 AGAINST ALL ODDS
Do you know what the odds were for the Tampa Bay Rays to win the World Series prior to the start of the season?
200 to 1.
That means if the Rays continue their Cinderella run and win their first championship in the next two weeks a measly $10 bet would have earned you 200 one dollar bills. A gutsy $100 wager would have yielded $2,000. But if you had thrown down an absolutely out of your mind $1,000 on the Rays to win it all, you could have 20 grand of winnings in your pocket.
But seriously, someone would have been considered mentally unstable to bet a cool grand or even 10 bucks on one of the MLB's most losingest franchises.
Since Tampa Bay’s inception in 1998, the club had never won more than 70 games, never finished within 21 games of a .500 record and never seen higher than 4th place in the American League East standings. And the season they mustered out that 4th place finish (2004) was the only time the Devil Rays had found their head above the cellar door.
Plugged into a powerhouse division dominated by the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox, postseason hopes were bleak for the American League’s most recent expansion franchise year in and year out.
But then they decided to part ways with Satan. The team formerly known as the Tampa Bay Devil Rays lost the Lucifer moniker and simply became the Tampa Bay Rays.
The cleansing produced heavenly results.
Now don't get me wrong, this team had potential prior to this season. It presented a stockpile of young talent and pundits predicted there would eventually be a fruitful period for the franchise.
Players like Carl Crawford, Carlos Pena and B.J. Upton were blossoming phenoms ready to explode. And the pitching staff pieced together through trades and drafts that included Scott Kazmir, Jamie Shields and Matt Garza was becoming more and more formidable. Third baseman and soon to be Rookie of the Year Evan Longoria, at 23 years of age, has been smashing the ball all over the yard and flashing some pristine leather at the hot corner. And in May the team brought up their #1 overall draft pick, David Price out of Vanderbilt, who is already being talked about as one of the best up-and-coming southpaws in the game.
It was undeniable the Rays had a future but expectations remained in check. And then on June 29, those were tossed out the window.
The Rays won their 49th game of the season that day and took over the first place spot in the AL East standings, only to relinquish that holding for two games the remainder of the year. The club won 97 games and boasted the best overall record in baseball with a .599 winning percentage.
Okay, so now it is time to give these Rays some much-deserved respect, right?
While they were favored to win the ALDS against the White Sox (and did in four games), their odds to win the ALCS and World Series were posted at +135 and +275, respectively.
But odds quickly plummeted as Tampa Bay made quick work of Boston and positioned themselves into a 3-1 series lead. Game 5 at Fenway didn’t begin well for the Nation either, falling behind to the Rays 7-0 with seven outs to play with.
And then the Destiny plopped herself back on the BoSox bench, for the third time in three years.
In 2004, Boston stormed back from a 3-1 series deficit to defeat the Yankees and went on to win their first World Series in 86 years. Last year the Red Sox were again down three games to one, this time at the hands of the Cleveland Indians, only to make another miraculous rebound to win the ALCS and eventually the October Classic.
Then the Sox only needed seven outs to score eight runs and send the 2008 championship series back to Tampa Bay for a Game 6. Yes, it looked like Destiny had cemented herself in the same spot as she did in ’04 and ’07 and wasn’t budging.
The following ballgame was taken by whom else but the Red Sox and EVERYONE claimed the series was over. Boston would undoubtedly prevail in the final showdown and greet the Phillies for Game 1 in the cozy confines of Fenway.
With Jon Lester on the mound, Boston was even favored in Game 7 on Sunday night in Tampa.
But third-year gunsligner Garza fanned nine Red Stockings and gave up one run in seven innings on only a pair of hits. And no other than the Rays rookie sensation David Price was called on to close out the game, which he did in fine fashion with a trio of strikeouts in 1.1 innings.
So now we have the two teams nobody said would get to the Series because MLB and partners would “fix it” to have the two largest market teams (Red Sox, Dodgers) for optimal TV ratings. But sometimes those greedy networks don’t get want they want.
The 2008 World Series should be an incredible round of baseball games. The Phillies will be hungry, having only won a single championship for the City of Brotherly Love back in 1980. But are the Tampa Bay Rays finally receiving the respect they have earned?
Opening odds in Vegas had Tampa Bay favored at -140.
Now we can sit back and see if devil-less Rays can remove the glass slippers and become recognized as a championship team. |
