Rays’ mascot Stinger makes a splash on social media

The Rays, who started their season 2-0, have been making waves on social media this weekend, and very little of it had anything to do with their on-field play, and everything to do with the appearance of a “new” mascot that caused quite a stir.

Before we get into why this is especially funny, let’s just take a look at some of the hot takes from Twitter. If you need more, just search “Rays new mascot” on Twitter and have a field day.

The problem is, the Rays don’t have a new mascot. The fervor on Twitter was caused by a rare sighting of the team’s third mascot, Stinger, who appeared on-field during a mascot race.

Stinger, who is the personification of “local sting ray in great mood” has been an official Rays mascot since 2014.

The two best-known mascots for the team are Raymond, a furry blue sea dog, and DJ Kitty, a cat who is obviously a DJ. But Stinger, who is officially a cow-nosed stingray. His typical role at the stadium was as a designated weekend greeter at the stingray touch-tank experience, but he has also been known to appear during mascot races, like he did this weekend. He’s also a big fan of Jimmy Buffet.

If you want to learn more about Stinger (and also the far too in-depth profiles of the other Rays’ mascots), check out their official mascot page here.