Monday, 4 a.m. The wrong team was dancing. A championship had been won, and the wrong team was rushing across the ice. The players of the Tampa Bay Lightning looked on glass-jawed, in disbelief, as the celebration by the Colorado Avalanche went on. The players watched, stunned. They thought they would win — heck, they […]

Sunday, 4 a.m. Isaac Paredes gives. More importantly, Isaac Paredes forgives. Parades gave a pardon to the rest of the Tampa Bay Rays’ organization Saturday. He allowed the team to erase a blow up by reliever Jalen Beeks. He forgave a baserunner blunder by Randy Arozarena. And he further erased any lingering criticism for the […]

Saturday, 3 a.m. The kid with the blue hair kept shaking the popcorn out of it. For the most part, Harold Ramirez was a success at that, too. Ramirez was hopping around first base, popcorn and gum in the air. A teammate placed an empty gum bucket on his head. And the Tampa Bay Rays […]

Thursday, 3 a.m. The first requirement to beating the big boys is this: You have to do the little things on the way. Otherwise, you watch a lead fritter away and you end up losing 5-4 to the New York Yankees. You end looking at the division lead from fourth place. You end up losing […]