New World Order Restored

I'd been holding off on congratulating the Tampa Bay Rays on their hot start until the All Star Break, in the hopes they would completely fade by now.

Their June swoon came late, but they did lose their last six games before the break to fall into second place behind the Red Sox. I'm still stinging from the Rays' sweep of the Sox last week, so I'll take a half-game lead at the break and be on my way.

A lot of analysts attribue the Rays' good start to quality young pitching and maturing hitters. But I like to think it's that they banished the Devil from their name this season.

They also have good senses of humor (when they're not taking swings at people), as evidenced by this video.