Keith Hernandez chides Tampa Bay Rays for being ‘woke’

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If Keith Hernandez has a chance to mock something for being “politically correct,” he’s going to take it, with the Tampa Bay Rays being next in line.

The New York Mets were in Florida for a series against the Rays this week. And when SNY took a camera shot of the stingray tank at Tropicana Field, analyst Ron Darling noted the franchise began as the “Tampa Bay Devil Rays.”

Ron Darling: “They began as the Tampa Bay Devil Rays”

Gary Cohen: “Too much satanic connotation”

Keith Hernandez: “Very woke”

“That was the actual name of a fish, you know,” Gary Cohen interjected. “But too much satanic connotation, too much for some people.”

As Darlin and Cohen discussed the name “Devil Rays,” you could just tell Keith Hernandez was waiting for his chance to get a line in there before finally adding, “Very woke.”

“Is that woke?” Darling asked with a chuckle.

It’s been nine years since Dwyane Wade made the term “stay woke” mainstream, and six years since the right hijacked what was a positive means of social awareness and used it as a way of mocking political correctness. But the Tampa Bay Devil Rays dropped “devil” from their name nearly two decades ago, long before Hernandez or anyone on the right knew about “woke.”

Tampa’s MLB franchise dropped the “devil” from their name in 2007 amid some pushback and complaints from religious groups, even though “devil rays” are indeed a type of fish, as Gary Cohen noted. But beyond religious complaints, Tampa’s MLB team sought to rebrand after failing to win more than 70 games in any of its first 10 seasons in franchise history. Ironically, the Tampa Bay Rays won 97 games and went to the World Series in their first season of the rebrand, continuing on as one of the most well-run small-market MLB teams in the years since.

But mentioning a putrid history as the “Devil Rays” and the need for a fresh start isn’t nearly as interesting as attempting to put the Tampa Bay Rays on blast for being “woke.”