The Tampa Bay Rays, reaching 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 of which joined 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 are so talented at a young age, I think they will compete for many years to come. Evan Longoria made the switch to professional ball seem almost effortless.

They’ve benefited from some trades and have built a team that I think 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 doddle in Philly. In my opinion, the Philadelphia Phillies strike out too much and have missed the clutch hit, giving way to Matt Stairs’ home run. Chase Utely needs to warm up, like it’s hot early in the year, if they want to stand a chance. Chase Utley’s home run spree 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’d argue they have more speed and better pitching. Younger and less experienced, but still better. The addition of Rays phenom David Price will prove formidable in the World Series and for years to come. Scott Kazmir, another New York Mets mistake. Um, who did we get for him?
Oh yeah now I remember, 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, a formidable pitching staff. Add Carl Crawford, BJ Upton, Evan Longoria and the rest of these 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”

For my part, I am happy that the Tampa Bay Rays are no longer the Tampa Bay Devil Rays!