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The Weekend Buzz while you were kicking off the summer blockbuster season at Iron Man:
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| The breakout Rays are battling for the AL East lead. (Getty Images) |
For much of their regular-season history, the Marlins (first in the NL East entering this week) and Rays (who dropped into second in the AL East behind Boston on Sunday) have sadly -- and often comically -- been left for dead, like one of those colorful Hiassen characters found murdered with a toy rubber alligator lodged in his throat.
The Marlins, remember, are the only team in big league history to have two World Series titles and zero regular-season divisional championships on their resume.
And the Rays' history is far bleaker, so much so that when they woke up Saturday morning in St. Louis, they were eight games over .500 for the first time ever.
The Rays have been so preposterously bad for so long that even their vanquished opponents this season are having a difficult time withholding enthusiasm for the job manager Joe Maddon, All-Star Carl Crawford (the longest-tenured Ray in club history), slugger Carlos Pena, rookie Evan Longoria and a revamped pitching staff have been doing.
"I think it's good for the game that a team from a smaller market full of young players is not only winning, but is so talented," Angels outfielder Gary Matthews Jr. was saying the other day -- after the Rays swept Los Angeles in three games last weekend. "They're fun to watch.
"By having that, you get a younger fan base, too. Junior high kids identify with them because there's not that much of an age difference."
If the Rays keep going like this, they're going to teach those junior high kids some history, too. At 25-17 before Saturday's loss in St. Louis, Tampa Bay had the American League's best record. No AL team had compiled the league's worst record the previous season and held the best record as late as May 17 the next since the 1937 Philadelphia Athletics.
The Rays, in fact, had not been eight games over .500 in their history. As of Monday, they will have been better than .500 for 24 consecutive days and 29 days for the season, both club records. If it didn't begin with the April 12 arrival of Longoria, his presence sure hasn't hurt: The Rays are 23-11 since he joined them.
"I'm kind of happy to see them going," Angels outfielder Torii Hunter said. "People have talked about them so much in the past, 'Rays this' and 'Rays that,' making fun of them."
Hunter caught himself and chuckled, adding, "They're not in our division, so (praising them) doesn't matter."
The Rays' success -- so far -- has been predicated on exciting young position players and vastly improved pitching. To say the difference between Tampa Bay's pitching this year and in past years is like a whale is to a carp might be understating things.
