Booyah, my mistake on the Rays home record. You make a great point, there are plenty of other teams with subpar road records, and I may be wrong to count the Rays road record against them. To be clear, I think they get to the playoffs but I don’t think they are ready to make it to the World Series. I would love to be wrong about this. While it is often over-rated, experience is still important and something which the Rays lack.

Read through some of my old posts and I give full credit to the starting pitching, defense and improved bullpen for the Rays success. (that hitting on the other hand…)

Anyway, my point is that sometimes you have to separate your support for a team from your objective analysis of a team (although as you pointed out there are flaws in my analysis).

First of all, the Rays home record is 39-15, not 41-15.

And how are they NOT a serious playoff contender? They are six games below .500 on the road. The Red Sox are 10 games below .500 on the road at 22-32. In fact, the only team in the AL East that has a decent road record are the Yanks, and they are just .500 on the road.

Other teams “in contention” near the 100-game mark are the White Sox leading the AL Central, but five games below .500 on the road. The Twins are a half game behind the ChiSox, but are four games below .500 on the road.

The Mets and Phillies are tied for the NL East lead. The Mets are three games below .500 on the road, and the Phillies are three games over.

The Cubs, leading the NL Central, are eight games below .500 on the road.

Only the Angels have a decent road record … they are 13 games above .500. But at home, they are only eight games above while the Rays are 24 games above .500 at home.

So I’m sorry, but your analysis makes little sense.

Also, why would the Rays not “deserve” to be in first place? Before their seven-game slide, they never lost more than four in a row. They have won far more series than they have lost, and they have pitched nine shutouts.

But yet, you’re saying it’s because the Red Sox are playing badly that the Rays are doing so well? What kind of a mentality is that? Why can’t it be that the Rays can lose seven in a row, and not only NOT be out of the running, but still in the lead?

Do you know that the Rays are just eight wins away from matching their win total from last year? They likely will hit it with at least 50 games remaining in the season, and unless they lose 50 in a row, they’ll likely have their best record ever.

They are 12 wins from matching a franchise best.

Yet you make it seem like it was pure luck that put the Rays where they are now, instead of talent and chemistry.

This reminds me of listening to sports commentators talking about the Buccaneers. When an opponent would only score a field goal and nothing else, they would say that the team’s offense just had a bad game … instead of crediting the Buc’s defense.

The Rays deserve to be where they are. Despite that seven-game losing streak (which ALL teams — even the BEST ONES — get AND MORE SOMETIMES), the Rays have the second-best record in the league, behind only the Angels (and then behind them by 1.5 games.

Our local team is just a game and a half behind the best record in baseball two games shy of the 100-game mark … and you’re questioning this team’s ability to move on? You’re sitting here, as a “fan,” telling us that the only reason why they are where they are is because of the misfortune of others instead of because they are playing well?

Sure, they have a LOT of room to improve … and maybe they’ll run out of steam before the post-season and not make it in. But right now, I believe … and until they give me reason otherwise, I will continue to believe.

And maybe you should, too.

Boy, it’d be nice if the rest of Tampa Bay were included. Or does the lease render the rest of the market outside the city limits of St. Petersburg moot?