There's a reason why the Tampa Bay Rays are so great. Nothing to hide. No fuss.

 PHOENIX — These are the drivers of the Ford Taurus that are in the lead in the Indy 500.

They are the folks that make In-N-Out feel like a Mastro's restaurant even though they can't afford a double-double burger, let alone a fillet mignon.

They are the men who observe clubs pleading for team meetings to save their failing seasons while their only gathering is to divide up the playoff prizes.

The Tampa Bay Rays are the best club in the American League, if not all of baseball, and they're on track to break all of the previous team records.

They entered Saturday with a 57-28 record, a major league-leading 163 runs against the opposition, and a commanding lead in the AL East. They were the envy of every base

Follow the money: Major League Baseball payrolls and player salariesball owner and executive office.

They are the antithesis of the New York Mets and San Diego Padres, two clubs that dominated the winter buzz with payrolls totaling almost $600 million but ended up with records that were just marginally better than the Colorado Rockies and had to endure embarrassing trade deadline sell-offs.

Josh Lowe, an outfielder with the Rays, tells USA TODAY Sports that "this squad is incredible for a reason. Everything people say about us that you hear is true. From the top down, ownership is where it all begins. They allowed us to be who we are. Our clubhouse is here. We like caring for one another while doing so.

The pressure is just absent. You realise it's the same game you've been playing when they remove all the pressure from you because

It’s a team that certainly has a brilliant scouting department, develops their players as good as any franchise in the game, but they’ve also created such a comfortable environment that makes it almost impossible not to succeed.

It’s like walking into a Wall Street boardroom wearing a T-shirt, shorts and flip-flops, plopping down at the conference table, and making more money than everyone wearing Gucci suits and St. John dresses.

"Everyone dresses differently, they don't care what we're wearing," says veteran reliever Jason Adam, whose career took off two years ago after he joined the Rays, his fourth different organisation. There is a limit between professionalism and suit and tie, though.

It's fairly relaxed. They are unconcerned about the outer world. They value having good teammates. They gain the most from us when they have faith in us and give us assurance.

"They just allow us to go have fun and beat up on teams while they help use all of that to our benefit."

This is a club that got out to a 13-0 start and hasn't looked back. They're now in with a chance of becoming just the sixth team in baseball history to go undefeated.