John Beamer, a Boston-based management consultant, writes about the economics of baseball for The Hardball Times, an online baseball magazine (hardballtimes .com). Beamer recently answered a Tribune reporter's questions about the value of the Tampa Bay Rays, now that they have achieved a winning season, and how major league teams are valued overall. ...more

September 6, 2008

Welcome to a very different September. Welcome to the first meaningful stretch run in Rays' franchise history. It's a real, live pennant race. ...more

September 2, 2008

For the Rays, it's 33 games to go. It's time to start deciding the American League East championship, and an important stretch opens tonight, when the Toronto Blue Jays arrive at Tropicana Field to begin Tampa Bay's nine-game homestand. ...more

August 26, 2008

For months, he drew thousands of people to Lakeland for a religious revival that got international attention. ...more

August 17, 2008

For months, he drew thousands of people to Lakeland for a religious revival that got international attention. ...more

August 16, 2008

Todd Bentley, the pierced, tattooed, T-shirted evangelist who has drawn thousands of people and brought international attention to revivals in Lakeland, will end his stint this weekend. ...more

August 13, 2008

Todd Bentley, the pierced, tattooed, T-shirted evangelist who has drawn thousands of people and brought international attention to revivals in Lakeland, will end his stint this weekend in Lakeland. ...more

August 12, 2008

They're the last-place Cleveland Indians to the rest of the American League, but to the Rays, they're the Buzz Killers. ...more

August 5, 2008

Ryan Raburn may be playing an unfamiliar role, but it's something he gladly will take right now. ...more

August 4, 2008

Leave it to this team, this amazing team, to make a poster boy - and victory - out of thin air. ...more

August 4, 2008