Rays' remarkable season surprises everybody

BALTIMORE (Reuters) - The Tampa Bay Rays are as amazed an anyone to be sitting atop the American League East, baseball's most competitive division and arguably its toughest.

"This has surprised everybody. Everybody. Who wouldn't be surprised with this team?" Rays senior adviser Don Zimmer, a former player and manager of four big league teams, told Reuters in a recent interview.

"When we left (spring training in) Arizona even the manager said, 'I think we have a chance of possibly playing .500 ball. And I said to him, 'If we play .500 ball with this team, you'll be the manager of year.'"

The Rays are 96-63 and will clinch the first division title for the first time in their 11-year existence with any combination of a single victory or a loss by the World Series champion Boston Red Sox.

Tampa Bay's breakout season is even more remarkable when considering the team has failed to finish in last place only once -- in 2004 when they ended in fourth place with a paltry 70-91 record.

"My message to the team in spring training was that if we won 93 games, I thought we'd get into the playoffs," said third-year manager Joe Maddon. "It was a goal to work toward.

"But considering where we came from, it was difficult to say that you're going to actually do that with a straight face. We had a lot of items to overcome."

The Rays were 66-96 a year ago, sitting in their familiar home in the basement of the A.L. East. A quiet trade with the Minnesota Twins during the offseason sparked the turnaround.

REMARKABLY CONSISTENT

Tampa Bay acquired pitcher Matt Garza, shortstop Jason Bartlett and a minor-leaguer in exchange for outfielders Delmon Young and Jason Pridie, and infielder Brendan Harris.

Garza has won 11 games to anchor a remarkably consistent pitching staff that has yielded about 300 fewer runs this season than in 2007. Bartlett, meanwhile, has played brilliantly in the field while hitting .287.

Throw in a few other players exceeding expectations, like rookie third baseman Evan Longoria, and you have a team with the third-best record in the majors.

Despite the exceptional regular season, the Rays are not content with merely making the playoffs, which they secured last week by clinching at least a wild-card berth.

"The expectations inside this clubhouse are huge," said Longoria, who is hitting .275 with 27 home runs. "It would be a shame for us to come this far and play this well all the way throughout the season and not be able to finish it out."

Most of the players are sporting Mohawk haircuts in a show of solidarity and are refusing to change their daily routines until the luck runs out.

"I want us to play the same game on March 15, June 15, August 15 and hopefully October 15," said Maddon. "We're not going to change anything for the playoffs.

"Of course you're going to have your jitters when the postseason starts. But I want them to go out and play our game. After that, we'll take what happens."

(Editing by Miles Evans)