What a game!  Despite the fact that the Rays did plenty to try to lose this game, you have to appreciate how they manned up in key situations.  It really was a great win....especially when you consider their lineup today compared to the Yankees'.  The fact they came away with the W proves this team still has some fight in it this season.  I think they're beginning to harness it a bit.  You have to love that how the more this team is pushed back against the wall, the more ferocity they respond with (certainly though, it'd be nice if they could man up against the teams they should beat with ease).

Big props to Zobrist, Dillon! (who thought we'd ever be giving that guy props?  I guess Friedman!), Aybar, BJ and Price!  Speaking of Price, wonder what he was thinking as Navarro was f'ing up his effort.  Price really pitched great today and would have gone deeper into the game if Navarro hadn't messed up. Seriously, 3 errors?  How is he going to sleep tonight? 

Also, credit Joe Nelson for a strong effort.  I don't quite recall if it was him or not (the $11 Heineken's got to me a bit), but in the inning where the Yankees tied the game at 5, I could have sworn that on the Rays executed the double play and that the Ump simply botched the call.  Am I right about that?  Will have to try to find the highlight.  I thought the Rays got jobbed there but I loved the fact that we got Melky to hit just what we needed.  Surprised Maddon didn't get tossed.

Speaking of getting tossed, the thing I'll remember about this game as much as anything was the douche bag Yankees fans in our section.  Now let me make it clear.  I didn't walk into the stadium the way pompous Red Sox and Yankees fans do down at the Trop. I can respect the fact that it's their home stadium and I wasn't about to go in making a scene and attacking their ballclub or the fans individually. My main thing was just to watch the game and cheer (by clapping mainly) when the Rays scored or got key outs and stand and applaud when Zoby and Aybar went yard. 

Well, douche bag 44 year old Yankee fan wearing a Texiera shirt who was there with his 14 year old son, who was wearing a Sabathia shirt (posers for repping the free-agent signees), got a little disgruntled after Rivera blew it in the ninth and the Rays went ahead.  When the Rays took the lead 6-5 on the sac fly, the girl I was with stood up for the first time all day and screamed and cheered for the Rays scoring.  Well d-bag father dude went off and laid a personal attack that absolutely floored me and even had other Yankees fans in the section looking at him like he was an alien.  I mean this guy broke out every name in the book and called the girl I was with gutter terms (pretty much everything aside from the C-word).  His son of course was hunching over in an attempt to separate himself from his d-bag father who actually looked like a clean-cut, decent guy but who clearly showed he's got f'd up perspective.  It was unreal, rather than getting mad, I was laughing all about it (I really couldn't comprehend the horrid nature of this guy) and I actually tried to reason with the guy and ask why he was reacting that way.  Well the girl i was with really got into it with the guy.  He totally antagonized her and he was asking for it.  He called her a lush and that set her off, she was ready to punch him (I was laughing) but I really found it deplorable that he behaved this way toward a woman and was personally attacking her like he did.  He called her a POS and he was sober the entire game...just imagine if he had drank. 

I think he was simply disgruntled because his team blew it and he took it out on us.....2 Rays fans out of thousands of Yankees fans.  The greatest thing in the world though was when the Rays went ahead 9-5 and people, including d-bag father, made a beeline for the exits.  I mean, great stuff buddy, come to a game, act like an A-Hole and then leave early and not support the team.   Was almost hoping the Yankees would tie it in the ninth so that guy could feel like an A-Hole for leaving early.  Yankees fans....haha....it's a farce that they are any better fans than Rays fans.  One idiot in my section was wearing a Twins cap and started talking junk to me when the Yanks tied it at 5.  Seriously? Twins fan cheering for the Yankees and dissing me for being a Rays fan?  What's up with that? That guy was clearly confused....but not enough not to leave the game early before the bottom of the ninth...way to be moron.  In fact, the three rows below us all cleared out before the end of the game....losers.  I'm sure A-Rod loves to have jack-asses like you booing him when you don't even stay for the whole game.  Unreal.

And it was poetic justice at the end of the game, when the 4 people sitting next to us all said, congratulations on the win and have a good night!  And these people were 60+ years old.  The last guy that left our row, said "This place wouldn't have any character if it was entirely Yankees fans.....that guy definitely stepped out of line though....I can't believe the things he was saying to you guys just because you had a Rays shirt on and were rooting for your team.  Enjoy your evening" (props to those folks for "getting it").  Unreal. 

Probably stuff you had to be there to witness but tell you what, never again will I hesitate to berate a fan at a baseball game, no mattter what stadium, once they start in on the personal attacks.  From everything I've seen at the Trop, whenever we get passionate or belligerent, it's about the teams on the field, not about peronal attributes.  Well this guy clearly showed how misguided he was for becoming a bastard after the Rays went ahead 6-5 and he began lobbing personal attacks.  

To me it's just unfathomable that it'd be okay for thousands of Yankees fans to go and cheer well when they do something good at the Trop, but fans like this d-bag father can't handle it when 2 cheer after his team f's up. It's crazy.  If I ever see that guy at the Trop, he'll get hell like there's no tomorrow.  Would probably be a much louder confrontation than today's.....you could hear a pin drop in that place once the Rays went up 2.  It was great!