playing Tampa on what I think was Opening Day, and Joe Girardi intentionally walked Sean Rodriguez, who could never hit, to load the bases for Peña, who immediately hit a grand slam. Every time someone says the Yankees need to bring back Girardi it's just one of the reasons why I never want him on this team again.

[@slinky_malinki5330]

Been a Rays fan my whole life. Those first 10 years weren't fun lol

[@smolitj]

DO let this distract you by the fact that Dallas Keuchel in back

[@AndThatsBaseball]

He was dealing through 3 innings

[@matthewcostanza2674]

I worked in Orlando in Disney the year Price was drafted. They were BEGGING people to wear Tampa stuff at the draft. I had nothing else better to do. So I went. Fun but...weird that there were 2,000 people cosplaying as Rays fans.

[@AndThatsBaseball]

I think Sternberg was trying to drum up interest in the Orlando area at the time for leverage. I don't think anybody in Orlando cared.

[@matthewcostanza2674]

@@AndThatsBaseball And still don't. Great vid. You got a new subscriber :). Look forward to seeing some of your back catalogue :).

[@BT1919]

I’m confused, why did other sports KZbinrs get negative feedback for doing Better Help ads?

[@wussup12345]

In short, the company is one big giant scam

[@TheCoopMan]

It bills itself as a call in therapy/psychology service. But they are a lot of bad stories about the service they actually put out. I would recommend doing research on it but a good example is they put someone on hold for HOURS who was having suicidal thoughts before ending the call.

[@kylenickelberry1602]

New subscriber and looking forward to seeing more content.

[@hannig2010ify]

What song is being used for the 2002 chapter? I keep wanting to say Aladdin on SNES, but I don't think that's it. Maybe a Final Fantasy game?

[@ronaldwilson9525]

Until this year’s Chicago White Sox. And I’ve been a Sox fan since 1968.

[@MeatyOchre]

Damn I forgot about elijah dukes. I used to rake with him waaay back in mlb the show 05 or 06. When he got his last chance with the nats. I used to make a last chance team, with elijah dukes, lastings milledge, nyjer morgan, Corey hart etc etc

[@YellowLegoSpaceman]

RGS and you should talk about the 2010's of rays baseball those years were fun

[@bananawatcher1655]

I don't have the money to join for 4$ but wanted to show support by commenting, really enjoy ur vids and the membership is a good way to avoid certain sponsers. Great idea

[@sneakdisser5204]

my old man always said: there's 2 types of people, those who get baseball and those who don't.

[@PrimarySweeper13]

But, Devil Rays was a Goated name

[@AndThatsBaseball]

Goated jerseys (the first ones, not the shitty solid green ones)

[@GeeEm1313]

Also, Wade Townsend *puke* The Orioles drafted him in 2004, but he didn't sign with them.

[@NoatheLAPTOPnerd01]

the use of 6:16 in LA in this video was unnecessarily sexy as fuck

[@dustykh]

The Rays have multiple pennants, and multiple division titles. How you can argue they are worse than the Rockies or Mariners is beyond me.

[@eduardourenda3244]

The music you used in minutes 20:30 seconds is from Pokémon 😅😅😁😁

[@hannig2010ify]

Is it Pokémon? Do you know which one? I'm trying to figure it out

[@swadizzy]

Massive W for turning down better help

[@Mostillist]

Its actually insane how much of a curse the devil rays name was 10 losing seasons in 10 years and these weren't normal losing season their best win total was 70 wins yikes Even Crazier i as the rays they have had 12 winning seasons out of 16 and only one season where they didn't win 77+ games even there bad seasons are solid. As a yankee fan i think i liked them better as the devil rays

[@AndThatsBaseball]

As a fellow yankees fan I couldn’t agree more

[@maxstein2011]

First WS I saw was the 2008, ever since, I always wore a TB hat even tho I live in Cali…🙂

[@camreese]

That commentator coupled with that abandoned tomorrow world stadium made for an unwatchable ball club for me as a florida kid looking for a team

[@JessCatlessi]

Massive respect for turning down BetterHelp. Your integrity is worth more than anything they could pay you. 👏👏👏👏

[@AndThatsBaseball]

Idk, they offered a lot

[@JessCatlessi]

@@AndThatsBaseball I've heard $100 per referral.

[@tweezerjam]

Screw BG they scammed my Mom and I. Lame

[@thomasivey4608]

As a rays fan all i can say is 😢

[@aT_TooL]

the gta iv music fire choice man

[@pablobeast1]

I remember I got offered a contract to play on the 06 devil rays after I pitched a no hitter in my little league game but my mom said no 😡

[@tweezerjam]

For some reason I thought Jose Canseco was Tony Saunders. Made sense to me that he blew out his arm pitching. 😂

[@PenguinNote67]

Huh that's funny. There's an NHL team called the Devils and they won three Stanley Cups. Devil curse?

[@nathangursky4628]

How didn’t this team employ Lastings Milledge?

[@AndThatsBaseball]

Not nearly controversial enough!

[@saml302]

I'm looking forward to part 2

[@dr.cornwater2886]

Carlos Pena deserves so much love for his career. An all time Ray and an all time Tiger imo.

[@AndThatsBaseball]

Brad Pitt couldn’t see the vision smh

[@dr.cornwater2886]

@@AndThatsBaseball Broke: using nerd math for nerds to form a team 😐 Woke: "I got a good feeling about that guy" 😎

[@reidye]

Strange picture of the Colorado Rockies

[@masontomlinson7180]

Masterful video

[@isaacshaver6218]

Good job broski 👏

[@Fender178]

It's hard to believe that the Rays were worse than the Pirates because the shitty Pirates were on their way of setting the MLB record of the most consecutive losing seasons during the Rays early days.

[@VTO3000]

is casuals who enjoy baseball need more mini docuseries like this

[@Robertoduran1106]

2006 Marlins salary cap was the highlight of the video. How on earth

[@mitchmay3867]

Matt white looks like a combination of Sydney Crosby and trey Hendrickson

[@ZomegJ]

Lmao, im a Rockies fan, and the rays definitely are not as bad as the Rockies have been the last couple of years.😂😂

[@AndThatsBaseball]

Since 2007, these teams have gone in opposite directions

[@ZomegJ]

@AndThatsBaseball Yes, it sucks because here in Colorado, they have a strong fan base, but the stubborn owner we have smh....

[@prollins6443]

HOLY SHIT! Tampa sold out a game?

[@AndThatsBaseball]

That one time, yeah

[@CarlosColon-m7i]

The rays are one of those teams that I hope win a World Series one day.

[@KingZoa]

Meanwhile, the 2020-current Angels are already giving them a big run for their money in the worst teams in baseball

[@TurnOffYourTV]

Super Vid.

[@AndThatsBaseball]

Glad you enjoyed!