A Dream, a Hoax, or an Imaginary Story?

I hadn't realized quite what a Cinderella story the Tampa Bay Devil Rays were experiencing this year. Yesterday against the Mariners, the Rays set a new team record: They won 71 games. In its previous ten years as a franchise, Tampa has never had a winning record. Their best year so far has been 2004, when they went 70-91 for a .435 average. If from this point they went on to lose every one of their remaining 45 games, they still come up with a .438 average. Although that doesn't look likely, you do have to wonder how long they'll be able to keep up this over .600 play. August and September can be very cruel months (as Red Sox fans have been loathe to learn over the years), so there's a part of me that believes it's just a matter of time before the fade begins. In the meantime, it seems like Jeff Bagwell's Sports Illustrated cover from May is becoming more and more appropriate.