# 2001 Tampa Bay Devil Rays season

The 2001 Tampa Bay Devil Rays season was their fourth since the franchise was created. This season, they finished last in the American League East, finished the season with a record of 62–100. Their managers were Larry Rothschild and Hal McRae, the latter of whom replaced Rothschild shortly after the season began.

## Offseason

* November 2, 2000: Bill Pulsipher was signed as a free agent with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays.
* November 27, 2000: Quinton McCracken was released by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays.
* November 27, 2000: Jim Morris was released by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays.
* January 8, 2001: Johnny Damon was traded as part of a 3-team trade by the Kansas City Royals with Mark Ellis to the Oakland Athletics. The Oakland Athletics sent Ben Grieve to the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. The Oakland Athletics sent Ángel Berroa and A. J. Hinch to the Kansas City Royals. The Tampa Bay Devil Rays sent Cory Lidle to the Oakland Athletics. The Tampa Bay Devil Rays sent Roberto Hernandez to the Kansas City Royals.
* March 23, 2001: Bill Pulsipher was released by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays.

## Regular season
### Opening Day starters

* Vinny Castilla
* Steve Cox
* John Flaherty
* Ben Grieve
* Albie Lopez
* Felix Martinez
* Fred McGriff
* Bob Smith
* Greg Vaughn
* Gerald Williams

### Season standings

vteAL East :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| New York Yankees | 95 | 65 | .594 | — | 51‍–‍28 | 44‍–‍37 |
| Boston Red Sox | 82 | 79 | .509 | 13½ | 41‍–‍40 | 41‍–‍39 |
| Toronto Blue Jays | 80 | 82 | .494 | 16 | 40‍–‍42 | 40‍–‍40 |
| Baltimore Orioles | 63 | 98 | .391 | 32½ | 30‍–‍50 | 33‍–‍48 |
| Tampa Bay Devil Rays | 62 | 100 | .383 | 34 | 37‍–‍44 | 25‍–‍56 |

### Record vs. opponents

2001 American League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | ANA | BAL | BOS | CWS | CLE | DET | KC | MIN | NYY | OAK | SEA | TB | TEX | TOR | NL |
| Anaheim | — | 4–5 | 4–3 | 6–3 | 5–4 | 5–4 | 5–4 | 3–6 | 4–3 | 6–14 | 4–15 | 7–2 | 7–12 | 5–4 | 10–8 |
| Baltimore | 5–4 | — | 9–10 | 3–4 | 1–5 | 4–2 | 5–2 | 3–3 | 5–13 | 2–7 | 1–8 | 10–9 | 2–7 | 7–12 | 6–12 |
| Boston | 3–4 | 10–9 | — | 3–3 | 3–6 | 4–5 | 3–3 | 3–3 | 5–13 | 4–5 | 3–6 | 14–5 | 5–2 | 12–7 | 10–8 |
| Chicago | 3–6 | 4–3 | 3–3 | — | 10–9 | 13–6 | 14–5 | 5–14 | 1–5 | 1–8 | 2–7 | 5–2 | 7–2 | 3–3 | 12–6 |
| Cleveland | 4–5 | 5–1 | 6–3 | 9–10 | — | 13–6 | 11–8 | 14–5 | 4–5 | 4–3 | 2–5 | 5–1 | 5–4 | 2–4 | 7–11 |
| Detroit | 4–5 | 2–4 | 5–4 | 6–13 | 6–13 | — | 8–11 | 4–15 | 4–5 | 1–6 | 2–5 | 4–2 | 8–1 | 2–4 | 10–8 |
| Kansas City | 4–5 | 2–5 | 3–3 | 5–14 | 8–11 | 11–8 | — | 6–13 | 0–6 | 3–6 | 3–6 | 4–2 | 4–5 | 4–3 | 8–10 |
| Minnesota | 6–3 | 3–3 | 3–3 | 14–5 | 5–14 | 15–4 | 13–6 | — | 4–2 | 5–4 | 1–8 | 1–6 | 4–5 | 2–5 | 9–9 |
| New York | 3–4 | 13–5 | 13–5 | 5–1 | 5–4 | 5–4 | 6–0 | 2–4 | — | 3–6 | 3–6 | 13–6 | 3–4 | 11–8 | 10–8 |
| Oakland | 14–6 | 7–2 | 5–4 | 8–1 | 3–4 | 6–1 | 6–3 | 4–5 | 6–3 | — | 9–10 | 7–2 | 9–10 | 6–3 | 12–6 |
| Seattle | 15–4 | 8–1 | 6–3 | 7–2 | 5–2 | 5–2 | 6–3 | 8–1 | 6–3 | 10–9 | — | 7–2 | 15–5 | 6–3 | 12–6 |
| Tampa Bay | 2–7 | 9–10 | 5–14 | 2–5 | 1–5 | 2–4 | 2–4 | 6–1 | 6–13 | 2–7 | 2–7 | — | 4–5 | 9–10 | 10–8 |
| Texas | 12–7 | 7–2 | 2–5 | 2–7 | 4–5 | 1–8 | 5–4 | 5–4 | 4–3 | 10–9 | 5–15 | 5–4 | — | 3–6 | 8–10 |
| Toronto | 4–5 | 12–7 | 7–12 | 3–3 | 4–2 | 4–2 | 3–4 | 5–2 | 8–11 | 3–6 | 3–6 | 10–9 | 6–3 | — | 8–10 |

### Transactions

* April 4, 2001: Kenny Kely was purchased by the Seattle Mariners from the Tampa Bay Devil Rays.
* June 5, 2001: Dewon Brazelton was drafted by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays in the 1st round (3rd pick) of the 2001 amateur draft. Player signed August 25, 2001.
* June 5, 2001: Jon Switzer was drafted by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays in the 2nd round of the 2001 amateur draft. Player signed August 13, 2001.

