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December 20th in Rays History: James Shields is Born!

The Rays Tank! Your source for daily history, trivia, and the countdown to opening day, plus links from around baseball!

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Welcome to the Rays Tank!

Where Stars Are Born and CC Flies!

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On this date in 1981, James Shields is born. The veteran pitcher would persevere through a severe shoulder injury and defy the odds and expectations as he became the ace of the Rays staff and served as a leader/mentor for all of the Rays prized pitching prospects until he was traded to the Royals for a king's ransom following the 2012 season. After two seasons with Kansas City, Shields became a free agent and received a highly deserved payday courtesy of the Padres.

His career numbers with the Rays:

Rays Tenure GS IP W L ERA FIP K% BB%
2006-2012 217 1454.2 87 73 3.89 3.84 20.7% 5.6%

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Trivia Time!

The answer to yesterday's question was J.P. Howell, answered first by jtmorgan

Wrong answers included Brian Anderson and Joel Peralta

Today's prospect:

"When he was a shortstop, [Prospect's] best tool was his arm, which now delivers consistent 92-94 mph fastballs with late life. Hitters can’t sit on his heater because he has a plus changeup, which is a nifty weapon against lefthanders.

Hint: ranked as the Rays 8th best prospect following the 2005 season

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There are 105 days until Opening Day!

That's the same number of triples Carl Crawford had during his Rays career.

Lets watch CC run!

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Links!

- So in Friday's tank, I posted that Brandon Phillips would be traded finally. That trade has hit a snag as the Reds second baseman reportedly wanted a large amount for two years from Washington in order to waive his no-trade clause, so the Nationals are moving on.

- Rays Colored Glasses continued their rankings of the Rays top 50 prospects with opening day roster candidate, Taylor Motter (#13), and Angel Moreno (#33).

- This is a few days old, but an excellent look at trade values from The Process Report.

- Brandon Gomes wasn't signed by Cleveland surprisingly, however he was still taken by a team who covets Rays players...and management

Random Ray of the Day!

Please sign our petition to help bring back the team's original uniforms for a game in 2016.

- Need a baseball fix?