Drop the "Devil" and Pick Up the Lord

November 09, 2007 | Comments (0) | by Jake the Terrible Cubs Fan

It's Friday, and everyone has the mental focus of an ADD kid lost in a video arcade*, so I'll talk about something completely benign and worthless**. The Tampa Bay Devil Rays, dropped the Devil and picked up the Lord!

Well the part about Jesus isn't really true, but they did drop the word "devil" from their nickname as well as changed up their logo and uniforms. Check it out.

"After months of speculation about coming changes, the Rays spilled the beans about the subtraction of "Devil" from the name, their new team colors -- navy blue and light blue -- and a new icon, a bright yellow sunburst invoking the magnificence of life in the Sunshine State."
-Bill Chastain / MLB.com
Whaa? So you're going away from the stingray and choosing a ray of sunshine? Maybe they did pick up the Lord. At first I thought, "A bright yellow sunburst? Weak." But then I realized, the sun's rays are probably deadlier than a stingray, no offense to Steve Irwin (R.I.P. mate). Also I find the new icon incredibly ironic. "A bright yellow sunburst invoking the magnificence of life in the Sunshine State". Really? You wouldn't know it if you were watching the team play in the cold, depressing concrete hellhole known as Tropicana Field.

I have to say the logo is a definite improvement though. They no longer look like a Single-A team. You know the ones that have the ridiculous names merely to sell more merchandise, like the South Alabama Sand Cooters, or the Jefferson City Crap Weasels. No, now they have the look of a AAA team, which is more in line with how they really play.

Alright let's look at the new uniform. Pictured to the right is their new home jersey. Pretty simple, nothing overly dramatic. They could've maybe added a little more- wait, is that a stingray on the sleeve?

What the hell, so you're keeping the stingray as well as adding a ray of sunshine as your icon? Can you do that? Is that really allowed? I didn't know you could use different meanings for your nickname. Then again I guess most teams have names that aren't quite as ambiguous.

Why stop there? Why not add some other icons to it?


Brilliant!


*Do they still have video arcades, or did I just horribly date myself? You mean kids don't go play Pit Fighter and Shinobi?

**As opposed to the hard-hitting shit I normally bring you like Venn Diagrams!

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