So this is what it feels like to start a baseball season after finishing the previous year with a winning record. Nearly six months after the Rays' first World Series appearance, TVs at Bay-area sports bars, homes and businesses were tuned Tuesday to the team's season-opening game against division rival Boston Red Sox. The Rays lost the game 5-3 but have a chance today to even the series. The first time fans can clang their cowbells at Tropicana Field will be Monday, when the Rays play their home opener against the Yankees. In preparation for that, the team held "Rays University" classes for all employees at Tropicana Field on Tuesday. The theme: excellent customer service. ...more

April 8, 2009

ST. PETERSBURG -- The Rays have released their promotional schedule for 2009, with a heavy early emphasis on celebrating the team's 2008 American League pennant. ...more

January 21, 2009

Dozens of people attended the free rally at Lykes Gaslight Square Park in downtown Tampa from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Rays pitchers Dan Wheeler and Andy Sonnanstine and pitching coach Jim Hickey signed autographs while fans, some of them still sporting Rayhawks, signed a banner that will be presented to the team later. ...more

November 6, 2008

this season, anyway - to sport a blue Mohawk and have people instantly understand. ...more

November 1, 2008

Once again, the Rays responded. They didn't have to win Thursday to stay alive in the World Series, but heading to Philadelphia needing to win two out of three just to bring it back home would not have been an ideal formula for success. ...more

October 24, 2008

Yes, we have no cowbells. We have no cowbells today. "And to think this all started out as a small idea," said 16-year-old Jake Sternberg, son of the Rays' principal owner. ...more

October 24, 2008

ST. PETERSBURG – It didn't take the Phillies long to tire of the cowbells clanging all around Tropicana Field on Wednesday night. And it wasn't long before they shut them up, either. ...more

October 23, 2008

Rays second baseman Akinori Iwamura sees a lot of similarities between the Japan World Series and America's World Series with one major distinction. ...more

October 23, 2008

Dressed in Rays gear head to toe, Kathy Plank holds court at every home game as the "Cowbell Queen." ...more

October 23, 2008

Are you raving over the Rays? Well, here's the place to show it. On this opening day of the 2008 World Series, our search is on for the top Tampa Bay Rays fan of all. And to start the process, we present the "Cowbell Queen," aka Kathy Plank. ...more

October 22, 2008