truebluefan

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- The Tampa Bay Devil Rays will open their 10th spring training this Saturday, February 17, when they welcome 35 pitchers and catchers to their St. Petersburg training complex. The players will take the field at 9:30 a.m. Beginning with that first day, the Devil Rays will hold workouts at the Raymond A. Naimoli Baseball Complex located at 7901 30th Ave., N. The team will then move its major league camp to Progress Energy Park, Home of Al Lang Field (180 2nd Ave SE) where the Rays will play 15 home games this spring beginning Friday, March 2 against the New York Yankees. Tampa Bay will finish the exhibition season with a game against the New York Mets at Tropicana Field on Saturday, March 31. The first full squad workout will be Thursday, February 22, when Manager Joe Maddon and his staff will welcome 58 players in camp (including 18 non-roster invitees), the fewest players invited to any major league camp in the club's 10-year history.

SPECIAL INSTRUCTORS -- Original Rays Dave Martinez and Fred McGriff will serve as special instructors during spring training.

EARLY SELLOUTS -- The spring opener on March 2 vs. the Yankees and the March 24 contest vs. the Red Sox at Progress Energy Park are sold out for individual tickets.

New Rays in 2007 (6):
Signed as Free Agents (2): RHP Scott Dohmann, INF Akinori Iwamura
Acquired in Trades (1): INF Brendan Harris
Added to the 40-man roster (3): OF Elijah Dukes, INF Elliot Johnson, LHP Jeff Ridgway

RAYS OWN YOUNGEST ROSTER IN THE AMERICAN LEAGUE -- The Rays average age of 26.19 is the youngest 40- man roster in the American League and second in the majors behind the Florida Marlins (25.45).

• 28 of the Rays rostered players are age 26 or younger,

• 15 are rookies: 1B Wes Bankston, RHP Marcos Carvajal, OF Elijah Dukes, INF Joel Guzman, RHP Jason Hammel, INF Akinori Iwamura, INF Elliot Johnson, RHP Jeff Niemann, LHP Jeff Ridgway, RHP Juan Salas, LHP Chris Seddon, RHP Brian Stokes, RHP Mitch Talbot, C Shawn Riggans, OF Delmon Young.

• A dozen are attending their first spring training with the Rays: Carvajal, RHP Scott Dohmann, Guzman, INF Brendan Harris, LHP J.P. Howell, Iwamura, Johnson, C Dioner Navarro, Ridgway, RHP Jae Seo, Talbot and SS Ben Zobrist.

• The youngest player in camp is shortstop Reid Brignac, the Rays 2006 Minor League Player of the Year. He will be 21 years and 32 days when camp opens. The oldest is non-roster right-handed pitcher Al Reyes at 36 years, 312 days.

• Right-handed reliever Dan Miceli owns the most major league service time in camp at 11 years, 130 days.

• Outfielder Carl Crawford owns the most service as a Devil Ray at four years and 72 days.

• 15 different states and six different countries are represented on the Rays 40-man roster with the most players (7) being born in California. Jae Seo hails from the furthest location, Kwantu, South Korea, some 7500 miles from St. Petersburg, FL, approximately 100 miles farther than Akinori Iwamura's hometown of Ehime, Japan.

BASEBALL'S YOUNGEST TEAMS
(Average age of the 40-man rosters, as of Feb 1)
Avg. Age
Florida 25.45
Tampa Bay 26.19
Washington 26.63
Seattle 26.78
Pittsburgh 26.81
Arizona 26.86
Minnesota 27.25
Texas 27.46
Colorado 27.61
Chicago-AL 27.63
Chicago-NL 27.75
Los Angeles-AL 27.91
Toronto 28.08
Cleveland 28.12
Kansas City 28.14
Oakland 28.30
Atlanta 27.86
Milwaukee 28.35


NON-ROSTER INVITES THAT MADE RAYS OPENING DAY ROSTERS -- RHP Rolando Arrojo (1998); INF Herbert Perry and RHP Dave Eiland (2000); RHP Ken Hill (2001); LHP Jim Parque, RHP Steve Parris and OF Rocco Baldelli (2003); RHP Hideo Nomo and OF Chris Singleton (2005); RHP Jason Childers, RHP Ruddy Lugo and INF Luis Ordaz (2006).

SPRING BROADCAST SCHEDULE -- Devil Rays flagship 1250 WHNZ will carry 15 Rays Grapefruit League contests beginning with the Yankee game March 2...FSN Florida will air two spring games, one at Progress Energy Park: Saturday, March 24 vs. Boston (1:05 p.m.) and the other at Tropicana Field, Saturday, March 31 vs. New York Mets (1:05 p.m.).

YOGA ADDED TO RAYS CAMP -- Dana Edison, director and founder of Radius Yoga Conditioning, a Boston-based national fitness consultancy, has been hired by the Rays to conduct a customized yoga program during the first two weeks of spring training. Three times per week, from February 19-March 2, Edison will lead players through morning yoga classes consisting of postures and sequences specifically designed to complement the team's conditioning regimen.

