On a sunny Wednesday morning in July, 1999, [Devil] Rays’ Public Relations guru Rick Vaughn emerged from his office and pronounced “We’re going to win tonight.”

That was a bold statement on July 7, 1999.  The D-Rays were 36-47, 14 games back of the New York Yankees.  That evening, they were sending former rehab-start-all-star

The man. The myth. The legend. Inventor of Reverse Lock theory, Rick Vaughn, is on the right.

turned Yankee pitching coach turned Rays consultant Dave Eiland to the mound against a Red Sox lineup that included juiced-up super heroes David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez (nevermind, they weren’t in Boston yet, ain’t the internet grand?) Mike Stanley (I know, I can’t believe he was still there either) and Brian Daubach.

More daunting, the scuffling Stingers offense had to find a way to score against Pedro Martinez who was already 15-2 and had struck out 170 hitters in 124.2 innings that summer.

Why did RV think the DRays would win?  “The Reverse Lock.”

Sure enough, The Crime Dog sliced a double down the left-field line, Aaron Ledesma, Paul Sorrento, and John Flaherty drove in one run each, and Dave Eiland made it stand up for a 3-2 win.  Seriously.  That happened.  I was there.  And I found the box score.

Ummm.  So what?  Right?

Well, the Reverse Lock theory has stood the test of time.  And, tonight feels like a perfect example.  The Rays have no reason to win tonight in Seattle.  They are going to have 6 hours of air travel and jet lag on their bodies.  They haven’t brought any bats to the ballpark in a week.  And they are facing the 2011 version of Pedro Martinez: Felix Hernandez.

Granted, Shields is a lot better option for us than Dave Eiland was for the 1999 club.  Nevertheless, Felix alone makes this a Reverse Lock game.  So, go ahead.  Impress your friends.  Tell them of the Reverse Lock.  It will set up a ton of “I told you so”-s tomorrow.