I remembered when my father moved to Tampa Bay. It was exciting to me because it meant that one of the two places I lived was home to an MLB team, yet it was the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. I'll admit that I was not excited about being the prospect of being a Devil Rays fan. Yet when I was at my dad's in the summer it was him, myself, the Rays and the 6 other people at the game. For the last 8 years I've called myself a Rays fan and I suffered with the team through the bad (that's being kind) seasons. I always held hope that our ownership would stop trading away our youthful players with so much potential. Then three years ago the Rays finally got the ownership they deserved and from there everything changed.

I can't really express how awesome this season has been. Thanks to MLB.TV I've watched at least 90 Rays games this season, which is the closest I've ever followed a team. I made a pilgramage to Chicago to watch them play. I started reading a Rays blog consistantly. This team means just as much to me as the Chicago Blackhawks (my favorite team, all sports included).

And now here we are, AL East Champions. To be honest, I thought aiming high this year was an above .500 record and a third place AL East finish. I've never been happier to be wrong. I hope we win it all, but for today...we are the AL East Champions and the Trop will always have a banner proclaiming that.

Viva Rays!