The Tampa Bay Rays, striking gold as one of only three teams in Major League Baseball history to take the monumental 100 steps from worst to first. What a coincidence that once the “devil” jumped out of the team name, things quickly changed. Thanks God!!!
The other two teams before these 2008 Tampa Bay Rays were the 1914 Boston Braves, and the 2006 Detroit Tigers, all three joining the World Series after horrible seasons. Will the Tampa Bay Rays complete the feat? I hope so. The Tampa Bay Rays have not been without talent, in fact they have so much talent at a young age, that I think they will compete for many years to come. Evan Longoria made the switch to pro ball seem almost effortless.
They have benefited from some trades and have built a team that I believe will win the World Series. The only real advantage I give the Philadelphia Phillies is their closer Brad Lidge, who made replacing New York Mets Billy Wagner a piece of cake in Philly. In my opinion, the Philadelphia Phillies strike out too much and the decisive hit has been missing, giving way to Matt Stairs’ home run. Chase Utely, you need to warm up, like it’s hot at the beginning of the year, if you’re going to have a chance. Chase Utley’s home run surge must return or the Phillies are finished.
The Tampa Bay Rays, on the other hand, hit far fewer home runs, but are much more of a contact hitting team, and I argue that they have more speed and better pitching. Younger and less experienced, but still better. The addition of Rays phenom David Price will prove to be formidable in the World Series and for years to come. Scott Kazmir, another New York Mets mistake. Um, who do we get for him?
Oh yeah, I remember now, we have the other Zambrano, I think he pitched a whopping 5 games that year and got hit in all but one. That other one, to which I referred, was destroyed. Still, Scott Kazmir, Matt Garza, David Price, Andy Sonnastine, formidable pitching staff. Add in Carl Crawford, BJ Upton, Evan Longoria and the rest of this well performing staff and you have your worst success story ever, let’s hope the story ends with a happy ending.
“The devil is just a convenient myth, invented by the real evildoers of our world”
I for one am happy that the Tampa Bay Rays are no longer the Tampa Bay Devil Rays!