Congratulations to the Tampa Bay Rays, 2008 American League Champions. There was no in between for them. The were awful for their first ten seasons in the majors, but found a way to turn everything around this year. Unlike the Yankees in 2004 and the Indians in 2007, the Rays didn't bend to the Red Sox, and found a way to win game seven.

Matt Garza pitched a great game, allowing just one run over seven innings for a 1.38 LCS ERA. He struck out and walked three. Maddon then managed the bullpen one batter at a time, working the lefty-righty matchups until he could get to David Price. They held the Red Sox to walks and singles, and a poor slide by Coco Crisp made up for Bartlett's error that started the inning.

Price struck out three of the five batters he faced, walking just one. He gets his first major league save after getting his first major league win in game two.

The Rays offense out hit the Red Sox 6-3, but also picked up three extra base hits to the Red Sox one. What a great story, what a great series. These last three games were a lot of fun to watch, and we can only hope the World Series between the Phillies and Rays will be as good.