Rays making me a believer

Raise your hand if, at the beginning of the season, you expected to see a Tampa Bay-Philadelphia World Series at the beginning of the season.

Odds makers in Las Vegas in March had the spread at 100-to-1 for the Rays just making the series. In mid-October, the Rays are just one win away from the unthinkable.

  Ever since their inception in 1998, the Rays have finished last in the American League East standings, a division traditionally owned by the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees - until now.

Tampa was the root all the baseball jokes and has often knocked out of the playoff race by late June.

Just last season, the Rays compiled the worst record in all of baseball at 66-96. Fast-forward to this year and something magnificent is happening.

It's the modern-day version of the movie "Major League," in which a small-market team has a bunch of young, no-name players who surmount the insurmountable to win the American League pennant.

This story fascinates me.

I'm one to always pull for the underdog, unless that team is playing one that I cheer for. I don't care too much about ratings or about how good or bad a game is made for television.

I know one thing - when Fox shows a Rays-Phillies World Series, I will be glued to the television set.

Tampa Bay went from 66 wins to 97 in one year. It went from being a cellar-dwellar to going head-to-head with New York and Boston.

In August when it looked like Tampa Bay might falter after injuries to third baseman Evan Longoria, outfielder Carl Crawford and pitcher Scott Kazmir, it seemed as though every media member turned its back on the gritty Rays.

The Rays don't have a payroll of $200 million like those larger market teams.

They do it the right way by developing a strong minor-league program and drafting talent every June. They have no true superstar or free-agent acquisition. It is just a bunch of young players who play hard every game and don't put themselves first.

Tampa Bay has found a way that not many teams have, quieting the fans at historic Fenway Park in Boston.

Later tonight, the Rays will attempt to defeat the defending World Series Champions in Boston for the third consecutive game.

The Rays have not only beaten the Red Sox but pummeled them 22-5 over the last two games.

"We know the mystique around Fenway Park," Carlos Pena, Tampa Bay's first baseman said following the 13-4 win Tuesday. "We know how much history is here. We know how intense the fans are. To be able to come out and win and hear some silence -- because it's usually incredibly loud - it means we're doing something right."

Pena, who has the most MLB experience for the Rays, belted 31 home runs during the regular season. During the American League Championship Series, the 10-year veteran is batting .333 with two home runs.

Speedy Carl Crawford and Willy Aybar are both hitting .500 against Boston, while Evan Longoria and B.J. Upton have combined for five home runs.

Sure, the Red Sox overcame a 3-1 deficit to Cleveland last year and won a series against the Yankees in 2004 after falling behind 3-0. But this year feels different.

It's a feeling that something special is happening.

Adam Thompson can be reached at (252) 635-5670 or at athompson@freedomenc.com.