### Citrus Series

The annual interleague games between the Florida Marlins and the Tampa Bay Devil Rays were played in June and July. They are known as the Citrus Series. The Marlins won the series 4-2.
* June 15- @ Marlins 7- Devil Rays 4
* June 16- @ Marlins 11- Devil Rays 0
* June 17- @ Marlins 6- Devil Rays 4
* July 6- @ Devil Rays 5- Marlins 4 (11 innings)
* July 7- @ Devil Rays 4- Marlins 3
* July 8- Marlins 6- @ Devil Rays 1

### Roster
## Player stats
### Batting
#### Starters by position

Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in
| Pos | Player | G | AB | H | Avg. | HR | RBI |
| C | John Flaherty | 78 | 248 | 59 | .238 | 4 | 29 |
| 1B | Steve Cox | 108 | 342 | 88 | .257 | 12 | 51 |
| 2B | Brent Abernathy | 79 | 304 | 82 | .270 | 5 | 33 |
| SS | Félix Martínez | 77 | 219 | 54 | .247 | 1 | 14 |
| 3B | Aubrey Huff | 111 | 411 | 102 | .248 | 8 | 45 |
| LF | Jason Tyner | 105 | 396 | 111 | .280 | 0 | 21 |
| CF | Gerald Williams | 62 | 232 | 48 | .207 | 4 | 17 |
| RF | Ben Grieve | 154 | 542 | 143 | .264 | 11 | 72 |
| DH | Greg Vaughn | 136 | 485 | 113 | .233 | 24 | 82 |

#### Other batters

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in
| Player | G | AB | H | Avg. | HR | RBI |
| Randy Winn | 128 | 429 | 117 | .273 | 6 | 50 |
| Fred McGriff | 97 | 343 | 109 | .318 | 19 | 61 |
| Russ Johnson | 85 | 248 | 73 | .294 | 4 | 33 |
| Damian Rolls | 81 | 237 | 62 | .262 | 2 | 12 |
| Chris Gomez | 58 | 189 | 57 | .302 | 8 | 36 |
| Toby Hall | 49 | 188 | 56 | .298 | 4 | 30 |
| Andy Sheets | 49 | 153 | 30 | .196 | 1 | 14 |
| Mike DiFelice | 48 | 149 | 31 | .208 | 2 | 9 |
| Jared Sandberg | 39 | 136 | 28 | .206 | 1 | 15 |
| José Guillén | 41 | 135 | 37 | .274 | 3 | 11 |
| Vinny Castilla | 24 | 93 | 20 | .215 | 2 | 9 |
| Bob Smith | 6 | 19 | 2 | .105 | 0 | 1 |
| Paul Hoover | 3 | 4 | 1 | .250 | 0 | 0 |

### Pitching
#### Starting pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
| Tanyon Sturtze | 39 | 195.1 | 11 | 12 | 4.42 | 110 |
| Ryan Rupe | 28 | 143.1 | 5 | 12 | 6.59 | 123 |
| Bryan Rekar | 25 | 140.2 | 3 | 13 | 5.89 | 87 |
| Albie Lopez | 20 | 124.2 | 5 | 12 | 5.34 | 67 |
| Joe Kennedy | 20 | 117.2 | 7 | 8 | 4.44 | 78 |
| Nick Bierbrodt | 11 | 61.1 | 3 | 4 | 4.55 | 56 |
| Travis Harper | 2 | 7.0 | 0 | 2 | 7.71 | 2 |

#### Other pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; ERA = Earned run average
| Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
| Paul Wilson | 37 | 151.1 | 8 | 9 | 4.88 | 119 |
| Brian Rose | 7 | 20.1 | 0 | 2 | 8.85 | 11 |
| Mike Judd | 8 | 20.0 | 1 | 0 | 4.05 | 11 |
| Jason Standridge | 9 | 19.1 | 0 | 0 | 4.66 | 9 |

##### Relief pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | W | L | SV | ERA | SO |
| Esteban Yan | 54 | 4 | 6 | 22 | 3.90 | 64 |
| Doug Creek | 66 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 4.31 | 66 |
| Travis Phelps | 49 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 3.48 | 54 |
| Victor Zambrano | 36 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 3.16 | 58 |
| Jesús Colomé | 30 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 3.33 | 31 |
| Jeff Wallace | 29 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3.40 | 38 |
| Rusty Meacham | 24 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 5.60 | 13 |
| Dan Wheeler | 13 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 8.66 | 12 |
| Bobby Seay | 12 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 6.23 | 12 |
| Ken Hill | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 12.27 | 2 |
| Ariel Prieto | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2.45 | 2 |
| Tony Fiore | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5.40 | 3 |
| Mickey Calloway | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7.20 | 2 |

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| AAA | Durham Bulls | International League | Bill Evers |
| AA | Orlando Rays | Southern League | Mike Ramsey |
| A | Bakersfield Blaze | California League | Charlie Montoyo |
| A | Charleston RiverDogs | South Atlantic League | Buddy Biancalana |
| A-Short Season | Hudson Valley Renegades | New York–Penn League | Dave Howard |
| Rookie | Princeton Devil Rays | Appalachian League | Edwin Rodríguez |