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Finally, A Team To Be Excited About

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: May 13, 2008

The 162-game Major League Baseball season isn't even a quarter over yet, so a team that has won five more games than it has lost shouldn't start printing World Series tickets yet.

But when that team is the Tampa Bay Rays, 21-16 before Monday night's game against the New York Yankees, fans have every right to be excited. The American League's perennial doormat seems to have finally turned the corner.

Sunday's victory over the Angels at Tropicana Field capped a three-game sweep and sent the Rays into new territory. In its 11-year history, the team has never been five games over .500. And it was the ninth consecutive home win, including three earlier this month at Disney, which is a club record.

The Rays have never had a winning season, so these steps are encouraging.

The team is winning with outstanding pitching and excellent defense, the cornerstones of any playoff contender. And just as important is the team's competitiveness - the players don't believe they're ever out of a game.

Fans have caught the spirit, too, as sports talk radio shows were abuzz about the Rays Monday, which was refreshing considering the team usually has been well out of contention by this time.

Watching the Rays shred their losing image recalls those heady days when the Tampa Bay Bucs starting winning consistently. It has taken a long time, but the region's baseball fans finally have a home team to cheer about.

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