Poll: Alex Rodriguez's admission

Alex Rodriguez
What did you think of his interview with Peter Gammons?
At least he was more forthcoming than Bonds, Clemens or McGwire
He's hiding more about his steroids use than he's revealing
He showed he is a stand-up guy by admitting to his use of performance-enhancers
He didn't admit to anything; he only acknowledged that he'd been caught

What they're saying about the Rays

After the 9-1 Rays win in Game 3 of the American League Championship Series, here's what other sportswriters had to say.

Rays Quiet 'Friendly' Fenway
Steve Buckley, Boston Herald

Sox fans should have seen this coming. Though the Rays lost 7-of-9 games at Fenway Park this season, those two victories took place in the last two meetings between the two clubs. And overall, the Rays won seven of their last nine regular-season games against the Mighty, Mighty Bostones and captured first place in the rugged AL East.

So for those of you who were banking on the Rays being intimidated, scared, discouraged, this being their first visit to Fenway when big-boy October baseball is being played . . . no.

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Lester's Dominance Takes Big Hit From Pesky Visitors
Sean McAdam, Boston Herald

For the Sox, here’s the sobering reality: They have to win at least one of the next two just to force the ALCS back to Tropicana Field. And should they get there, the rotation is lined up that the two Sox pitchers set to go in potential elimination games have been tattooed the first time around in the series.

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Rays Take Control, At Least For Now
Clubhouse Insider, Boston Herald

The Rays are young, fresh, and just new enough at all this not to be cowed by the stage. They don’t know any better.

The Sox are defending champs, but the Rays right now look like the team to beat.

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Rays Knock Red Sox Onto Their Heels
Jack Curry, New York Times

They are two significant parts of the future for the Tampa Bay Rays, the smooth third baseman and the even smoother center fielder. They are such talented twenty-something players that they give the Rays endless hope for the next decade or more. But on Wednesday, with Evan Longoria at third and B. J. Upton in center, the future was already here.

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Display of Power Lets the Air Out of Fenway
Harvey Araton, New York Times

Through the summer months and into September, the consensus on the neophyte Rays was that they weren’t quite ready to complete the regular-season marathon, that they would fade to the wild card, if not out of the playoff picture entirely. But they ran away from the $200 million Yankees, withstood the September challenge of the defending champion Red Sox, brushed off the White Sox in their franchise October debut.

All those thresholds handsomely met, how daunting should best of seven be for a team that had proved itself in best of 162?

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What they're saying about the Rays

Here's a sample of what other media are writing. Click on the hyperlinked words for the full stories.

Bring on the Rays
Michael Silverman, Boston Herald

The next plane the Red Sox will board will be bound for St. Petersburg, Fla., tomorrow afternoon, and it will be a flight they will make willingly for what should be a bruising and highly entertaining best-of-seven series against their fiercest regular-season foes, the Tampa Bay Rays.

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One Proud, Slow Team
Greg Couch, Chicago Sun-Times

Monday, I could only think that the Sox had no chance. Down four? That meant four home runs to tie, five home runs to win. ...

For years, Tampa Bay would have been a joke of a franchise if anyone had noticed it even existed. ...  A few days ago, Sox pitcher Mark Buehrle said the Rays reminded him of the 2005 Sox, the World Series team.

If Sox fans saw that, they would be jealous, a little nostalgic. But you had to feel good for Tampa Bay. That team can do everything. It has power, speed and a nice bullpen.

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A First for the Rays After Years in Last Place
Pat Borzi, New York Times

Nothing could deter the Rays, an expansion team that posted losing records its first 10 seasons before joining the 1991 Atlanta Braves as the only major league teams to reach the postseason after compiling baseball’s worst record the year before.

"It means everything," B.J. Upton said. "We’ve been at the bottom of the barrel for so long. And I think there was a point in time where people didn’t even know who we were."

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Rays Rise to the Occasion
Chico Harlan, Washington Post

As the year progressed, and as Tampa Bay staged the third-greatest season-to-season turnaround in American League history, they constructed baseball's most embraceable identity. They were young and eager to please. Their manager knew literature and savored good wine. They admonished doubters the old-fashioned way, by saying nothing.

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Cubs, White Sox Disappear in a Blink
Dan Morrissey, Chicago Tribune

Come with me now on a nostalgic journey back to a magical time for Chicago baseball fans.

George W. Bush was president, a gallon of gas cost $3.65 and a government bailout of the financial industry was in the works.

You know, the middle of last week.

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ESPN still struggles to locate the Trop

ESPN seems to understand that the Dallas Cowboys play in Irving, Texas, not Dallas. We think they could even correctly tell you that the New York Giants and Jets play in New Jersey, not New York. And we're fairly certain they could even direct you to a Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim home game.

But the network persists in its stubborn refusal to learn that the Rays play in St. Petersburg, as evidenced by this ESPN.com home page announcement of the White Sox victory over the Twins in last night's one-game playoff. (Click image to enlarge)

Ken Walker, Times staff writer

What they're saying

Here's a look at what other sites have to say about the Rays' 3-game sweep:

DRaysBay.com: Longlorious

Boston.com: Stinging Rays and Sox pen authored disaster.

RaysBaseball: Rays wield brooms and Raysmania taking hold

SI.com: Rays lower broom on Sox

ESPN.com: Longoria cleans up as Rays finish sweep of BoSox

USATODAY.com: Longoria's hot bat helps Rays sweep Sox

NYTimes.com: Rays intrude on rite of summer

Bradenton.com: Rays rally to sweep Sox in Trop-rocking victory

OrlandoSentinel.com: Rays nip Red Sox 7-6 for a sweep

From Courant.com's GoldBlog: "Panic grips Hub!"