Games Managed: 485
Wins: 200
Losses: 285
Win-Loss Percentage: .412
Ejections: 8
Best Finish: 4th
Worst Finish: 5th
“Sweet Lou” Piniella returned to the city of his birth to lead the cellar-dwelling Devil Rays for the 2003 season.
The signing of the Tampa native and World Series-winning manager was a coup for ownership and a boom for fans. For the first time in the organization’s history, the Devil Rays would not have to break-in a new manager (Larry Rothschild) or rehabilitate a tarnished one (Hal McRae).