TAMPA, Fla. — Original Tampa Bay Rays owner Vince Naimoli has died at 81.
The team said Monday he died Sunday nearly five years after being diagnosed with an uncommon brain disorder.
The Tampa businessman had been part of unsuccessful bids to purchase and relocate the Seattle Mariners and San Francisco Giants. But he landed an American League expansion franchise in 1995 that began play as the Devil Rays in 1998.
Naimoli ended the Tampa Bay region’s two-decade long pursuit to join Major League Baseball. He sold the club to a group led by current Rays principal Stuart Sternberg in 2004 and relinquished control after the 2005 season.
Naimoli was often at odds with local business and civic leaders and fueled a perception he was more interested in making money than winning. The club never won more than 70 games during his time there. It made an improbable run to the 2008 World Series.