OPINION

By Richard Justice

updated 8:06 p.m. ET July 3, 2008

The Tampa Bay Rays are saving you a seat on their bandwagon. Yes, there's still time to get on.

They're baseball's story of the year, and before this thing is over, they may be the best story ever: going from worst to first, going from laughingstock to model team. If you can't get excited about the Rays, you have a hard heart.

Have you checked them out? Have you seen the emotion and the attitude? Have you seen those young arms and that airtight defense?

Yes, they're the real deal. They're why we love sports. They've been down so long that no one ever expected them to be doing this, to be sporting the best record in the game and leading the American League East by 3 1/2 games. They're on a pace to win 100.

They're a near-perfect blend of youth and experience. Their manager is bursting with positive energy and has been able to push every right button on the field and in the clubhouse.

Sure, they're young and they'll hit a bump or two along the way. Don't count on them going away, though. They have a certain magic about them. And they have pitching.

They rallied from a 4-1 deficit with six runs in the seventh inning Wednesday night to win 7-6 and complete a sweep of the Red Sox in front of a sellout crowd at Tropicana Field. That was third baseman Evan Longoria delivering a two-run double.

He's your American League Rookie of the Year. He was the third pick of the 2006 draft and one of the enduring symbols of how the Rays have gotten it right.

Shortstop Jason Bartlett's single scored the Rays' final two runs. Ever heard of him? He's a first-rate defensive player, one of the players responsible for this amazing season. He was thought to be a throw-in in the Matt Garza-for-Delmon Young deal. Turns out, he's way more than that.

Maybe they're doing more than counting down the days until the Bucs open training camp in Tampa Bay. Home attendance was up 41 percent over last year for the first 45 games of the season, and while it's still near the bottom of the American League, fans are starting to believe. The Rays are 33-13 at home. Their merchandise suddenly is popular.

If Hank Steinbrenner is counting on the Rays going away, he may be disappointed. Maybe Terry Francona is right when he says they don't really have one standout player who deserves to be in the All-Star Game. Maybe David Ortiz is right that their inexperience will catch up with them.

Maybe all the people that forgot Tampa Bay had baseball eventually will be proved right. After all, this is the franchise that averaged 97 losses in its first 10 seasons, that played in front of baseball's smallest crowds, that did one wrong thing after another.

So we'll keep this our little secret. We won't tell them how good general manager Andrew Friedman is. We won't tell them how attacked his roster the old-fashioned way.

He upgraded the defense and the bullpen, added depth to the rotation and sprinkled veterans like Troy Percival and Cliff Floyd and Dan Wheeler throughout the clubhouse.

If it's OK with you, we'll just pretend the Rays aren't the club almost everyone inside the game is rooting for.

Don't tell a soul how good they really are. And the truth is, they're really, really good.

The front of the rotation -- Scott Kazmir, Matt Garza and James Shields -- is as good as any. The bullpen and defense are outstanding. Even with closer Percival back on the disabled list with that cranky hamstring, manager Joe Maddon has enough pieces to mix and match. Somehow the pieces fit.

Here's the scary part. They might just get better in the second half of the season. Carl Crawford hasn't gotten really hot yet, and he's good enough to carry a team.

Here's the other scary part. If the Rays are, say, one piece away at the trading deadline, they have enough prospects to outbid anyone. How do you like the idea of C.C. Sabathia winning a game for the Rays at Fenway Park in September?

Or the Rays could simply give the ball to David Price. He was the first pick of the 2007 draft, and he's dazzling hitters in the minor leagues.

Anyway, the Rays just swept the Red Sox for the second time this season, and now they finish the first half of the season with 8 of 10 games against teams with losing records.

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