ST. PETERSBURG -- Listen, people, the Tampa Bay Rays are one of
the most efficient, best-run businesses in this country.  Got
that?  Need me to repeat it?   They're not just one of the best-
run baseball teams. That's too narrow. The Rays can stand
alongside businesses in almost any industry.  They hire smart
people. They empower them to do their jobs. They encourage them
to innovate, think outside the box, whatever you want to call
it.  It's not just that the Rays do more with less than almost
any other team in the game. That's where everything begins, but
it's just part of the story.  I wouldn't be writing this column
if the Rays hadn't averaged 92 victories over the last six
seasons and made the postseason four times despite one of the
lowest payrolls in baseball.  The Rays have won so much that
they've begun to make it look easy. One Tampa Bay columnist
referred to winning 90-plus games every season as getting
"stale." Maybe that's the highest compliment anyone can pay the
Rays. They do their jobs so quiet