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Dream Season Is Done, But Memories Will Last

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 31, 2008

Tom Hanks' character in the hit women's baseball movie "A League Of Their Own" was right - there's no crying in baseball. But Tampa Bay Rays fans who shed a tear or two after the team lost the World Series have nothing to be ashamed about.

When a perennial cellar-dweller clinches a winning season, you begin to dream. The playoffs, perhaps?

When the division is won and the playoffs secured, the hunger grows: The American League pennant, perhaps?

And when that flag is secured, punching your team's ticket to the World Series, anything seems possible, even probable.

That was the Rays - the amazing Rays - in 2008. From worst to second in all of Major League Baseball. It was a stunning achievement that filled the region with joy during a time of political uncertainty and economic pain.

People don't usually remember who lost the World Series, but we will never forget.

For many of us, the 2008 Rays rekindled the passion we felt when we were still putting on cleats and sleeping with our gloves, when day games were the norm and television was a partner, not a corporate dictator. So it's OK to feel a bit blue today, now that the dream season is over.

MLB records will show the Philadelphia Phillies beat the Rays 4 games to 1 for the world championship. It's too bad the Rays didn't look like their young selves during the Series. Too often their pitchers got lit up, their hitters didn't hit and their defense made errors, no matter the blown calls by umpires.

Perhaps the team spent its magic in defeating the Boston Red Sox during a thrilling seven-game AL Championship Series. But then consider, three of the Phillies' four wins were one-run nail-biters, including the clincher Wednesday night.

So now we look to the offseason. The team needs a closer and an everyday right-fielder. It's up to principal owner Stuart Sternberg and his executives to find those pieces. But considering how they built this AL championship team, we have confidence they will.

The Rays' heart-stopping season came up short, but this young team will be back.

And so it is with unprecedented optimism that we say, wait until next year.

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