Tampa Bay Rays. Road warriors

It would seem the Tampa Bay Rays have every right to be all jet-lagged out right about now. Sure, a whole lot of travel comes with the territory of being a major league baseball player -- but by necessity, the Rays have been racking up a ridiculous amount of sky-miles lately. Consider.....

They haven't been home since Sept. 23, a week and a half ago when they finished up a series with the Baltimore Orioles. Then it was off to NY for a 3 game set with the Yankees, which they swept.
Next up was a trip to Toronto for another 3 game series. The Rays would lose the first 2, and have to win the finale to stay in contention for a wild card playoff berth. They did.

Then they had to play the Rangers in Texas the very next day in a tie-breaker game to merely qualify as a wild card in the AL playoffs. Again, they prevailed.

Two days later, the Rays had to be in Cleveland to play that win or go home wild card game against the Indians, who had been the hottest team in all of baseball for the month of September. Cleveland was ready. The home town crowd in attendance was rocking and rolling -- not to mention deafeningly loud -- in their support of their beloved Tribe. The Rays calmly dispatched them 4-0. Just one more bummer for the Lake Erie folks.

For their reward, the Rays had to hop on a plane to Boston, merely the team with the best record in all of the American League.

In the opening game of the ALDS, the Rays got thumped 12-2 by the Beaners. This is not to say the Bosox aren't a great team themselves -- they are -- but maybe the Rays needed a chance to catch their collective breaths.

After all, the Rays have spent a lot of time cruising along at 500+ MPH at over 30,000 feet for the last week and a half going from city to city.

No, it's not unusual for a baseball team to be away from home for a couple weeks on a long road trip, but they normally get to stay in one place for 3 or 4 days before moving on. Not so with the Rays recently. The way things worked out at the end of the regular season -- and the playoff format being what it is -- the Rays have found themselves in the unenviable position of winning a "must" game, take a shower, hop on a bus to the airport, then buckle up on a plane headed to the next city -- sometimes thousands of miles away.

So OK. The Rays are down 1-0 to the Red Sox and have likely recovered from their jet-lag. Can they come back and take the series? It would require them winning 3 out of the next 4.

Hmmm.

Nah. Those yours truly is a closet Rays fan, even when they finally get home in a few days for (hopefully) a couple games -- the Fenway boys aren't going to roll over and play dead. They amassed the best record for a reason.

Fear the beards.