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by Digger

American League East 2008 was to showcase the World Champion Boston Red Sox vs arch rival and public enemy #1 New York Yankees. Not many experts were expecting more than a two team battle for first place between these storied franchises. And then...........

The Tampa Bay Rays (51-32) began 2008 struggling out of the gate. After an early April four game losing streak most figured Tampa was in for another long season. In Tampa's 10 completed season history, this franchise has never finished with a winning percentage higher than .435 (70-92).

Suddenly, on April 22nd, Tampa swept division rivals Toronto and Boston at home. Their record stood at 14-11 and teams were beginning to take notice. Winning 8 of 9 in early May, including 3 of 4 from New York, declared to the baseball world this team was and is for real.

As of today, Tampa has the best record in all of baseball (51-32) after knocking off Boston in back to back games. Their AL East lead now stands at 2 1/2 games and counting. Watching Manager Joe Maddon's club play ball has been inspiring. Maddon's club plays baseball the way it was meant to be played. Patient and productive hitting, clutch pitching, solid fielding and aggressive base running have been instrumental and confidence building as these young Rays continue to roll.

What is their daily secret? Seems pretty evident to me. Most players are home grown talent or were brought in via trades. They're young, determined and unfazed by their opponents huge salaried lineups. They steal, bunt, hit and run, willing to make quality outs advancing runners, hit plenty of singles without trying for home runs in key situations. On the hill, pitchers are throwing strikes and staying ahead in counts. Defenders are properly anticipating plays before they happen and hustle after everything on the field. A complete opposite of what is transpiring in New York where a bunch of prima donna multi-millionaire players continuously swing for the fences or botch easy grounders game after game.

The baseball world, especially the higher salaried teams, should be paying better attention and use Tampa's 2008 model as a blue print for success. Most recent young winning teams have all used this formula. Somehow, this model seems to have slipped away from veterans earning the big bucks... almost as if they have nothing left to prove once big money starts rolling in.

Unfortunately, most Rays will be left off this seasons American League All Star roster depriving fans of yet to be household names. Believe it or not, this makes perfect sense. Tampa is a "team" where all players contribute daily. When one fails, there's another waiting to pick up the slack. Bartlett, Aybar, Longoria, Iwamura out performing Rodriguez, Jeter, Giambi, Cano? Perhaps not as individuals statistically... however, by far where it matters most. To the tune of a 7 1/2 game lead in AL East.

To catch Rays games live, fans will have to find ways via MLBTV, satellite, ESPN games of the week or when they play your local big league club. I'm sure the Rays would all say the best way to watch their games will be to wait for October's Playoffs!

It's been said "baseball is a funny game"... how funny would it be if the 2008 World Series teams are Tampa Bay Rays vs Chicago Cubs?

Buckle up fans...... baseball's wild ride has just begun... another half season of baseball yet to be played.