Rays of hope

The New York Yankees are dead and buried in gold coffins.

They are toast. Burnt toast.

If Steinbrenner’s mercenaries hope to make the playoffs, they need to take a trip to St. Faustina’s tomb at the Shrine of The Divine Mercy and pray for a miracle.

On the other glove, over in the worst stadium in the bigs, Tropicana aka the Can, Tampa Bay is shining brightly. The Can is where I saw Eric Clapton blow away people’s minds. Now the Rays are blowing away people’s minds.

Who woulda thunk it? What in the wide wide world of sports is going on when TB is over NY in the AL East heading to the stretch?

The Bombers have made the playoffs 13 seasons in a row. The Devil Rays never even sniffed the playoffs in their lousy ten year existence. They have averaged a whopping 34 games behind the AL east divisional leader and never won more than 70 games. Their best season would be the worst for some teams.

Now the Rays in their very first year with a new moniker are positioned for postseason prosperity.

And I know why Tampa Bay is finally doing well. It’s simple.

It’s not all the top draft picks they got from finishing last every year, young talent who blossomed into stars or the manager Joe Madden, a lock for manager of the year, who has them playing up to their vast potential. It’s not the general manager Andrew Friedman who managed to accumulate a pitching staff better than the Yanks. Yep, the Bay have the second best team earned run average in the majors at 3.72 compared to the Pinstripers 19th rated 4.34.

Come on, boys, let’s get serious. Who really thought Sydney Ponson would come to rescue Brian Cashman? Perhaps a science fiction writer and I assume Cashman. Ya think the Yankees wish they had Johan Santana now?

But it’s not pitching. And it’s not A-Rod’s flop this season. True, Jose Guillen has driven in more runs than the $250 million man and he is batting .246 with runners in scoring position with 40 hit-into-double-plays. Rally killer is not a nice nickname. But Madonna’s friend is otherwise having a fine season with better numbers than any Ray regular.

The reason for TB’s turnaround is simple, stemming from 1997 when Tampa Bay was searching for a team name. I actually came up with Rays back then as did others, but Devil Rays was selected instead. Right off, I (along with others) knew that was bad mojo. Using the word devil was an instant curse. Boston and Chicago with the Curse of the Bambino and Curse of the Billy Goat got theirs the old fashioned way: they earned it. Tampa Bay was born cursed. Removing the Devil from the name saved the franchise.

Speaking of curses, didn’t Dodger manager Joe Torre hear about Samson and Delilah? Obviously not. After the Red Sox shipped Manny Rameriz to LaLaLand, he tore up the National League with his dreadlocks flying around the bases. Then Torre told Manny to shear his locks. That decision alone caused the Dodgers to go into a tailspin and they won only 4 of their next 12 games. Manny’s batting average dropped farther than his hair, two hundred points. Memo to Joe: “Those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it.” Manny should have played for Winston Churchill.

The Manny gave the Dodgers good reason for hope. If his hair grows back fast enough, then the Dodgers can still get to the playoffs.

Tampa Bay should reach the playoffs but I have no great expectations, just enjoying the moment. Which reminds me of a quote from Green Bay Packer quarterback Aaron Rodgers, who I am sure got it from somebody: “You’d like to say that yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery and today is a gift. That is why they call it the present.”

The Rays are the present while the Yankees are history and that should not be a mystery.

Baseball fans, we had an exorcism this year. We got rid of the Devil.