Rays are big fish now
PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. - Remember those days when the Red Sox and Yankees would meet in Florida, just four months after an epic seven-game American League Championship Series?
Fans would sleep on the sidewalk trying to get tickets and we'd promote the Grapefruit joust with something like . . . "Game Eight! This Time It Counts!"
Nothing like that happened yesterday, even though the traditional tumblers were in place.
It was, after all, a spring training game featuring the two titans of the AL East just four months after they completed a seven-game clash for the right to advance to the World Series.
Red Sox-Rays. Let the madness begin anew.
Ah, yes. The Rays. The erstwhile Devil Rays. The reigning AL champs.
Tampa's traditional doormats crashed the party last season, winning 97 games to take the division, then dethroning the Red Sox in the ALCS. Sox fans won't soon forget the sight of rocket rookie lefty David Price whiffing J.D. Drew with the bases loaded and two outs in the eighth inning of Tampa's 3-1 Game 7 clincher.
Baseball's mystery guests are back for more (they looked pretty good yesterday, trashing the Red Sox, 12-4, at renovated Charlotte Sports Park), and they've added some righthanded power in Pat Burrell and old friend Gabe Kapler.
The rest of the faces are pretty familiar. Remember Matt Garza, who stuffed the bats down the throats of the Sox in Game 7? Still here. Same goes for James "Big Game" Shields, Andy Sonnanstine, and Scott Kazmir.
The lineup looks pretty good, too. B.J. Upton, Carl Crawford, Dioner Navarro, Evan Longoria, Carlos Peña, Willy Aybar, and Jason Bartlett are all still here, and Burrell's potent bat has been imported from Philadelphia. Upton is recovering from shoulder surgery and may yield center field to speedy Fernando Perez early in the season. Burrell will be the everyday DH.
"We can't be a fluke," said inimitable Rays manager Joe Maddon. "We won 97 games and our division. We got to the World Series. That can't be a fluke."
"They're not old," said Sox manager Terry Francona. "They're not going to forget how to play. They certainly make our life more difficult in the American League East."
The Rays know they have the proverbial bull's-eye on their backs in 2009. No more sneaking up on unsuspecting teams.
Newcomer Kapler, a member of the 2004 Red Sox world champs, said, "This team is similar to the Milwaukee team I played for last year. They are enthusiastic. They are youthful. They want to be at the ballpark working, and I'm talking about the core guys, the stars - compared to Boston where the stars are different. Carl Crawford is here working his butt off early when nobody is looking. Evan Longoria knows how to get ready for baseball. The starters are fiercely competitive."
Don't look for flamethrowing Price in the rotation at the start of the season. He probably won't even be in the big leagues. The Rays don't want him throwing 200 innings this early in his career. Righty Jeff Niemann, who started against the Sox yesterday, is a candidate to be Tampa's fifth starter. The closing situation is up in the air. Troy Percival is recovering from back surgery and says he'll be ready.
Tampa Bay's emergence creates a big problem for the Red Sox and Yankees. The division is shaping up a little like the old AL East when the Red Sox, Yankees, and Orioles were all superpowers. In 1977, the Orioles and Red Sox won 97 games while the Yankees took the division with 100 wins. Now we again see three teams capable of 95-plus wins. Only two can make the playoffs.
The emergence of the Rays has hit hardest in New York, where the Yankees (failing to make the playoffs for the first time since 1994) responded by spending almost a half-billion dollars over the winter.
The Rays are trying not to notice. Asked about the Yankees' spending spree, Maddon said, "Bully for them. We try not to focus on what they do. It's about what we do. I can't worry about [CC] Sabathia and [A.J.] Burnett and all those guys. We take a lot of pride in the American League East and playing in the division that's perceived to be the best one. This is the best division for us to play in because it's permitted our guys to get better faster."
"The thing we've got to do is worry about what's going on with our club," added Longoria, who homered in yesterday's drubbing of the Sox. "We can only get in trouble by looking ahead. But I can tell you as a hitter looking at our division, we're going to see a tough group of pitchers coming at us.
"For the longest time, it's only been the Red Sox and Yankees. It's just good to know that we can compete with them now and that we're part of the discussion."
They are more than just part of the discussion, of course. The Yankees have the money and the new stadium. The Red Sox have the MVP, the Nation, and newfound stability. But going into 2009, the Tampa Bay Rays are the defending league champs and the team to beat in the American League East.
Dan Shaughnessy is a Globe columnist. He can be reached at dshaughnessy@globe.com. 
