Rays, Rays, go away

Can anyone stop the Tampa Bay Rays? A tropical storm headed for the Tampa-St. Pete area last night couldn't. Neither could the Angels, considered by many to be the favorites in the American League.

With 37 games remaining in the regular season, the Rays are 77-48, tied with the Cubs for the best record in the bigs. This Tampa Bay team finished the '07 campaign with the worst record in the majors. Since 1900, no Major League team has gone worst to first in one season. That's 108 years. The Cubs have won a world title since that happened.

All jokes aside, this Tampa Bay team is a force to be reckoned with in the AL. No matter how many injuries they seem to have (Carl Crawford, Evan Longoria, Troy Percival), they keep winning ballgames. In the end, that's all that really matters.

Going into tonight's action, here are how the AL playoff races shape up:

EAST

1. Rays 77-48
2. Red Sox 73-53 4.5 GB

CENTRAL

1. White Sox 72-53
2. Twins 71-54 1 GB

WEST

1. Angels 76-48

WILD CARD

1. Red Sox 73-53
2. Twins 71-54 1.5 GB
3. Yankees 66-59 6.5 GB
4. Blue Jays 65-60 7.5 GB

You can say that the Rays are banged up, you can say that they're inexperienced, you can say that they have a tough schedule down the stretch (all of which are true), but this team just won't go away, and is one of the best baseball stories, if not one of the best sports stories of the year.