Tampa Bay Rays: How the Home Run Defined (and Ruined) 2011

A home run is clearly the most fascinating and exhilarating play in baseball.

This year, the Tampa Bay Rays lived and died by the most exciting play in baseball.  They were eliminated on Tuesday, losing Game 4 of the ALDS to the defending AL champion Texas Rangers.

The score was 4-3. The number of HRs hit by the Rangers was four.

Adrian Beltre, Texas' third basemen, hit three of them. If you do the math that means the Rays got knocked out of the postseason on four solo home runs. This kind of tear-laden ending has sob story was written for the Rays, except for one problem: The HR is what got them to the postseason.

Overall, the Rays hit a modest number of round-trippers during the regular season, finishing 10th in MLB with 172. Texas finished second with 210 and if Curtis Granderson, Mark Teixeira and Robinson Cano don't tell you who finished first, I offer you my condolences.

Riding on the coattails of their rotation, with veteran James Shields—who has has a 1.04 WHIP in 249 IP— and youngsters David Price, James Hellickson and Wade Davis, the Rays capitalized on the Boston's pathetic season-ending skid.

On the final day of the season, what many are calling the best regular-season finish ever, the Rays roared back from a 7-0 deficit to beat the New York Yankees, in what was a meaningless game for the men in pinstripes. How'd they win it?

Evan Longoria hit a clutch three-run bomb in the eighth inning to bring TB within one. Longoria led the team during the regular season with 31 moon shots.

Then came what I am officially calling the most breathtaking moment of the season. In the bottom of the ninth, with the Rays, still trailing 7-6, unveiled a very unlikely hero, pinch-hitter Dan Johnson.

However, Johnson didn't exactly scream of hero at the time, as he was batting below .120 and had hit only one HR on the season. As it was the ninth inning, manager Joe Maddon had nobody else to turn to.

Remember, this was a day when the outcome seemingly didn't matter for the Yankees. Either way, Yankees manager Joe Girardi was protecting future Hall of Fame closer Mariano Rivera in order to prepare him for the upcoming ALDS.

So, Cory Wade, who dominated 2011 with a 1.03 WHIP in 39.2 innings, was Riveria's replacement. After getting Ben Zobrist and Casey Kotchman to go down quietly, he put Johnson in a 2-2 hole and the Rays season was all but done for. 

Johnson decided that the magic was still alive for the Rays and he promptly lifted a ball just over the right field fence—a measly 343 feet—tying the score. Breathtaking, right?

Longoria, not one to let his fledgling teammate out-homer him, decided to take the reigns in the 12th. With the score still locked in a 7-7 tie, Longoria (again) worked that magical 2-2 count and (again) just barely sailed a line drive down the left field line and over the minuscule fence.  All it took was 327 feet to send them to the playoffs.

Let's recap: the Rays were 10th overall in HRs and yet they used the long ball to get them to the playoffs. They used their most potent power hitter—Longoria with 31 HR—and guys like Dan Johnson—two HRs—and catcher Kelly Shoppach—10 HRs on the season and two in Game 1 of the ALDS.

Shoppach's story is especially noteworthy since he did it in Arlington, in front of his friends and family. He was born in Fort Worth and went to Baylor in Waco, Texas, less than 100 miles away. Also, for those of you who love it when fans act like players, here's what happened when Shoppach hit his first of two bombs.

For the Rays, there was nothing sweeter than smoking a pitch right on the sweet spot and watching it fly through the air, destined for the mantle of some adoring fan.  Although Beltre and the Rangers crushed the Ray's title hopes, you can't help but think that the law of averages came into play for Tampa Bay.

For a team that finished tenth in the league in HRs, it only makes sense that they were knocked out of the playoffs by four HRs.

The fact that they were all solo home runs is ridiculous and unbelievable. On the other hand, so was the manner in which the Rays made it to the playoffs.