“I hate Boston and the Red Sox Nation. I hate the old guy who lives in my building for cornering me in the elevator and barking out Big Papi’s slugging percentage in the last three innings of weekend evening away games for no apparent reason. I’m not kidding.”
“

I hate Boston and the Red Sox Nation.

I hate the old guy who lives in my building for cornering me in the elevator and barking out Big Papi’s slugging percentage in the last three innings of weekend evening away games for no apparent reason. I’m not kidding.

I hate Kevin Youkilis’s beard and Josh Beckett’s attitude toward, well, everyone.

I hate how Boston doesn’t mind Bill Buckner now simply because they have a few rings on their fingers.

While I do love seeing Boston lose, it’s bittersweet to see the Rays win.

Yes, they are everyone’s favorite Cinderella story and are going to make their first World Series appearance against the Phillies later this week.

Yes, they went from 66 wins and last place in the American League East last year to 97 wins and their first division title this year.

When it comes down to it, I don’t like seeing any team but the one I root for celebrating on the field.

Call me selfish. Call me a homer. Call me whatever you want.

The thought of last year’s ALCS has haunted me for the past week and a half.

Every time Craig Sager mentioned it I wanted to rip off his god awful tie and shove it down his throat.

If you couldn’t tell, I’m still trying to heal the emotional wounds left behind from Cleveland’s epic choke job last October.

Why the Rays? Why not the Tribe? What do they have now that we didn’t then?

We even brought in a blast from the past in Kenny Lofton to help aid our World Series push but we still couldn’t stop our generations ‘Big Red Machine.’

While I’m not thrilled to see the Rays win, I’m glad they are doing it the right way – by developing talent through their farm system instead of buying all-stars and trading their best prospects for someone on a hot streak at the trade deadline.

The Rays have a team payroll of over $43 million, second least in Major League Baseball.

The Red Sox have a payroll of over $130 million, trailing only the New York Yankees, New York Mets and Detroit Tigers.

Apparently, one win in the ALCS was the $90 million difference for the Red Sox.

The majority of the Rays impact players are products of their farm system, not former all-stars who are looking to make a big payday.

Carl Crawford suffered through 654 regular season losses since his debut with the Rays in the 2002 season. No one deserves to win a ring more than him.

Evan Longoria has been outstanding during his rookie campaign and will win rookie of the year. He has six home runs and 11 RBI’s in the playoffs.

Move over Reggie, B.J. Upton is the new Mr. October. Upton has seven home runs and 13 RBI’s on top of a .304 average in his first postseason appearance.

It’s good to see a small market team like the Rays win, but I never believed in the root- for-your-division or league mentality. If you beat my team, I want to see you get embarrassed on a national level.

Enjoy it while it lasts, Rays fans. It may never happen again.

“