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Three Cheers For Rays

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 21, 2008

The ascendance of the Tampa Bay Rays to the World Series is a blessing for baseball that should thrill every fan of this great sport. It proves that miracles can happen, and the teams which attempt to buy their way into a championship every year will not succeed 100 percent of the time.

No member of the Rays will ever need to visit a soup kitchen, but the team's 2008 payroll of $43.4 million is peanuts relatively speaking, the second-lowest in baseball, the amount of money that some teams spend for the three top-paid players on their rosters.

The Rays have previously done poorly, but this year, they have exploded in an amazing demonstration of skill, heart, and grit, separating the men from the boys after a grueling 162 games in the regular season. The Rays have shown what one can do when a team of hungry young players, a superb manager and a skilled off-field management team is assembled, and they give hope to perennial losers like my beloved Pittsburgh Pirates that someday, with hard work and the right managerial moves, they, too, could succeed.

Whether or not they win the World Series, the Rays have done so much for professional baseball and shall always be considered champions in the hearts of the fans. Three cheers for everyone associated with this outstanding ballclub.

OREN M. SPIEGLER

Upper Saint Clair, Penn.

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