It's Beautiful. Why Must They Ugly It Up?

by Manny Stiles on Jul 1, 2008 1:45 PM EDT

I have been priviledged to see the mercurial rise of the lowly "Devil Rays" and the blossoming of the new "It" team from very close and from far away. Sure I was shit-lucky in having Matt Silverman accidentally "win" me and my services. But I really did ask for it. I DARED someone to make me a Rays fan.

And I have LOVED every second of it!

I didn't Fear what the consequences were. Nor do I Fear the reality that is Here.

The Ugly Duckling has effectively shed it's downy chick feathers, has leapt from the nest of 5th place (hey, at least they were never WORSE than 5th!!!) and now swims gracefully atop the rising tide of the AL East. And the Swan is just learning how to preen it's beautiful feathers...

Yet, as quickly as a national media can corner a story ("Holy Crap! the Rays -blah, blah blah- for the first time in Franchise history!"), they can just as quickly smother it .

I have seen the following words in the afterglow of the national media spotlight:

"The Rays winning is BAD for baseball"

"I'm sick of hearing about the Rays, Rays, Rays"

"They're going to blow it anyway and be in last place by September"

Seriously.....?

Grapes can make a beautiful wine. Even a tasty red wine that Joe Maddon would have ready to un-cork in his office after another satisfactory win.

Grapes however can also be sour. Why must people thrash, flail and essential deny reality when it comes to CHANGE? Why does Fear thrive in a world where information and knowledge can be obtained faster than ever?

Face reality. Embrace reality. The Rays are Here. The Rays will continure to be Here and the Future of the AL East will revolve around the Continuation of what has already begun. This team wasn't built for 2008. This team was built for 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015 and beyond.

This team was built to be the New Atlanta Braves... to win perennially in a market oversaturated with poor attitudes and a long history of losing. Look at what the Braves did for the 20 years prior to 1991 and see if it reeks familiar.

There is no other team in baseball with more young, developing, talented pieces producing Now (a.k.a "Here"). There is NO team in the game with more prospective pieces that are developing and ready to be chips to fill the gaps and/or be traded to fill gaps.

The Rays have seriously built this team the Right way. The players play the Right way. They are building a foundation of high quality baseball for years to come.

I have to say, having the Rays become the sudden media darling has been a wonderful exercise in determining which national journalists are full of shit and which actually might know their shit...

If you think THAT is bad for baseball - well then maybe YOU are bad for baseball!!!!!

Go RAYS!!!!

- - - - - Manny Stiles, your brother in the fight against the ignorance...

P.S. - 9=8 minus 7 = We Are One Team

Poll

With the Rays getting so much attention, I am surprised that the national media...

...has proven how clueless they are.

5 votes

...can say Andy Sonnanstine's name correctly.

3 votes

...is willing to demonstrate supreme ignorance with such blatent confidence.

6 votes

...hasn't caught on that the Rays bats haven't heated up yet.

14 votes

...has no idea that David Price is still on the way.

5 votes

...is giving Marc Topkin so much face time

3 votes

...continues to regurgitate the SAME, BORING, LAME unfunny jokes.

15 votes

51 votes | Poll has closed

This post was written by a member of the DRaysBay community and does not necessarily express the views or opinions of DRaysBay staff.

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Comments

"Carmelo Anthony and the Rich Creamy Nougats."

Pronounced “Car-a-mel-o”.

It’s always funny when your team isn’t the subject to ridicule though.

by kericr on Jul 1, 2008 2:08 PM EDT reply actions

The biggest misconception

I hear from people is our players are all having career years(exceeding expectations) and that we have been healthy and the Sox/Yanks have not. Both of these could not be less true.

by Sveet on Jul 1, 2008 2:18 PM EDT reply actions

Do me a favor?

Please source your national media quotes….I’m especially curious to know who said

by GomesSweetGomes on Jul 1, 2008 2:19 PM EDT reply actions

"They're going to blow it anyway and be in last place by September"

by GomesSweetGomes on Jul 1, 2008 2:20 PM EDT up reply actions

I'm with Manny's and Jake's posts

As a daily listener of XM Homeplate, it blows my mind(though I know it shouldn’t) how little research these yahoos do on the teams they are covering. It wasn’t until the recent media blitz on the Rays that I realized how much these guys regurgitate the same misinformation over and over again, and it gets annoying. The first thing on my mind right now is player names. If you’re in the media and you’re covering a sport(and on the 4-letter network), know the damn names of the players. When I got home last night from the game, the damn moron(don’t remember which one) giving the highlights of the game on Baseball Tonight starts off by telling me how JUSTIN Upton took the first pitch he saw over the centerfield fence. Later, someone pronounced Oriole pitcher Dennis Sarfate’s last name as (SAH-FAR-TAY). Then there’s Kevin Kennedy…Kazmir is not pronounced the same as cashmere. Also, Kevin, DELWYN Young was never a Ray, so I’m not sure how they traded him to the Twins when they never had a contract with him.. I can understand getting a little mixed up with similar names now and then, but these people are paid to know these things. When they try to mention names of the guys in the bullpen, they actually get the names right, but it sickens me to hear them talk about Glover and Miller being key parts of the bullpen. They are the key parts to giving me high blood pressure, along with Percy as of late. There is no excuse for leaving out J.P. Howell or balfour when mentioning the bullpen. With the Rays at the forefront of the baseball news like they have been recently, it’s about time these writers and broadcasters spend more than 5 minutes to gather their information on the team.

by rayweaver on Jul 1, 2008 3:07 PM EDT reply actions

It is one reason

that the blogs are often so much better than the traditional media. Many blogs are run by people devoted to their subject and willing to do the research and investigate carefully the topics they open to discussion. Traditional media is often far more interested in their ratings, the needs of their sponsors and jazzing up their reputations by developing a schtick to worry much about accuracy or in-depth insights.

Some of it is understandable. They are generalists, required to cover stories far and wide and even with research staffs unable to assimilate all the information needed to have more than a superficial knowledge of every subject. They appeal to a general audience without the interest or capacity in some cases to follow in-depth discussions. Especially on radio and TV they do not have the time for more than quick hits, nor do their formats allow for more than that.

To survive, they need the sensational, the attention grabber. Blogs have the luxury papers, radio and TV do not have.

by bobr on Jul 1, 2008 4:12 PM EDT reply actions 1 recs