The Tampa Bay Rays went 97-65 in 2008, a .599 winning percentage — the third best record in baseball. They scored 774 runs and allowed 671, a run differential of +103. The offence ranked 13th of 30 in MLB for runs scored, while their 3.86 staff ERA was the third best. Their 106 team wRC+ was 6% above league average — 6th of 30 in MLB. B.J. Upton led the position players at 3.9 WAR, and James Shields the rotation at a 3.56 ERA.
The 2008 season
Month by month, the streaks, and the record in the games that are argued about.
They finished first in the AL East, 2 games clear. They spent 110 of 184 days in first place, led by as many as 5.5 games on August 23 and were as far as 5 games back on April 21. Their best month was August at 21-7, their worst Sept/Oct at 13-14. The longest runs were a 7-game winning streak from June 29 to July 6 and a 7-game losing streak from July 7 to July 13. They were 57-24 at home and 40-41 on the road, 29-18 in one-run games and 55-46 against clubs that finished .500 or better. The most lopsided win was 15-3 at the Marlins on June 25; the heaviest defeat, 13-2 at the Indians on July 10.
Record by month. March games count toward April, October’s toward September.
Month
W
L
Pct
RS
RA
Diff
March/April
15
12
.556
130
109
+21
May
19
10
.655
123
116
+7
June
16
10
.615
134
106
+28
July
13
12
.520
87
102
-15
August
21
7
.750
163
106
+57
Sept/Oct
13
14
.481
137
132
+5
Splits. Extra innings are blank for a season whose games predate the innings count.
Games
W-L
Pct
Home
57-24
.704
Road
40-41
.494
One-run games
29-18
.617
Extra innings
10-6
.625
Within the division
43-29
.597
Against .500+ clubs
55-46
.545
Decided by 5+ runs
27-18
.600
Last 10
6-4
.600
2008 postseason
In October the Tampa Bay Rays beat the White Sox 3-1 in the ALDS, beat the Red Sox 4-3 in the ALCS, then lost the World Series to the Phillies 4-1.
ALDS vs White Sox3-1 W
Game 1, October 2 W 6-4 vs White Sox
Game 2, October 3 W 6-2 vs White Sox
Game 3, October 5 L 3-5 at White Sox
Game 4, October 6 W 6-2 at White Sox
ALCS vs Red Sox4-3 W
Game 1, October 10 L 0-2 vs Red Sox
Game 2, October 11 W 9-8 vs Red Sox
Game 3, October 13 W 9-1 at Red Sox
Game 4, October 14 W 13-4 at Red Sox
Game 5, October 16 L 7-8 at Red Sox
Game 6, October 18 L 2-4 vs Red Sox
Game 7, October 19 W 3-1 vs Red Sox
World Series vs Phillies1-4 L
Game 1, October 22 L 2-3 vs Phillies
Game 2, October 23 W 4-2 vs Phillies
Game 3, October 25 L 4-5 at Phillies
Game 4, October 26 L 2-10 at Phillies
Game 5, October 27 L 3-4 at Phillies
American League East standings, 2008
Final standings. The division page has the rest of its season.
American League East, 2008. Games back of the best record in the division.
The players whose season belongs to this club, by position and then by dbWAR. A player traded mid-season is listed with the club he played most of his games for, so a deadline arrival may appear on his other club’s page instead.
Each rectangle is a player, sized by his share of the team's hits; darker means a larger share. Top 30 contributors. Select a different statistic above, or click a player for his page.
Day and night divide the home schedule, and so do weekend and weekday. The road line is a different question.
Split
Games
Avg
Med
Low
High
All home
81
22,370
20,587
8,269
36,048
Night
60
21,952
19,688
8,269
36,048
Day
21
23,566
21,037
10,927
36,048
Weekend
39
24,512
24,720
12,039
36,048
Weekday
42
20,381
18,084
8,269
36,048
On the road
80
29,996
30,297
10,507
54,279
Through the season
Average home crowd by month.
Month
Games
Average
Apr
17
18,867
May
16
17,549
Jun
11
27,298
Jul
12
23,447
Aug
15
22,687
Sep
10
28,852
By season
Announced gate — tickets distributed, which is the figure every reference publishes and is not the same as people through the turnstile. A game the feed reports no gate for is left out rather than counted as empty. Seasons before attendance was carried into the lake are absent from the trend rather than shown as zero.
Game time
First pitch to final out across 162 completed games, 2008.
Regulation
2:57
146 games
All games
3:02
Extra innings
3:51
16 of them
Longest
4:00
2008-04-25, 11 inn
Shortest
2:02
2008-04-19
By situation
Regulation and extra innings divide the season, and so do home and road. Day and night overlap both.
Split
Games
Avg
Med
Fastest
Longest
All
162
3:02
2:58
2:01
5:02
Regulation
146
2:57
2:56
2:01
3:55
Extra innings
16
3:51
3:50
2:41
5:02
Home
81
3:00
2:57
2:02
4:00
Road
81
3:04
2:59
2:01
5:02
Day
47
3:02
2:57
2:06
4:24
Night
115
3:02
2:58
2:01
5:02
Through the season
Average completed game by month.
Month
Games
Average
Apr
17
2:51
May
16
2:52
Jun
11
2:59
Jul
12
2:59
Aug
15
3:12
Sep
10
3:12
By season
Regulation games only, in minutes. 177 minutes this season.
Elapsed time from first pitch to final out. The feed does not itemise delays, so a rain delay is inside these numbers with no way to subtract it. Games called early are excluded — five innings in ninety-three minutes is not a short game — but they still count in attendance, because the crowd turned up.
Record versus run differential
Tampa Bay Rays are 97-65, a .599 win rate, while their +103 run differential implies .565. That is about 5 wins ahead of it, usually a mix of bullpen sequencing and one-run luck.
