Remember that kid in the schoolyard who just wouldn't shut up and always got his butt kicked?

You know, that one yappy, unpopular spaz who would constantly try to pick fights with the wrong people. They'd get sent home crying to their mama, but the lesson would never sink in and they'd always come back for more.

That's the Tampa Bay Devil Rays in a nutshell. For whatever reason, once or twice a year, you can count on them to start a fight with the Boston Red Sox.

Gerald Williams takes a swing at Pedro Martinez in 2000.

The first real brawl of note between the two teams came in 2000, when Pedro Martinez hit leadoff hitter Gerald Williams with a pitch, Williams took exception, and the benches emptied. Now I'm not going to pretend that Pedro Martinez doesn't throw at people, but if he's going to do so, it's going to be someone worth risking ejection. Gerald Williams doesn't exactly top that list.

End result? After things calmed down, Martinez retired 24 consecutive batters before finally having his no-hitter broken up in the ninth.

This turned into a pattern, one sure to flare up at least once a year: 1. D-Rays act up; 2. Red Sox promptly remind them of their place in the pecking order.

Like last April 24, at that hallowed baseball shrine known as Tropicana Field, or whatever they're calling it this year. Lance Carter threw a pitch at Manny Ramirez's head in the seventh inning, in a one-run game. The ever-aloof Ramirez pretended it didn't happen and belted the next pitch for a home run. David Ortiz then stepped to the plate and Carter threw at his head. This time, the benches emptied.

(Of course, one could point out that wild Devil Rays pitching isn't exactly limited to games against the Red Sox, and they'd have a point).

Bronson Arroyo then hit the Devil Rays' leadoff batter in the thigh in the bottom of the inning (we'll note again for emphasis, in the legs, not at consecutive batters' heads), which prompted the dugouts to empty yet again.

Then the real beatdown happened in the top of the eighth, as Jay Payton hit a grand slam, Ortiz hit a home run about 12,000 feet, and an 11-3 Red Sox rout was on.

This year, though, the Devil Rays couldn't even wait for the regular season to start. Joey Gathright got mad because of a physical play at the plate and picked a fight with Julian Tavarez, and yes, even in the exhibition season, Tampa still lost in the end.

This is what passes for a ballpark in Tampa/St. Pete.

You can't make this stuff up. If you could make it up, it would be like pro wrestling. But instead of a top good guy and bad guy going against each other, it would be someone like Barry Horowitz calling out Stone Cold Steve Austin or The Rock every single week and getting smacked down every single time, only to come back for more.

The Sox play at Tampa in the final weekend of April. That will probably be the next installment of the "rivalry." They play at Fenway the previous week, but the Devil Rays always behave in Boston for whatever reason. When they play in Tampa, about 80 percent of the crowd are rooting for the Red Sox anyway. Maybe that's what pushes them over the edge.

-- DAVE DOYLE