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Apr. 29--First place!
But they are the Rays.
Playing .560 ball!
Again, they are the Rays.
Out-played the Toronto Blue Jays and Boston Red Sox during the past six games!
Yes, fine, but they are the Rays.
And there lies the challenge for both the Tampa Bay Rays and those who follow the team.
Is their perch atop the American League East this early in the season a signal to finally believe? Or do we steel ourselves for the inevitable, because the good streaks and good times never last long around Tropicana Field?
The play on the field during the first 25 games of the season and the talk in the clubhouse as this current winning streak grew to six suggests yes, jump in with both feet.
History says no, we just ate and need to wait another 30 games.
But a sorry stretch of baseball can be changed. The Atlanta Braves did it. The Cleveland Indians did it. The Minnesota Twins did it. And one way to do it is with good pitching, solid defense and timely hitting, and if you've been paying attention, the Rays' pitching has been outstanding, their defense solid and the hitting good enough.
"I want everyone to know we can compete in this league," James Shields said after his two-hit, complete-game shutout against Boston on Sunday.
The best way to spread that message is to out-pitch Josh Beckett, like Shields did Sunday, or erase a 3-0 hole against Roy Halladay, which the Rays did last week, or win the first two games against Boston with big hits from little players like Nathan Haynes and Akinori Iwamura, which the Rays did Friday and Saturday.
And finally, finished the sweep, which they did Sunday, and which brings us to this:
Is it time?
"The confidence is here," left fielder Carl Crawford said.
When asked, Shields and Crawford agreed Sunday's game in particular and the three-game sweep of Boston in general are a growth spurt in the Rays' development.
"This speaks volumes," Crawford said.
The front office, the players, manager Joe Maddon have all promised better play and better results. So far we are seeing it.
And let's not forget we're seeing it with Carlos Pena in a miserable slump, not much offense from Iwamura and Jason Bartlett, with 10 players sent to the disable list and with not one pitch thrown by Scott Kazmir, last year's American League leader in strikeouts who is scheduled to return to the rotation this weekend in Boston.
In short, no one is having a career year.
Yes, they've opened the season with 17 of their 25 games at home, but the Trop has never offered the Rays much of a dome field advantage.
So, again, we ask: Is it time?
And we ask because we've seen spurts like this before. OK, never tied for first, three games above .500 on April 29 spurt like we've seen now, but we've seen moments where we've said, "Hey, maybe . . . ," only to ask a few days later, "Who were we kidding?"
But if this team is to ever take that step toward a .500 team on its way to a leap to contender, why can't it take place now?
Why can't we be witness to the dawning of a new age of baseball at the Trop? Maddon remembered back to a game in late April of 2002 when David Eckstein hit a game-winning grand slam with two out in the bottom of the 14th inning against Toronto that gave the Los Angeles Angels an 8-5 victory.
"That created energy," said Maddon, a bench coach on that team. "We said, 'Yes we can.' "
The Angels were 9-14 at the time. Three weeks later they were 27-17.
OK, I'm not suggesting the Rays are about to reach the postseason and win the World Series like the Angels did that fall, but I am suggesting the Rays are emerging from the cocoon that wrapped them in last place nine of their first 10 seasons.
The next big step is the nine-game, three-city road trip that begins tonight in Baltimore with a battle for first place. Then it's off to Boston and Toronto.
Keep this momentum on the road, win four, maybe five of the nine games, and I'd say it is time to forget the trepidation brought upon by the first 10 years and look gleefully ahead to this summer.
Why not? The Rays have enough talent to turn the corner.
It could be they are approaching the intersection. Click-click goes the turn signal.
I believe it is safe to enter the water.
Roger Mooney, sports writer, can be reached at 745-7080, ext. 2112.
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