Hey! Don Zimmer Reads ArmchairGM.com!!!

Even after several bumps on the head, Zim can still scout.

Those damn Yankees!

A 'congratulations' is definitely in order. This story looked like it's too good to be true. However, the Rays did it. They've accomplished 3 goals already: making the playoffs, winning the division, and proving the whole world wrong.

The Rays have such a great team, all around. Broadcasters talk about how the Red Sox had to battle with injuries? How about the Rays?
Carl Crawford (out for nearly two months), who came back just in time to celebrate a well earned achievement. He's been on the Rays longer than anyone else, and it's just great to see him finally get the chance to play in the postseason.

Evan Longoria: He was injured from August 8 through September 12. Their leader in batting average (.275), slugging percentage (.540), and OPS (.886) was out, which meant that the Rays had to play without one of their top players and a strong candidate for the gold glove at third base. The Rays didn't even let that bother them. They were such a good team, and just kept on rolling with victories.

Scott Kazmir: Remember his injury back in April? Their ACE: injured... for over a month. They were 15-14 without him. And when he came back, things only got better... mentally and physically.

Any others? I guess you could talk to Stiles about that.

Another great thing about this team is the fact that they all worked cohesively to win this division like they couldn't have done it every, single person who stepped on that diamond every time, whether it was 150+ games (Akinori Iwamura) or 8 games (Dan Johnson). Rocco Baldelli made quite a comeback when he played his first game of his 2008 season on August 10 after Tommy John surgery and battling mitochondrial abnormalities. And check out the team's stats. How can a team this good lead in the batting average at .275? 101 RBI? 14 wins? It's just unbelievable how great this team works together.

If I was a Rays fan, I could not imagine how proud I'd be of this Rays team. It's so great to see from a baseball fan's point of view to see a team with 66-96 record in 2007 do so well in just one year (96-63). Screw reversing their win-loss column... they're going for more wins than games lost in 2007. Unbelievable!

I just wished they had won last night before the Red Sox got clobbered by the Yankees. However, the Rays still earned it.

Oh yeah, and screw Don Zimmer. Fackin' gerbil!

I'm cracking open a dusty bottle of my oldest (and finest) wine from my dwindling collection - a 1998 Chardonnay - this afternoon to commemorate the end of the Rays' first playoff season (they started in 1998, after all) Note: Although the wine is more precious and will taste more exquisite, I'm saving the dusty bottle of Moet for the World Series!