The Rays incredible new logo features the Sunshine Skyway Bridge

The enormous bridge spans the bay between St. Petersburg and Bradenton. When it was completed in 1987, it was one of the largest bridges in the world and to date, it is the longest cable-stayed concrete bridge on the planet.

Unfortunately, it was a horrific tragedy that necessitated its construction.

The original Skyway bridge was first completed in 1950's. Prior to that, the quickest way for travel between St Petersburg and Bradenton was by ferry. It was during the 1920's when the idea of a bridge was first truly considered and it took on many forms before its final approval in 1950. The city of St. Petersburg held a festival dubbed Spans Across the Bay Day on July 4th, 1950. A naming contest was held, and The Sunshine Skyway would officially open four years later on September 6th, 1954. At first a two-lane bridge, a second two-lane bridge was completed in 1971 parallel to the original with one side running north and other south.

Nearly a decade after the second span was completed, the Sunshine Skyway bridge would be involved in a horrific tragedy.

During the morning of May 9th, 1980, a thunderstorm was pounding the area. The freighter MV Summit Venture was heading into the bay, but was blown off course by a sudden squall. The freighter collided with a support column of the southbound span of the bridge, causing a complete collapse over 1200ft of the bridge.

Sadly, there were several vehicles on that part of the bridge at the time, and several vehicles skidded off the bridge as a result. In all, eight vehicles fell into the water and there were 35 fatalities; one of the vehicles was a greyhound bus. Only one person in the vehicles that went off the bridge survived.

A picture that would become forever entwined with the incident is that of a yellow Buick Skylark that skidded to a stop a mere inches from the collapsed section of the bridge.

There were multiple options proposed to repair or replace the bridge, including a possible tunnel. The governor at the time, Bob Graham, proposed a cable-stayed bridge that would be wider than the previous bridge and be able to allow travel for all four lanes of traffic.

This plan won out and the new Sunshine Skyway bridge was completed in 1987. The original bridge(s) would be fully demolished, with the southbound portion of the bridge in St. Petersburg being converted into a fishing pier that is now a state park.

Officially named The Bob Graham Sunshine Skyway Bridge, the landmark took its final form in 2019 with the addition of 1,800 lights spanning the 1.7 mile bridge.

Today you cannot watch a single broadcast of a Tampa Bay sporting event without the bridge, lit in neon colors, being featured on transitions in and out of commercial breaks.

It's featured on stamps, it has its own 10k race. To see the bridge is to immediately think of Tampa Bay, so it was fitting that the Rays City Connect jersey would seek to incorporate the local landmark bridge (like many other City Connects have).

The stroke of genius, however, was in the design of the new logo on the cap.

The Skyway and the water beneath are interwoven into a Devil Ray that is soaring into the sky, and appropriately so.

The fish that adorn the Rays jerseys throughout the years and that swim in the Gulf of Mexico are particularly famous for flying:

It's in this skyward position that the lines of the logo make up the Sunshine Skyway — with colors inspired by neon lights not much unlike those that light the bridge at night.

It's not immediately clear in the City Connect jersey will be here to stay or just a flash in the pan over the next couple years, but this logo is an instant classic.