Baseball is America's pastime, but had our forefathers enjoyed the modern conveniences of clocks, ball pumps, or haste, this pastime may well have been basketball or football. Instead, they had wood, leather, and a rudderless disposition. Baseball is Boring is a series of live blogs for folks who need irony and self-awareness to get through a game.

Today we have another mystery player, seen here in a Yankees cap. A small clue would be that he's my all-time favorite Yankees player. I'll drop more clues later if it's not immediately apparent.

Today we have the FIRST PLACE Rays hosting the SECOND TO LAST PLACE Yankees. I assure you my psilocybin habit has been thoroughly kicked, and that is indeed the case. A huge favorite to be the breakout team in the American League this season they've been exactly that, through strong pitching and timely hitting. Granted, I believe they'll fall back to earth in the months to come, it's still rather exciting to see action springing from the former cellar dwellers of the east.

Would you have guessed that everything would be coming up roses for the Rays this late in the season? They're on a six game winning streak, an eleven game win streak at home (three in Orlando, eight in Tampa), and they just overtook the Red Sox for first place in the A.L. East. But it's not only the present that looks bright, but it's the future ... as they've just locked up another piece.

The Rays and Scott Kazmir have agreed to terms on a contract extension at least through 2011, with the team holding an option for 2012. The deal, which begins next season, guarantees Kazmir at least $28.5 million and could be worth up to $39.5 million. (...)

"I think for the four years that I've been here, we've seen a lot of changes," said Kazmir, "and I think this past offseason we really addressed a lot of issues that needed to be addressed ... It's not about the money," Kazmir said. "It's about me being comfortable and just loving to play the game. I love being here with all the teammates I have, the coaching staff, the front office – everything."

Kazmir, acquired in midseason 2004 from the Mets, is already the Rays' all-time leader in wins, strikeouts, starts and innings pitched.

Not long ago, the Rays made a list of the ten worst franchises in all of sports. There are many ways you can invalidate that list which are more meaningful than the following: but since that list came out, the Rays are 6-0. And now they have one of the brightest young stars in baseball locked up for the next four years. I think they might finally be off that list.

On Deck is FanHouse's look at the day's most intriguing baseball matchups

Los Angeles Angels (24-17) vs. Chicago White Sox (18-20) - 10:05PM Est.

While most of the world knows John Lackey as our very own Pat Lackey's older, harder-throwing, better-smelling, and much smarter estranged brother, he's better known in southern California as the ace of the Angels pitching staff (Pat , on the other hand, was turned down by the Angels when he applied to become the new rally monkey).

Lackey won 19 games for the Angels last season, and helped lead them to another AL West division crown, but he hasn't been available to the team at all this season. Of course, his absence hasn't done much to keep the Angels out of first place out west.

Now, with his return today, the Angels have become even stronger.

On Deck is FanHouse's look at the day's most intriguing matchups

Cincinnati Reds (15-23) vs. Florida Marlins (23-14) 7:10PM Est.

Quick, without looking it up, who has the best record in baseball right now? Did you say the Diamondbacks? Close, you were right up until yesterday, but getting swept by the Cubs knocked them off the top of the mountain. The Red Sox? Good choice, they are the defending champs after all, but even though they have the best record in the American League, they aren't the best in baseball.

No, that honor somehow belongs to the Florida Marlins, who have managed to win their last 7 games and are currently an MLB-best 23-14.

Just what the hell is going on here?

At the end of April, I took a look at the growing trend of teams locking up young players to long-term contracts long before free agency. The Tampa Bay Rays have been at the forefront of the movement and their decision to seal a deal with Evan Longoria six days into his big league career is the most extreme one to date.

Last night against the Angels, the team's theory of team building looked like a can't miss. Longoria hit a two-run, walk off ninth-inning home run to support James Shields's one-hitter in a 2-0 win against the AL West frontrunners. Shields also received a long-term deal from the Rays and he's pitched complete game shutouts in two of his last three starts.

Longoria hasn't been so productive of late, 6-for-35 over his last 10 games, but the homer was the latest in a series of big late-game hits he's gotten in his short career. Even with his struggles, Tampa's won 11 of 16 and, at three games over .500, continue to navigate their way through uncharted waters of success.

They'll stay there with pitching. Scott Kazmir's back to join Shields in front of a rotation that's been impressive all season. But the order of their importance, thought to be Kazmir-Shields, may be the reverse.

On Deck is FanHouse's look at the day's most intriguing baseball matchups.

