Top Ten Tips for the Rays by Rays

From the start of the 2008 season the Tampa Bay Rays have been tested and now, for the first time, they have won a playoff series. The Rays started in spring training and now in the post season they have two more points teams to pass through and their accomplishments will live on infinitely. It has been a while since a Ray has captivated our collective attention, but their have been several through out the years, both positive and negative (liberal spelling). For these Rays to be successful they need to learn these Top 10 lessons taught by other Rays:

10. Billy Ray Cyrus: You don't need to be the most talented to reach the pinnacle. Listen up Dioner Navarro and Manny Aybar, you guys may have been undrafted, but that doesn't mean you can't shine. One hit (or defensive play) can turn you into a hero/trivia answer. Billy also showed all the Rays of the world that Jonathan Papelbon isn't the only one that can look like an idiot dancing on a big stage. If the Rays are successful hopefully they'll be able to avoid exploiting their offspring, but it's always an option.

9. Ray Bradbury: "Don't think. Thinking is the enemy of creativity. It's self-conscious, and anything self-conscious is lousy. You can't try to do things. You simply must do things." In other words, don't be this guy:

8. Ray Liotta: Don't waste this opportunity. Liotta was reportedly offered the role of Tony Soprano, but he chose to pass to focus on movies. The Sopranos debuted in 1999 and that same year Liotta was appearing as "cop" in Muppets from Space. He would go on to do things such as voicing video games and a movie about insects. Of course, Liotta did rebound with a movie starring Tim Allen and Martin Lawrence. You never know when you'll get another shot at greatness. Alternate advice from Mr. Liotta: Actors could be in your luxury box stealing your wives.

7. Rachel Ray: Do it for the fans. In a 2006 interview with Entertainment Weekly, she was asked, "Do you ever worry that there can only be so much happiness in the universe, and that every time you smile, a Red Sox fan gets punched in the face?" and her response was, "I would smile all day long, every day, if it guaranteed a Red Sox fan getting punched in the face. I find them really annoying, especially the ones with the pink hats." So... I may have substituted "Red Sox fan" in for unicorn, but I still feel it's a cause we can all unite behind.

6. Ray Parker Jr: You can get to number one by copying someone else. People didn't care that Parker had copied Huey Lewis and the News's "I Want a New Drug." Similarly, no one is mad at the Rays for using the cliche formula of good pitching and defense combined with timely hitting. The story of the Rays rise has been seen before. Entering the 1969 season the Mets were a young expansion team that had never won more than 73 games and were dismissed by most entering the season. Led by solid pitching New York won the division and went on to face the Braves for the pennant. Despite having a better record the Mets were considered underdogs. New York swept the series and went on to face the Orioles in the World Series. Baltimore, an AL East team, was loaded with stars that had already won a World Series in 1966. This year's Rays will meet Boston in the ALCS not the World Series, but the parallels remain. Unlike Ray Parker, if they can copy the Mets they won't end up paying a financial settlement, but with World Series rings.

5. Ray Nagin: "Make sure you are a very mobile person." The Rays led MLB in stolen bases this season with 142. Continued success will be dependent on continuing to do what got them to the playoffs and this means continuing to put pressure on other teams while on the base paths. Sorry, you'll have to make your own Chocolate City jokes.

4. Ray Kinsella: If you build it, they will come. The proposed design for their new stadium looked incredible, but progress keeps grinding to a halt. The team will never have more leverage than they do now and Tropicana field has to go.  "People will come Rays."

If not in Tampa (or Iowa), maybe in Charlotte?

3. Ray J: Video replay can be your friend. Althought the first ever use of instant replay appeared to have been misinterpreted against the Rays, the use in the playoffs stands to be a plus. No team should worry about getting Jeffrey Mayered thanks to the recent inclusion of video replay for home run calls. Had Ray J's greatest accomplishment not been on tape, his career never would have take off. 

2. Ray Charles: "[Green] it's what I think I want to be." With less than a quarter of the Rays roster having any playoff experience many people have suggested this lack of post-season play will be the Rays downfall. So far, however, the Rays seem to be the only team that are actually having fun in the playoffs (with one notable exception to the west). While other teams seem tense, the Rays have played loose and it showed against Chicago. Experience has some value in the post-season, but as Mr. Charles suggests, "green can be big like an ocean, or important like a mountain, or tall like a tree." Green is the color of spring, but the Rays have a chance to prove it can be the color of fall as well.

