Sun Rays

The Tampa Bay Rays are the darlings of baseball this year. After being a perennial contender for last place in the American League East, the young club is finally making an impact on in MLB. The team has not even had a winning season since their inception in 1998. In fact, the club struggles to go .400 most of the time.

The Rays are bringing contender caliber baseball to Tropicana Field for the first time ever. The domed stadium is finally going to find itself a relevant place to be this summer. MLB tickets will sell like hot cakes as the Rays shock the league day in and day out.

A young offense relying on right fielder Eric Hinske, third baseman Evan Longoria, and first baseman Carlos Pena are providing power for a lineup that cannot hit very well. The one thing the lineup has going for them is speed. Center fielder B.J. Upton, Carl Crawford, and short stop Jason Bartlett are each threats to lead the league in stolen bases.

The real strength of the club is its pitching. Scott Kazmir, James Shield, and Matt Garza are steady as starting pitchers and the bullpen is making sure that the club does not give away any games.

What is shocking is that the pitching has held up in a ballpark with such short corner fences. With the left field corner only 315 feet away and the right field corner 322 feet away, Tropicana Field and the Rays should be the run scoring machine MLB loves.

With the team’s success on the field people might have a reason to buy Rays tickets in the domed Tropicana Field beyond just trying to escape the humidity. The Rays success makes sure that MLB does not regret putting a team in St. Petersburg. Sure Tampa may have the Buccaneers, but the Rays have America’s past time and maybe the World Series.