Cincinnati Reds (14-21) at New York Mets (17-15) - 1:10 PM ET and 7:30 PM ET

Yesterday, we brought you the news that the Mets might be re-evaluating Willie Randolph's job status very closely over the next month. Well let the re-evaluating start today, with a doubleheader against the Cincinnati Reds. The Mets just came from a road trip against N.L. West powerhouses Arizona and Los Angeles and broke even on the six game trip. That's impressive. But the Mets under Randolph have historically been the type of team that could break even or better against the good teams on the road, then turn around to a seemingly easier homestand and do no better than break even there too. The Mets now have seven at home against the Reds and Nationals starting today, and anything less than five wins will more than likely turn the heat up on Randolph ... especially going into the series against the Yankees immediately following, where everything is magnified to the hilt anyway. So let the Willie Watch begin.

On Deck is FanHouse's look at the day's most intriguing baseball matchups

Toronto Blue Jays (16-17) vs. Tampa Bay Rays (16-15) - 7:07PM Est.

It's been a few weeks since the Blue Jays cut themselves loose of slugger Frank Thomas because he just wasn't contributing anything on offense for them. Since that move, the Blue Jays still haven't scored very many runs, pushing only 37 runners across the plate in the 14 post-Thomas era games. Generally when you're only scoring 2.6 runs a game, you aren't going to win much, and the Blue Jays haven't going 6-8 in those games.

Over the last few days, though, Toronto has figured out how to win without scoring runs, and that's just not letting your opponent score any either.

Unlike the other teams that joined the league in the 90's when the league expanded (twice), the Devil Rays haven't seen much success in their short lifetime (and by "much" I mean "any. At all."). The Marlins have won the World Series twice, the D-Backs once, and even the Rockies found a way to weasel their way into a World Series. The Rays, on the other hand, have never won more than seventy games (a feat that happened just once, back in 2004) and the .500 mark has been nothing more than a silly wish year after year.

At the start of every season, most teams share a common goal: play well, win games, and get to the playoffs. Not the Rays, though. They dream not of World Series rings but of a winning season and the pride of joining the other teams in the ".500 club."

Could it finally be their time? It certainly look like a possibility. They got through April with a .500+ winning percentage (they're 16-15 as of today), and they are in the top half of the league in runs scored, batting average, OPS, home runs, ERA and wins. They may not be at the TOP of any of those categories, but the fact that they are performing above-average in all of those areas bodes. What's more, while they may not have the flashiest roster in the league, they've got an exciting young core (not a single position player is over 30) that is showing spunk enough to hang on and win games.

If only they didn't have to play an unbalanced schedule against their AL East counterparts...

On Deck is FanHouse's look at the day's most intriguing baseball matchups.

Chicago Cubs (17-12) at St. Louis Cardinals (19-11) - 3:45 PM ET

A Cubs/Cardinals game on a Saturday afternoon which is aired on national television will always bring back memories of Ryne Sandberg hitting dingers off of Bruce Sutter while Bob Costas freaks out on NBC. Of course, not everything can be like it was in the 80's. Sandberg is now a coach, the Cardinals no longer wear powder blue uniforms, and Costas is currently teaming with Buzz Bissinger to stop the spread of evil bloggers like us, who didn't even exist in the 80's. But one thing is like it was then: Cubs vs. Cardinals on this Saturday afternoon on national television is an important matchup with may help decide the division (even if the division is the N.L. Central, and not the N.L. East as it was in the 80's).

In the here and now, the Cardinals, who won the first game of this series last night on a Skip Schumaker walk-off home run, will go with the wildly successful Kyle Lohse (3-0, 2.36), while the Cubs hit the field with the not so wildly successful Ted Lilly (1-4, 6.46). In the bullpen, watch out for rookie Kyle McClellan, who has a .211 batting average against, with a 1.72 ERA and a 0.89 WHIP so far this season. (Actually, I only bring up McClellan as an excuse to tell you that on the day that Sandberg hit two HR's on NBC, McClellan was alive for all of eleven days. Damn, I'm old. And I love the 80's.)

On Deck is FanHouse's look at the day's most intriguing baseball matchups

Arizona Diamondbacks (20-8) vs. New York Mets (14-12) - 9:40PM Est.

There's no doubt about it, if Sloth from The Goonies weren't a fictional character and lived in the real world, his favorite baseball player would be Diamondbacks pitcher/slugger Micah Owings. Owings has only been in the bigs for a little over a year now, but he's already garnering comparisons to the legendary Babe Ruth.

Obviously, the comparisons are extremely immature, but it's easy to see why they're being made. After all, not only is Owings 4-0 on the season with a 3.48 ERA, but he may be the best hitter on the Diamondbacks as well. In 79 career big league at bats, Owings is hitting .354/.373/.671 with five homers and 18 runs driven in. In the entire history of baseball, of players who have had 75 career at bats, there are only four who have a higher career OPS than Owings' current 1.044: Barry Bonds, Lou Gehrig, Ted Williams, and of course, Babe Ruth.