"Is this really happening?" That was the only question echoing throughout minds of the few thousand fans (including myself though I was only there in spirit and not in body) on hand at Tropicana Field, days ago after they defeated the Minnesota Twins, clinching their first playoff berth since their inception into the league in 1998.
I've been a close follower of the D'rays since I first moved to Florida, years ago. You may silently ask yourself, "Why not the Marlins" and the only answer to that is I lived closer to Tampa Bay, then, than I did Miami. In addition, despite the team's horrendous performance of then, there was always something so special about the D'Rays that made you an avid follower.
In all honesty, during the preseason I didn't view this D'Rays squad to be anymore special than they already were, I just depicted them to be no more "special" than expected: the AL East bottom feeders. Expectations were the same: none; and all the hopes were the same: I hope I at least get to attend an entire home series against the Yankees this year.
But midway through the season, this squad actually caught my eye. There was something more to this team than advertised. Though they played dynamically spectacular up until that point, there was still the fear of the second half blues where they'd fall off the map and we're back to square one. Amazingly enough, that didn't happen, though.
On Thursday, they play their first playoff game in the history of their franchise, against the Chicago White Sox. Can they pull this off? There is every hope that they can. In my mind, they are the best team in baseball and there's not a team, or unearthly being, that can stand in the way of the D'Rays and destiny, hindering their hopes of achieving it all.
Good luck tonight and Go Rays!
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