There are two things we need to remember about the Devil Rays:

1. They've only been around since 1998.

2. They suck, and they always have.

Now its a mighty long way down the dusty trail
And the sun burns hot on the cold steel rails
And I look like a bum and I crawl like a snail

This is the third and last batch of photographs from my trip to Washington, D.C. ...

Stomping the Devil Rays 12-3 is a little like enjoying a super-nice sunny afternoon in early July. It feels great, it's just what you want -- but it's also not an iota less than what you had fully expected. This is why no team really feels great after beating Tampa -- this franchise is so bad that its opponents' expectations of victory are exceedingly high. We'll return to the topic of high expectations later on in this report.

The pun was so nice, he used it twice.

Dustin returned to Double-A last night, the D-Jays At The Bat didn't help out Casey one bit, the Devil Rays' affiliates paid back Syracuse and Lansing for the 12-3 thrashing of the parent club and there was a little dispute involving the French. All told, a 2-4 night on the farm.

I bought a new hat.

Cleveland join the party.

It was Josh Towers versus Mark Hendrickson in a Tropicana Field matinee, and Towers made a run at history before allowing a hit in the 7th inning. That was way more interesting than a 12-3 game had any right to be. Russ Adams shows his power and the Jays win big.

We come from the land of the ice and snow
The midnight sun, where the hot springs flow
Hammer of the gods

This is the second of three supersized editions of Photo of the Day chronicling the Hank family's road trip to Washington D.C. ...

With the way the bullpens on the full-season teams were pitching, Dunedin was lucky they were rained out. Only the short-season teams picked up wins last night.

I remember Burley mentioning that he actually made notes during the game when he was writing the Game Report. What a novel idea! Why don't I try that?

I said you wouldn't want to miss this one. Scott Kazmir and Roy Halladay both pitched fine games, although neither were around when this thing was finally settled. The Jays broke through for a couple in the 11th for a 3-1 victory, taking advantage of an obviously flagging Doug Waechter working his fifth inning of relief.

Mrs. Hank, baby Theo and myself drove out to Washington D.C. over the weekend to visit family and check out two of the Jays vs. Nationals games at RFK.

They weren't always the New York Yankees. In fact, they didn't always play in New York.