June 19
From RaysBB
June 19 in Tampa Bay baseball:
1996
Games
The Devil Rays organization played the first official games in franchise history:
- The Devil Rays lost, 10-1, to the Yankees in a Rookie-level Gulf Coast League game at Al Lang Stadium in St. Petersburg, FL.
- Pablo Ortega threw the first pitch, a ball.
- Alex Sanchez recorded the organization's first hit, a bunt single, in the first inning.[1]
- The Butte Copper Kings lost, 5-4, to the Idaho Falls Braves in an Advanced-Rookie Pioneer League game at Alumni Field in Butte, MT.
- Jim Kerr hit the organization's first home run, a solo shot, in the fifth inning.
- Matt Quatraro, catching, suffered the first game-related injury during a home-plate collision.[2]
- The scheduled game between the the Hudson Valley Renegades and the New Jersey Cardinals of the Short-Season New York-Penn League was postponed due to rain.[3]
