CHICAGO -- Can you see Tom Glavine in Scott Kazmir?

As the champagne sprayed Monday following Tampa Bay's 6-2 win over the Chicago White Sox, did you see any John Smoltz in Matt Garza? Through the fairytale, was Greg Maddux partly visible in Andy Sonnanstine?

The jubilant, talented and precocious Rays clinched the first postseason series triumph in their brief history, lightening up the "blackout" conditions at White Sox Park with starter Sonnanstine keeping the ball in the park. A rare occurrence here at U.S. Cellular Field, but it's how you beat the White Sox.

When reliever Grant Balfour fanned Ken Griffey Jr. at 7:20 p.m. local time, Tampa Bay became only the second team in major-league history to own the game's worst record one year and advance in the postseason the next.

The only other was the 1991 Atlanta Braves, which is a pretty good little precedent. I don't know if that means this Tampa Bay club will play all the way into the World Series like those '91 Braves, but I know someone who thinks it might.

In fact, this guy labels the Rays as the favorites to win it all this fall.

James Shields is part of the Rays' similar-looking rotation to the '91 Braves. (Getty Images)

These Rays, like those Braves, are built not just for now, but for the future. Monday's Game 4 lineup contained two first-round draft picks (center fielder B.J. Upton and third baseman Evan Longoria) and one second-rounder (left fielder Carl Crawford).

Their playoff roster contains four home-grown, first-rounders (outfielder Rocco Baldelli and pitcher David Price are the other two) and, if you toss in first-rounders acquired from other organizations (Kazmir, from the Mets; starter Matt Garza, from Minnesota; reliever J.P. Howell, from Kansas City and several others), Tampa Bay had 11 of them on its roster.

These Rays, by average age (27.4), are the youngest of the eight postseason clubs this fall. Their rotation (24.6) is the youngest to pitch its way into the postseason since that of the 1986 Doc Gooden/Ron Darling/Sid Fernandez Mets.

I don't know whether all of this will put the Rays into the playoffs for 14 consecutive seasons, matching the feat of those remarkable Braves, but I do know someone in a high baseball place who is pretty doggone impressed with what they're doing right now.

"I really am pulling for them," White Sox general manager Kenny Williams said moments after the Rays sent his club home for the winter. "They did it through the draft. They did it through player development. They mixed in some major league moves along the way.

"I'm rooting for them."

These Rays are so green at this winning thing that they've taken a major step forward in the actual art of celebrating. Far more goggles were visible on their faces as the bubbly splashed in Chicago on the latest, greatest night in franchise history than were available when they first sprayed champagne two weeks ago after clinching a playoff spot.

"We had seen other teams celebrate," first baseman Carlos Pena said.

But?

"Some of us overlooked the eye goggles and how necessary they were," he quipped.

Hey. Protective eyewear can take away the sting of champagne but, let's be honest here. On a night like this, there are no guarantees that it completely keeps the red eyes in check.

"I can't really put into words what this is like," said an emotional Crawford, who has been in the organization since 1999. "It's a dream come true."

Rays skipper Joe Maddon nearly lost it when someone summoned him to step outside the clubhouse because a guy was waiting at the door. In a class move, it was Ozzie Guillen. The White Sox manager made a special point of walking a couple hundred yards down the gloomy corridor to personally congratulate Maddon and his club.

"That's class," Maddon said. "That showed respect, and it meant a tremendous amount for me, personally. I was pretty emotional at that moment."

Coming off the only playoff loss in franchise history a day earlier, the Rays' feel-good story could have taken a serious hit had they lost again and been forced back into a Game 5 on Wednesday. But Upton crushed a home run against White Sox starter Gavin Floyd in the first inning and then blasted a second in the third inning.

"It's always a new hero," Longoria said. "B.J. has had his struggles of late, coming off of injuries."

You sure couldn't tell now. When his 417-foot rope landed in the third, it was his third homer in four at-bats going back to the seventh inning of Game 3.

"Man, I'm so happy for him," Longoria said. "Going into the game, I was getting my ankles taped and I said, 'I don't care if you put one hit in those ankles today if you can just put a win in there."

One for all, and all for one. It's corny in some places, cliché in others. For the Rays, it's both honest and right. Did you see Kazmir drill White Sox shortstop Orlando Cabrera in his first at-bat in Game 2 after Cabrera screamed and kicked dirt at reliever Grant Balfour for something in Game 1?

Maddon preaches unity as much as strategy, and Tampa Bay has taken it to goofy extremes at times this year with the Mohawk haircuts and Ed Hardy T-shirts. Kazmir plunking Cabrera showed not only that he was sticking up for a teammate, but was evidence that Balfour is highly respected in his own clubhouse.

Sometimes the team that grows together actually wins together. Once the '91 Braves turned it around, there was no stopping them. It's difficult enough to imagine Tampa Bay playing in October, period. Let alone becoming as much a part of our October landscape as apple cider and caramel-covered apples.

But sometimes things really do change.

"In Atlanta in the '80s they didn't finish very high and they drafted some players," said White Sox third base coach Jeff Cox, who managed and coached in Atlanta's farm system from 1996-1998. "Steve Avery comes to mind, and Ryan Klesko and Chipper Jones and Mark Wohlers. They had some top picks in the draft and they made some right choices, along with the Smoltz trade and Maddux (signed as a free agent).

"All of a sudden, the struggling in the '80s manifested into a front-line major league club in the '90s and early 2000s. You had Bobby Cox and now over there, you've got Joe Maddon. There's a certain plan along the way."

The Braves in that fall of '91 were blessed with a 25-year-old Glavine, a 24-year-old Smoltz and a 21-year-old Avery. Maddux was yet to come.

Those Braves were driven for so long by the Cooperstown-bound trio of Maddux, Smoltz and Glavine. If these Rays wind up producing even one Hall of Fame pitcher, it will be quite an accomplishment.

In fact, heck, based on their 10 losing seasons before this one, if these Rays wind up even producing back-to-back postseason clubs, it will be something to see.

But on this night, at this time, you can say something about the Rays that you never could before: They are very, very good ... and their future is very, very bright.

"It just seems like they've got something special going on there," Konerko said.

The Rays agree -- and they appreciate him picking them to win.

"That's a big compliment from a guy like that," Crawford said. "He's right -- we've got to keep taking care of business, and we've got to keep handling things."