Believing in the Rays

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It's April 28 and the Tampa Bay Rays are in first place. They
were waving brooms on Sunday to celebrate a sweep of the Red
Sox. Hell hasn't frozen over nor have any pigs flown by my
window so what's to explain this never before seen phenomenon?
It's pretty simple, actually, they're a good baseball team.

Too young to compete in '08 was the conventional wisdom but it
hasn't played out that way. 15 games into his career, Evan
Longoria looks every bit the big hitter and team leader the hype
suggested. Assuming Carlos Pena starts hitting, the lineup
doesn't have any massive holes and they've become a good
fielding team. That's underrated and a big reason why the
pitching staff's taken a leap forward.

Scott Kazmir makes his first start this weekend but his absence
hasn't stopped the rotation from getting off to a solid start.
James Shields dominated the Red Sox yesterday to cap the sweep
and they're getting strong turns nearly every night. And the
bullpen, where so many Rays games went to die in the past, has
been almost perfect. From the seventh inning on, the Rays have
an ERA of 1.73 which means you're going to win some close games.

Tampa's always been disappointing because their ifs never came
true. That's what's happened this April and, for the first time,
there's reason to be excited about May and beyond. That's a big
step for the franchise and a story worth watching as the season
progresses.