ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- Self-awareness is the Tampa Bay Rays ' superpower. A natural disaster tore the roof off their home, and their franchise player torpedoed his career in the ugliest manner imaginable, and never did the Rays fall prey to doubt. Baseball can be brutal and unrelenting and unforgiving, but when the world seemed to conspire against them, the Rays found solace in the one thing in which they never stopped believing: themselves.

Their trip to the 122 nd World Series, booked with a rollicking 7-3 victory against the Cleveland Guardians in Game 6 of the American League Championship Series on Monday night, crystallized the power of Tampa Bay's method and delivered madness to the 40,230 who filled Tropicana Field. Over the past two decades, the Rays had built something meaningful.…