1. Ray Mancini: You may get rocked early, but continue to throw. In his 1982 fight against lightweight champion Arturo Frias, Mancini was shaken by an early left hook. He fought through it and quickly gained control of the match. During the regular season the Rays were able to do just that, having a league leading eleven walk-off victories and 41 come-from-behind wins. For the Rays to be successful against Boston and beyond, they likely will need to follow Boom Boom's example. 

No Reds and no more Griffey = Go Rays!

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Rays, Poked With Sticks Before and During Season, Respond

The success of the Tampa Bay (Devil) Rays can be attributed to many factors. There is the bevy of young talent with including Evan Longoria, B.J. Upton, Scott Kazmir and more. The dazzling Rays pitching led by Andy Sonnanstine, Matt Garza, and Jamie Shields has them in the upper tier in virtually every pitching category.

Whatever reason you point to the Rays are atop the American League East, 4 games ahead of Boston and 6 ahead in the loss column. Although we have yet to pass the All-Star break, it appears that this team is for real. With the best record in the majors, it will be a far fall if they fail to clinch a playoff spot in October. A far fall but far from unthinkable. The Red Sox and Yankees are pursuing them and will not go quietly. The Rays were looked at in spring as a feel-good story to come in 2008. The analysts thought they would be much improved, but not up to par with New York and Boston. It appears that the teams agreed with the analysts. In separate incidents, both the Yankees and the Sox thought they could bully the Rays around, and it led to the galvanizing of a team, a shared purpose, and a hardened psyche.

The first incident occurred in Spring Training. On March 8 this year, Elliot Johnson, who is currently 7-19 with 7 strikeouts, ran headlong into Yankees catcher Francisco Cervelli on his way to scoring in a 4-1 Rays win. Cervelli broke his right wrist and Girardi, a former catcher himself, stated his irritation that another team would play hard in spring.

"I think it's uncalled for," Girardi said. "Spring training, you're going to get people hurt, and that's what we got, we got Cervelli hurt. It's one thing to get hit by a pitch, it gets away, but, I don't understand it."

Johnson said he was merely trying to do his job and even offered his concern on Cervelli’s well being. But this was not good enough for Girardi and company. Four days later, Shelly Duncan who is currently batting .175, slid into second base with spikes up into the leg of Akinori Iwamuri. It did not take Jonny Gomes long to respond; Gomes came rushing at full speed into the infield and both benches were cleared afterwards.

Joe Maddon, who had refused comment after the Johnson play at home, angrily stated his contempt for what happened, "In Tampa, that play you saw at home plate was a good, hard baseball play. What you saw today was the definition of a dirty play, there's no room for that in our game. It's contemptible. It's wrong. It's borderline criminal, and I could not believe they did that."

He added later, "When we go out and play the Yankees the next time, we're going to play it hard and play it right. Period. That's how we come to the ballpark every day."

The brawl ignited the fire for the young Rays and set the tone for the season. They took on the attitude of questioning why they should simply lay down and let the Red Sox and Yankees run away with the division. If they played the right way, and gave the effort they could shut them up.

The Red Sox would stir the pot next. On June 5^th, Coco Crisp charged the mound after he was plunked by Jamie Shields. A wild melee ensued and again Jonny Gomes was at the forefront, rushing to aid his pitcher. It would be Shields, however with the most pointed words of the day, saying “"I protected my own players and that's what we need to do around here. We've been getting stomped around the last 10 years and it isn't going to happen anymore. I had to let them know early and let them know right away."

Even though the Red Sox swept the series, the tone was set, the Rays were mad as hell, and they were not going to take it anymore. The Rays kept winning after the series, going 14-7 until the Sox came back to town on June 30^th. This time the Rays did the sweeping in front of a full crowd at the Trop. It was the middle of their 7 game win streak in which they overtook first in the AL East that was snapped last night versus the Royals.

The biggest moment to be taken from the Rays win streak was the final game at the Trop against Boston. After Dan Wheeler recorded the save he and catcher Dioner Navarro celebrated the come-from-behind win over the division rivals, there was a different enthusiasm in the teams hand slaps. What had before been youthful exuberance was now forming into belief.

The Rays open a quick two game stint with the Yankees tonight followed by four games at the Jake in Cleveland that lead into the All-Star break. With a 24-15 record against the division, the Yanks and Sox have taken notice, or at least they better because the Rays have the confidence, the purpose, and more importantly the talent to win the division.

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