Tampa Bay Rays

Yankees starter Chien-Ming Wang was chased from the mound in the second inning of the American League Champion Tampa Bay Rays home opener, after the Rays offensive juggernaut became too much for the 29-year-old Taiwanese pitcher.

Center fielder B.J. Upton made his triumphant return to the Tampa Bay lineup with a walk in his first plate appearance and a bunt single in his first registered at-bat of the season. The Rays had been platooning players through the outfield waiting for his return to the team from the disabled list.

Here are your lineups for today's opening game of a three-game series with the defending AL champs, the Tampa Bay Rays, and the New York Yankees.

The Red Sox have dropped two of the first three games of the 2009 season. No cause for alarm; it's far to early for that.

But what makes it sting a bit is the fact that they were at home, where they have the best winning percentage in baseball over the past six seasons (.652), and they lost to their newest rival—the defending AL Champion Tampa Bay Rays.

We've all become accustomed to the Red Sox wining their home series, as well as beating up on the lowly Rays. Things are changing. At the least, the Rays have changed.

Is it really Thursday already? It’s hard to believe Opening Day is three days in the review mirror.

What is not hard to believe is on day four, the New York Yankees are 0-2 and everyone in the Northeast is on the brink of suicide.

However, everyone knows—unless you bet your life savings on the Yankee’s first two games—then there’s no reason to worry.

These are two links I have found recently having to do with the Rays that I enjoy. Even if you're not a Rays' fan, but like baseball, you'll at least find them worth reading.

After a 27-hour weather delay, the Boston Red Sox and the Tampa Bay Rays started their 2009 Major League Baseball seasons.

The Rays, coming off an amazing 2008 season in which they defeated the Red Sox in seven games to win their first AL Pennant, had no answers for Boston's ace Josh Beckett.

Beckett coming off an injury in 2008 could not have pitched any better against new rival Tampa Bay. Beckett went seven innings on 93 pitches, allowing just two hits and one earned run, while striking out 10 batters and only walking three.

The Phillies concluded their spring schedule the same way they started it: with a loss.

The Tampa Bay Rays beat the Phillies this afternoon by a score of 9-7 in a game that was affected very much by strong winds.

Cole Hamels got the start for the Phils and struggled from the outset. He was charged with six earned runs on six hits in five innings of work.

The steroid era is finally over. It leaves with an Alex Rodriguez whimper after a Jose Canseco roar. 

Now we can get back to b-a-s-e-b-a-l-l. 

The teams that do that the best will be the best. 

No more artificially enhanced Giants bashing baseballs for game ending home runs.

No more curiously powerful shortstops gaining 50 lbs in two years and becoming number three hitters. 

The new game will be remarkably like the old game. The game we grew up playing. A game of skill and strategy and speed and defense and beauty. 

In economics, the Misery Index is calculated by adding the inflation rate to the unemployment rate. The Sports Fan Misery Index, developed by the Boston Sports Group, calculates the financial pain experienced by a devoted team follower when he watches his club lose at home.

Using research available from Team Marketing Report, the Sports Fan Misery Index is computed by adding three numbers: 1) the cost of an average ticket (premium seating is not included in this calculation); 2) the cost of parking; and 3) the cost of consolation, or two small beers.

The Tampa Bay Rays are coming off their first successful season in the history of the franchise. Finally, they're not considered doormats with no vision of the future. Now the Pirates stand alone there. (Even the Royals are much improved!)

This club is scary in the pool of young talent they already hold, plus more on the way in the minor leagues. The Rays will compete for a very, very long time. But will they be able to withstand the Red Sox and Yankees assault in 2009?