Uh oh, I’m now doing what I warned the Rays against: watching the standings. It started two nights ago when the Rays beat the Blue Jays while the Red Sox and Yankees lost. I thought, “Hmmm, they gained a game. Good.”

I peeked this morning and saw that that Sox lost again, and the Yanks won. Not too bad. Rays have a three-game lead in the AL East.

But like I said a few days ago: There are more than 50 games left to play (55 to be exact). I think it’s counterproductive for Rays players to start a daily vigil on how the Sox and Yanks are doing.

I know it’s impossible to ignore those scores — the news is everywhere — but the St. Petersburg team has to do its best to downplay the day-to-day importance.

For fans, on the other hand, it just adds to the excitement.

The Rays fared pretty well on their road trip, going 4-3 and taking two out of three (close games) from division foe Toronto (although, collectively, the offense has yet to kick into gear).

The Rays play their next six games at home, three each against the increasingly dangerous Detroit Tigers (6-4 in their last 10) and then the Indians.

I like that Kazmir opens the series on Friday, not so much that the increasingly shaky Andy Sonnanstine pitches against crusty veteran Kenny Rogers on Saturday. Then again, L.L. Cool J performs after that game, and the Rays haven’t lost on concert Saturday nights.

I'm wondering if my bud Sean Daley of the St. Pete Times has started watching the standings? I'm also wondering if he's excited about watching L.L. shirtless.

This article appears in Jul 30 – Aug 5, 2008.

Eric Snider is the dean of Bay area music critics. He started in the early 1980s as one of the founding members of Music magazine, a free bi-monthly. He was the pop music critic for the then-St. Petersburg...