<P> Before the 2003 season, the team traded Randy Winn to the Seattle Mariners for the right to negotiate with manager Lou Piniella, a Tampa native, who managed winning teams at every stop in his managerial career, including the New York Yankees, the Cincinnati Reds (whom he led to a World Series Trophy in 1990), and the Mariners . Piniella was attracted to the Tampa Bay job because of the proximity to his family and the chance to build a losing franchise into a winner as he had done in Seattle . Piniella's first team still came in last place, but finished seven games better than the 2002 team . A highlight of the 2003 season was the emergence of Rocco Baldelli, a native of Rhode Island, as one of the top rookies in the major leagues . </P> <P> Entering the 2004 season expectations for the Devil Rays were low, but the team won 70 games for the first time and finished in 4th place in the American League East, out of last place for the first time . Entering May, the team was 10--28 before going on to win 30 of 40 games, including a team - record 12 - game winning streak . The Devil Rays peaked at 42--41 but the team was unable to sustain that success and finished 21 games below . 500 . </P> <P> Following a 28--61 record at the All - Star Break in 2005, the Devil Rays went 39--34 for a final record of 67--95 . Carl Crawford and newcomers Jorge Cantú and Jonny Gomes led a productive offense that finished third in the American League in team batting average . However, the pitching staff had the second worst ERA in the American League . Despite the promising finish, Lou Piniella became frustrated with what he perceived as an insufficient commitment to winning by the ownership group, and he reached a settlement with the team to release him from the last year of his contract and Angels coach Joe Maddon was named manager, the fourth in team history . </P> <P> Shortly after the season ended, new owner Stuart Sternberg, immediately fired Chuck LaMar along with most of the front office . Matthew Silverman was named the team president, and Andrew Friedman took the role of Executive Vice President of Baseball Operations . Sternberg decided not to have a de jure General Manager, calling the position "outdated ." </P>

Who had the first hit in rays history