Tampa Bay Rays: This year Tampa Bay decided to drop the “Devil” from their name and it appears to be doing wonders. Tampa Bay used to be the laughing stock of baseball, they were almost a lock to lose 100 games and finish last in the American League East. That has all changed. Tampa is currently 17 games above .500, first place in the American League East and holds the best record in the Majors.
Josh Hamilton: With the first overall pick in the 1999 Major League Baseball Draft, the Tampa Bay Devil Rays selected high school phenom Josh Hamilton. Hamilton had amazing potential and was seen as a great prospect and a future star. The only thing holding him back was a drug and alcohol addiction that resulted in many fines and suspensions from the league. Josh’s problems with drugs and alcohol have been very well documented. Hamilton entered rehab and has been clean since October 6, 2005. Josh now speaks to groups and fans at different functions and is very open about his story so that others do not fall into the same troubles. Josh is an outfielder with the Texas Rangers who is currently hitting .309 with 19 home runs and 78 RBI’s.
John Lester: Lester survived a rare form of blood cancer (lymphoma) last year. He then came back to help the Red Sox win the World Series and was the winning pitcher in the decisive game. Lester continues his remarkable recovery from cancer as he no-hit the Kansas City Royals on May 19th of this year and is currently 6-3 with an era of 3.48
Ken Griffey Junior: It was a special moment to see the kid finally hit home run number 600. Griffey was one of everyone’s favorite players as he was the face of major league baseball for much of the 90’s despite not playing in a big market. Everyone enjoyed watching the young prodigy as we were all mesmerized by his natural talent and his passion for the game. It was sad to see him spend so much time on the disabled list because we all know how much potential he had and everyone wonders how many home runs he could have hit. Forgetting about the injuries for a moment, it was great to see him hit 600 and join the elite group.
Doug Davis: On March 28, 2008 Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher Doug Davis was diagnosed with thyroid cancer. He had surgery to remove his thyroid on April 10th and underwent weeks of therapy to remove any remaining cancer. On May 9th it was announced that he was no cancer free. With his father in the stands, Doug returned to the Diamondbacks rotation on May 23, 2008 against the Atlanta Braves. He pitched seven innings, allowing only one run and striking out five in an 11-1 win for Arizona.
Troy Percival: Percival is a closer who spent the majority of his career with the Angels. He retired in 2005 and was signed as a special assistant pitching instructor for their farm system. He requested to be released from this contract as he wanted to attempt to make a comeback to the majors. Last year, he signed with the Cardinals and struck out the first batter he faced. He also recorded the win in that appearance. In 2008 he signed with the Rays and is currently the closer. In his first appearance he recorded a save for the first time in two years. He currently has 19 saves in 21 opportunities.
one of the things that i came to admire about ken griffey jr. was that his name was never linked to steroids and he took less money to stay with the reds in a greed dominated sportsworld.
great point danasu. The fact that Griffey has never been linked to steroids makes his achievement even more remarkable. Considering how every star these days seems to be under the su####ion of cheating.
Nice selection of feel good stories oaklandathleticsfan!
Can't argue with any of them but I'd like to think the low payroll teams beyond the Rays that have put together great first halfs as well need some props. Let's hear it for the Marlins, Twins, A's and Diamondbacks too! They are all either in first place in their divisions or are in contention for the lead while they play teams with three to as much as ten times the payroll that they pay... I hope they all keep it up and shut down those high payroll teams in the playoffs!
I like feel good stories, and I agree with all of them, I just want to comment on the reason why what the rays are doing is a bigger story than what anyone else is doing: THEY ARE THE RAYS! I mean what team could be a bigger surprise than Tampa? you can argue than the royals or the pirates could be as equal a shocker, but this is a team that for the very first time in their existence, they can play ball, so, no disrespect for the other small market teams, but the rays are easily the bigger story in MLB. (my humble opinion)
my grandfather was a red sox fan, so was my father, and so am I-this is excited about the rays, I hope they win the east, am i crazy-no, red sox need to beef up the lower batting order, get rid of varitex and lugo-get a good hitting catcher and shortshop-lugo and varitex are dead weight, and somebody take charge of manny-come on francola, your the boss, do something, don't let wakefield tell you want to do. don't just sit there, be a joe maddon!
Nothing can beat the Hamilton or Tampa Rays stories. A few weeks ago I did a piece like this, focusing only on the two Chicago teams and found 10 players that are "feel good." Kerry Wood, Alexei Ramirez, Carlos Quentin, Jose Contreras, Ryan Dempster, and Geovanny Soto, to name a few.
The sad part is that both Florida teams are great systems. They always have great young talent but nobody down there cares so they have to ditch them. I mean how can a team afford players when 10,000 people come out to the games.
Great article. Griffey is the man! Good to see Hamilton get his head on st8! He seems to be enjoying life and just being able to play the game that we all love!
oaklandathleticsfan
By far in a way it's got to be the story surrounding the Devil Rays . Nothing else compares or even is close in proximity in value or sheer interest or public scrutiny. They're playing some of the best ball in all of the majors . And have even got fans far afield sitting up and taking note.
Now the question that'll be undoubtedly asked is whether or not they have what it takes to maintain this sort of consistency for the remainder of the season ? And if they can continue it into the postseason should they gain a berth there.
See the following posts in particular the baseball one on the state of the game within the state of Florida. That's titled Sense And Sensibility ...If We Build It They Will Come ...Not So Fast ! Let me know what you think as to the merits of the piece ? I'll look forward to reading your comments.
You gotta love the Rays. Too bad they caved into religious extremists and dropped the "Devil" from their nickname. Talk about the war against religious extremists, what about the jesus-freaks in this country, the "Agents of Intolerance", who are equally responsible for the deaths of tens of thousands of american citizens, via the hate they spew, and are no different from the people who convince their minions to fly airplanes into skyscapers!
I am currently in high school. I will try to post reguarly, but at the very least I will comment your blogs daily. I am aspiring to become a sports writer or broadcaster and plan to attend collge and major in journalism or broadcast journalism.
