Finally, a Ray of light in Tampa

Covering baseball for the past eight years, I’ve become rather numb to most of the things I see at the ballpark. Teams win, teams lose, once in a while you’ll see a great performance or some memorable feat, but over the course of 162 games, it’s pretty much standard fare. Last night, however, I saw something special. With their extra-inning win over the Yankees, the Rays moved into sole possession of first place in the American League East. It’s the first time in their 11-year history that the Rays are alone atop the division after the first week of the season. Nobody in the Tampa Bay clubhouse has been in uniform for all 11 years, but listening to Carl Crawford speak after the game, it was hard not to feel great for him. Crawford has been a Ray since 2002, longer than any other player in their clubhouse, and he’s endured more than his share of losing. After all, their 70-92 record and fourth-place finish in 2004 remains the high-water mark in the franchise’s history. So ... [link]