OAKLAND — Edwin Jackson loves this. Playing for a team who consistently carries one of the lowest payrolls in baseball. Buried by critics in a division you’re given no shot of competing in. A half-empty home stadium that’s only packed when fans of the opposing team invades it. It’s the makings of a World Series team, at least in Jackson’s experience.
Ten years ago, Jackson was a member of the 2008 Tampa Bay Rays, who flipped a terrible 66-96 2007 season by shocking the baseball world as they went 97-65. That’s right, they finished first place in the AL East and better New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox, two organizations who seem to print money every year, and reached the World Series.