May 4th 2008 8:35PM by Yankees Chick
Unlike the other teams that joined the league in the 90’s when the league expanded (twice), the Rays haven’t seen much success in their short lifetime (and by “much” I mean “any. At all.”). The Marlins have won the World Series twice, the D-Backs once, and even the Rockies found a way to weasel their way into a World Series. The Rays, on the other hand, have never won more than seventy games (a feat that happened just once, back in 2004) and the .500 mark has been nothing more than a silly wish year after year.

At the start of every season, most teams share a common goal: play well, win games, and get to the playoffs. Not the Rays, though. They dream not of World Series rings but of a winning season and the pride of joining the other teams in the “.500 club.”

Could it finally be their time? It certainly look like a possibility. They got through April with a .500+ winning percentage (they’re 16-15 as of today), and they are in the top half of the league in runs scored, batting average, OPS, home runs, ERA and wins. They may not be at the TOP of any of those categories, but the fact that they are performing above-average in all of those areas bodes. What’s more, while they may not have the flashiest roster in the league, they’ve got an exciting young core (not a single position player is over 30) that is showing spunk enough to hang on and win games.

If only they didn’t have to play an unbalanced schedule against their AL East counterparts…