The Rays make the playoffs?
There was a better chance that No. 1 fan Dick Vitale would become a mime.
Tampa Bay has never had a winning season. Check that. It has never had a season it didn’t require Patron and a chaser. The Rays were odoriferous in every way possible from their uniforms to their players to their stadium, which still is more suited for tractor pulls than baseballs.
Then along come the 2008 Rays — the Devil is gone; so, too, is the curse — to remind us what is right about sports.
With six weeks left, the Rays have already tied their single-season record for victories. Somebody get the Kleenex ready in the Bronx. The Rays aren’t going away, almost guaranteeing that the Yankees are going to miss the playoffs for the first time in 14 seasons.
“We thought we had a good team in spring training, but we knew we had a lot to prove,” third baseman Evan Longoria said.
Longoria is an example of why this club is easy to pull for: He’s one of three Tampa Bay all-stars under the age of 24, the first team to pull off that feat since the 1986 Mets. The Rays had the charity solo representative for 10 years.
The Rays have staying power for two reasons: Manager Joe Maddon has changed the culture and they can really pitch. Maddon, who looks part crazy uncle, part mad scientist, is a terrific strategist. That’s how he carved out a solid reputation as the Angels’ bench coach.
But he’s more than numbers. When he basically bowed his back and told his team not to step off from the Red Sox earlier this season in Fenway, that said a lot.
These weren’t the same ol’ Rays.
And if there were any doubt, it was erased on the mound. They rank fourth in baseball with a 3.76 ERA. After a dismal trading deadline performance, the Rays’ acquisition of reliever Chad Bradford was a brilliant stroke. He will bolster a bullpen that could soon welcome the electrifying presence of former first overall pick David Price.
In short, the Rays are this year’s Rocks, their magic dust sprinkled over 125 days rather than a single month.
Grin and bear it.
Alfonso Soriano is a unique player.
When he’s hot offensively, he’s the best player in the National League. When he’s not, he’s one of the worst, given his defensive issues and lack of interest in running the bases. Soriano is simmering again, compiling 20 hits in his last 53 at-bats, including six homers. Manager Lou Piniella practically sent a limo to escort Soriano off the disabled list. When Soriano leads off, the Cubs are 43-20, compared with 26-27 when anyone else is in the top spot.
Righting the ship.
The Pirates haven’t made the playoffs since 1992, Barry Bonds’ last season with the team. After a series of awful drafts (pick any number of first-rounders), lopsided and illogical trades (see Aramis Ramirez and Matt Morris) and bad contracts (Jason Kendall and Kevin Young), the Pirates finally have their blinker on, ready to make a U-turn. Under the leadership of new GM Neal Huntington, there’s hope. Nobody was happy when he traded away popular outfielders Jason Bay and Xavier Nady, but fans are reluctantly starting to understand the new direction.
This team needs to go young, to end the insanity of stop-gap signings.
With Jeff Karstens pitching like an ace and Brandon Moss a capable bat, the Pirates are taking progressive baby steps.
“When I traded (Karstens and Jose Tabata) for Nady and (Damaso) Marte, I had buyer’s remorse,” Yankees GM Brian Cashman said. “That’s how I knew it was a good deal for both teams.”
Footnotes.
Ryan Howard is becoming Edward Scissorhands at first base. He has committed an alarming 14 errors, the most by a Phillie since Dick Allen in 1975. . . . Talking to the Boston Herald, Dodgers pitcher Derek Lowe provided the most candid quote on former and current teammate Manny Ramirez: “He’s about as steady as they come when he wants to play. And clearly, he wants to play right now.” Ramirez went 13-for-23 with four home runs in his first week as a Dodger. . . . One of the best lines from my visit to Coopers- town. Hall of Fame manager Dick Williams on the obsession with stats, including the quality start: six innings, three runs. “I hate it. That’s a 4.50 ERA. I don’t want that guy on my team,” said Williams. Amen. The quality start is to baseball what the 1,000-yard rusher is the NFL. It glorifies mediocrity.
