The Tampa Bay Devil Rays beat Detroit last night, a victory no doubt celebrated with champagne in the front office at Tropicana Field. With the win, the D-Rays assured themselves of escaping the AL East basement and finishing fourth for the first time in their brief history. The win also guaranteed another fact: with their worst record in 23 years, the Toronto Blue Jays are going to finish Dead Freakin' Last in 2004. They will choose either 4th, 5th or 6th in next June's draft, depending on the Expos and Brewers' final weekend performances. Welcome, in other words, to rock bottom.

Now, for Jays fans, this indisputably stinks. But if you're the kind of person who likes to find just one thing to feel positive about: try this: this is only the second time Toronto has finished last in any full season since 1982. Since then, the DFL position has been apportioned thus:



Tampa Bay 6
Cleveland 4
Baltimore 2
Detroit 2
Milwaukee 2
Boston 1
New York 1
Toronto 1

That's right -- even the mighty Yankees (1990) and BoSox (1992) have sat in the basement recently; the Yankees' cellar-dwelling season came in the middle of four straight sub-.500 campaigns. And I trust you'll recall which team won its first World Series the last time the Red Sox finished last.

What does all this mean? Going forward, maybe nothing. But I think it says two things: (1) this has been a remarkably resilient franchise for the past 20 years, and (2) what goes up always, always, always comes down. Feel free to lament this sorry Blue Jays squad; but don't utterly despair for the future, because as Sparky Anderson once said: "Every 12 hours, the planet turns upside down on the guy who was sitting on top of the world."

Today, though, the Jays are playing for pride. Fallen pitching ace Roy Halladay makes his third return to the mound after missing two months with shoulder ailments. Unlike his previous two outings, he'll probably be allowed to let loose and go his normal distance; it helps that his next start will be on about 150 days' rest. He'll pitch to Gregg Zaun, but the Toronto lineup is otherwise unchanged from the starting nine that handed the Yanks their head on a platter last night.

The New Yorkers themselves, unused to embarrassment (outside of Cleveland, anyway), essentially started a AAA team last night. Today, it's a AAAA squad making an appearance: Jay-killer Jorge Posada joins the lineup and bats cleanup, and the Lofton-Matsui-Giambi triplets once again top the order. But otherwise, it's a second straight start for Andy Phillips, Enrique Wilson and Felix Escalona. Old friend Johnny Olerud gets the start at first base; with retirement a distinct option for the Helmeted One after this season, this could be one the last chances for Torontonians to pay their respects to one of the team's most popular alumni.

Kevin Brown starts for New York, and his bosses (including The Boss) will be watching closely and not a little anxiously. Brown has come as advertised for the Yanks: solid when healthy, but not often healthy, and not always with the proper judgment concerning wall-punching and other hobbies. He was hammered in his last start by the Red Sox, and the Yankees really need him to show that it was rust, not ineffectiveness, that did him in that day.

With Orlando Hernandez hit hard again by the Jays last night, and complaining afterwards of a tired arm that could limit his playoff use, the pinstripers' pitching issues have escalated from questionable to outright worrisome. New York plans to start dependable veteran Mike Mussina in their first playoff game, but he's to be followed by -- wait for it -- Jon Lieber. Javier Vazquez doesn't even have a table reserved in this rotation. The bullpen, once a bulwark for the mighty Yankee teams of the past, is also in trouble: Steve Karsay isn't close to his old self, Paul Quantrill appears to have finally broken down, and Joe Torre is seriously considering -- wait for it again -- Tanyon Sturtze to set up for ubercloser Mariano Rivera. In other words, the Yankees absolutely need Kevin Brown to deliver the kind of dominant, eight-inning performance in the playoffs that he can produce at his best. They need to see him deliver a facsimile of that today against the Blue Jays.

And those Jays -- playing for pride at the end of an awful season, behind their recovering ace, with nothing to lose and a lot of frustration to work out -- they're ready and waiting.