KEY DATES:

Saturday, February 17 -- First workout for pitchers and catchers will begin at approximately 9:30 a.m. at the Raymond A. Naimoli Baseball Complex following physical examinations. Physicals start at 7 a.m. Clubhouse will be closed during physicals.

Thursday, February 22 -- First workout for full squad will begin at approximately 9:30 a.m. at the Raymond A. Naimoli Baseball Complex following physical examinations at the complex. Physicals start at 7 a.m. Clubhouse will be closed during physicals.

RAYS ANNUAL WINTER CARAVAN CONCLUDES IN ORLANDO FEB. 17-18 -- The Caravan concludes with a two-day stop in Orlando to promote the May 15-17 series against the Texas Rangers at The Ballpark at Disney's Wide World of Sports Complex. The Rays will be in downtown Orlando on Friday, February 16, passing out hot dogs and other ballpark fare during lunch hour in front of the Orange County Regional History Center. The visit will close with an autograph signing at Mall at Millenia on Saturday, February 17.

FANFEST SET FOR SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 24 -- The Rays will hold their annual FanFest from 10am to 5pm on Saturday, Feb. 24 at Tropicana Field. FanFest is a free event with free admission and free parking that includes a team autograph session and panel discussions will be held with various Rays players, alumni, coaches, broadcasters and front office executives throughout the event. Family friendly interactive activities will include a dunk tank, a home run derby challenge, big league batting cages, a little slugger's zone, speed pitch challenge, steal home challenge, a kids zone, and the world's largest baseball display (standing 16 feet tall). Rays individual game tickets will go on sale at FanFest beginning at 9am. This will be the first opportunity for Rays fans to preview all of the improvements currently underway at Tropicana Field. For more information on FanFest, please contact the Rays at 888-FAN-RAYS or visit devilrays.com.

RAYS REMAIN ONLY TEAM IN MODERN ERA TO TRAIN AT HOME

The Devil Rays will remain the only major league team to train in its home city since 1919 when the St. Louis Cardinals and Philadelphia Athletics both trained at home. Between 1943-45, the ¡°War Years,¡± travel restrictions forced teams to alter their routine of heading to warmer weather and some teams trained close to home. Six teams stayed within 100 miles of their home city: the Boston Red Sox trained in nearby Medford, MA, 1943-45; the Washington Senators trained in a Washington suburb, College Park, MD, 1943-45; the Philadelphia Phillies (1944-45) and the Athletics (1943) each trained in Wilmington, DE, just 30 miles away; the New York Yankees spent 1943 training in Asbury Park, NJ, some 70 miles away from the Big Apple; the New York Giants were in Lakewood, NJ, 90 miles away and the Philadelphia Phillies trained in Hershey, PA in 1943, approximately 100 miles from home.

RAYS HEADED TO PORT CHARLOTTE IN 2009 -- The Rays will be moving their spring training home to the Charlotte Sports Complex in Port Charlotte, Fla beginning in 2009. The Rays agreed to a 20-year partnership with Charlotte County and construction at the Complex is set to begin this summer.

TAMPA BAY'S SPRING TRAINING HISTORY

Nine teams have trained in St. Petersburg: the Boston Braves (1922-37), St. Louis Cardinals (1938-42; 1946-97), New York Yankees (1925-42; 1946-50; 1952-61), New York Giants (1951), New York Mets (1962-87), Baltimore Orioles (1993-95); St. Louis Browns (1914), Philadelphia Phillies (1915-18) and the Devil Rays (1998 to present).

Tampa has been the spring home of six major league clubs: Chicago Cubs (1913-16), Cincinnati Reds (1931-42; 1946- 87), Boston Red Sox (1919), Detroit Tigers (1930), Washington Senators (1920-29), Chicago White Sox (1954-59) and the New York Yankees (1996-present).

St. Pete has hosted at least one team for spring training in 87 of the past 93 years and had two teams train there for 64 years. Tampa has been a major league spring site for 81 of the past 94 years.

Public Invited to Spring Workouts - There is no charge to attend the Devil Rays workouts at the spring training complex. Detailed rosters are available for free.

Minor League Camp - The first workout for minor league pitchers and catchers is Monday, March 5. For position players it is Friday, March 9. At that time, approximately 160 players will be in camp. The minor league camp will be held at the Raymond A. Naimoli Baseball Complex after the major league players move on to Progress Energy Park.

Progress Energy Park, Home of Al Lang Field - Will serve as the Devil Rays home during the Grapefruit League season. When the club is playing on the road, those players not on the trip will practice at Progress Energy Park that day.

Admission - Tickets to home games at Progress Energy Park, Home of Al Lang Field, range in price from $7 to $20. Tickets can be obtained at the Progress Energy Park box office on game days, through all Ticketmaster locations or The Official Site of The Tampa Bay Devil Rays: Homepage.