In 2007, the Tampa Bay Devil Rays were in their second seaso

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In 2007, the Tampa Bay Devil Rays were in their second season under skipper Joe Maddon. They actually finished with a better record in ‘07 than they did in ‘06 but only marginally, going from 61 victories to 66. They had a slugging first baseman in Carlos Pena who ripped 46 homers and drove in 121 runs while batting .282. They also had an up-and-coming outfielder in B.J Upton who hit 300 while ripping 24 homers and driving in 82 runs. The Devil Rays had two pitchers who managed to get into double digits in victories in James Shields who went 12-8 with a 3.85 ERA and left Scott Kazmir who racked up a 13-9 mark with a 3.48 earned run average. They also had a closer in Alberto Reyes who saved 26 games. Otherwise, it was pretty grim. They scored 782 runs but surrendered 944. The team ERA was a horrendous 5.53. Their attendance of 1,387,603 was the worst in the American League. Back-to-back years like ‘06 and ‘07 could have been enough to cost some managers their jobs, but the Rays had a plan and they also had some blue chip prospects on the way. In 2006, they drafted a highly regarded third baseman in Evan Longoria third overall,. In 2007 they grabbed hard throwing lefty David Price number one. Those were their best two picks since B.J Upton in 2002. In 2008 Tampa Bay got rid of the Devil and became simply known as the Tampa Bay Rays. The turnaround season was remarkable. They went from 66 victories to 97. They shaved their team ERA from 5.53 to 3.82. The Rays actually scored eight fewer runs in ‘08 than they did in ‘07, but they cut their runs against by 273 to 671. All five of their starters, James Shields, Edwin Jackson, Andy Sonnanstine, Matt Garza and Scott Kazmir -- all betweenn 24 and 26 years of age -- won in double digits with Shields and Jackson leading the way with 14 apiece. Four of the five pitched at least 183 innings. Shields had a staff high 215 and four of the five starters made at least 30 starts. They also added veteran closer Troy Percival who saved 28 games. He also had a great support staff in J.P Howell. Dan Wheeler and Grant Balfour who chipped in with 17 victories. Though Penas numbers dropped off a bit to a ,247 average with 31 homers and 102 runs batted in, Longoria emerged as a force with 27 homers and 85 RBIs while batting .272. Former Blue Jays rookie of the year Eric Hinskie chipped in with 20 homers and 60 runs batted in off the bench. The key though was pitching depth. That 2008 staff had eight pitchers who established themselves as manager league starters including Shields, Garza, Jason Hammel, Jackson, Kazmir, Sonnanstine, Jeff Niemann and Price who pitched in relief late that season. The 2008 Rays went all the way to the World Series where they lost to the Philadelphia Phillies in five. Over the last six seasons they have racked up a record of (550-423) and been to the post-season four times. The only thing that hasnt improved greatly is their attendance. The incredible season of 2008 boosted the turnstyle count by nearly half a million from the year before to 1,811,986. But by last season the numbers had diminished again to 1,510,300 -- the worst in the American League. The Rays has still never come close to matching the attendance figures of their inaugural season of 1998, when they drew 2,506,293. Its sad really, but at least it is living proof that a well managed, small market club can compete and in fact thrive in the American League East. The Blue Jays have the star power in Jose Bautista and Edwin Encarnacion, some possible blue chippers in Brett Lawrie and Colby Rasmus, a decent bullpen and a couple of solid veteran pitchers in R,A Dickey and Mark Buehrle. They just havent been able to stay healthy enough or keep grinding out pitching prospects the way the Rays have. Its still too early to predict how the A.L East is going to unfold in 2014, but in some circles, the Rays are already being called to win the division with the Blue Jays to finish last behind Baltimore. The Blue Jays are still waiting for some kind of solid return on the Roy Halladay trade. Back on December 16th of 2009, they shipped "Doc" to the Phillies for Kyle Drabek, Travis DArnaud and outfielder Michael Taylor. They wound up flipping Taylor to Oakland for Brett Wallace and then sent Wallace to Houston for Anthony Gose. The Astros designated Wallace for assignment this week when they signed veteran right hander Jerome Williams. Wallace never really developed as a hitter and didnt play well enough defensively at first or third. The Jays are still waiting for Drabek and Gose to arrive as major leaguers and DArnaud was used as part of the package to get R.A Dickey from the Mets. I bring all this up because Halladays illustrious career is now over. The Phillies are going to honour him on their alumni weekend this summer during a series against the Mets. On Aug. 8 the Phils will hold a special ceremony for Roy and will give the fans a special Halladay bobblehead. That same weekend on Aug. 9, the Phillies will induct Charlie Manuel to their wall of fame. Nat Moore Dolphins Jersey .com) - The 2014 Holiday Bowl is the first postseason venture pitting a pair of ranked foes against each other, as No. Christian Wilkins Dolphins Jersey . With the Nets winning streak in jeopardy, Williams scored 23 points, 11 in the final six minutes, to lead Brooklyn to a 104-99 victory over the Charlotte Bobcats on Wednesday night. http://www.authenticdolphinspro.com/Mik ... ns-jersey/. Minutes after the previously winless Colts got their first win, 27-13 over Tennessee, team vice chairman Bill Polian said the four-time league MVP will not play this season though he has begun throwing to teammates at the team complex. Bob Griese Jersey . -- During a players meeting following the All-Star break, Jermaine ONeal promised his teammates to play the rest of the regular season like he would never play again -- because he very well might not. Mark Clayton Youth Jersey . Curtis Davies and Robert Koren secured the victory with goals inside 35 minutes of the fifth-round replay against the second-tier side.St. Louis, MO (SportsNetwork.com) - Defensemen Trevor Daley and Jason Demers scored power-play goals in the second period as the Dallas Stars edged the St. Louis Blues 4-3 at Scottrade Center. Travis Moen and Ryan Garbutt both had first-period goals for Dallas, which has won six of its last eight games. Kari Lehtonen made 30 saves in the Stars first victory over a Central Division opponent this season (1-7-3). Vladimir Tarasenko netted his 21st goal of the season for the Blues, who suffered their fourth straight loss. David Backes and Alex Pietrangelo also scored, and Jake Allen stopped 20-of-24 shots. Quite frankly, were not getting the job done. And thats everybody, said St. Louis head coach Ken Hitchcock. Backes redirection of a Jay Bouwmeester point shot drew St. Louis within a goal at 5:40 of the third period. The Blues pulled Allen late for an extra skater, but couldnt produce an equalizer. The Stars scored twice in the first and both timess the Blues had a quick reply.dddddddddddd Moen, back in the Dallas lineup after missing five games with an upper-body injury, lit the lamp after Allen misplayed the puck behind the net 2:08 into the game. Only 27 seconds later, Pietrangelo fired the puck past Lehtonen. Dallas grabbed a 2-1 lead when Garbutt scored off a Petteri Lindbohm turnover in the St. Louis zone with 5:14 remaining. Tarasenko responded on a Blues power play, collecting a puck off the end boards and scoring from a sharp angle below the left circle with 3:50 left. Daley picked up a loose puck, made a nice move through the slot and beat Allen high on the blocker side at 7:41 of the second. Demers tapped in a feed from Erik Cole with 48 seconds remaining. Game Notes The Stars extended their road winning streak to four games ... St. Louis was dealt its first regulation loss in nine home games ... Tarasenko picked up his 100th career point. ' ' '