Perspective
by Sandy Kazmir on Aug 25, 2009 11:53 PM EDT
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With the grand playoff push starting in roughly January this year it is easy to lose track of just how far we've come. I became a big fan of the Rays in 2002. Since then they have assimilated with my body and have now replaced my left ventricle. I bring this up because of how Gawdawful they were that year. It was a mess. I loved it because like a good recipe or a cool treehouse we were about to make something great completely from scratch. With this in mind, here is the (Devil) Rays records sorted by number of wins:
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As you can see, if the season ended today this would already be our third most wins in franchise history. I remember early August of last year. It almost seemed too easy to get to that point with so much time left in the season. After a decade of reaching that "plateau," but one time, all of a sudden we were sprinting towards some number that had eluded us for an embarrassingly long time. When we achieved #71 there was a minor celebration and then most of us realized that 70 was not such a lofty goal. That it should be our birthright from here on out as the Rays staked their claim to the AL East. That ended up being a small milestone during the best summer of my lifetime. Lets hope tomorrow goes by with similar result and even less fanfare. This team is going nowhere for the forseeable future so after the win lets toss back a drink, give a pat on the back, and continue the post-season march ever onward.
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I have been fortunate enough to have been present at many of the Rays biggest moments
Game 1 1998. Boggs’ 3000th. Clinching first Playoff berth. Clinching AL East. Game 2 vs. CHWS ALDS. Game 2 WS (1s WS victory). Every once in a while during this crazy season I have to check myself and say “Hey not too long ago this would be crazy awesome to be in this position…enjoy it!” and then I think how great it is that we can create such a buzz that we expect this. We are becoming a baseball town.
Need a lineup? No problem...just give me paper, pen, scissors, a hat, and a blindfold
We are becoming a baseball town.
You couldn’t have said it any simpler or any better.
I hear that crap on talk radio all the time (mostly from that ass clown Dan Sileo) that Tampa Bay is not a baseball town. Well is Phoenix? Is Denver? Is Miami? Is Oakland? And there are some other cities in MLB which you could legitimately question their “baseball town” status. Atlanta comes to mind.
It takes time and it takes a decent product. Not necessarily a pennant every year, but a team which competes for post-season. We don’t have history for generations to draw upon and traditions of families going to games for years and years. That takes time to develop.
The biggest thing slowing our area down is the transplant factor. Those who move here and only go to games when their “home team” is in town. My attitude is simple. You chose to move here, so have some courage, become part of the community and be a fan of the teams here. I don’t apply that to college sports, but to the pro teams in our area, if you’re a fan of that sport, do yourself and your community a favor and follow the home team here and in time, Tampa Bay will be a baseball town!
by GatorSphere on Aug 26, 2009 10:33 AM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
while I don't live there anymore I grew up in Tampa (Brandon to be more specific)
I spent my entire life as a kid playing North Brandon LL and lived for baseball and that was just one of many little leagues around the area. I’ve always thought that once the Rays/Devil Rays could put together a couple winning seasons than people would flock to the stadium and all of a sudden Tampa would become a booming baseball town. I think that people look at the numbers this year and say see told ya they couldn’t do it, but with the economy everyone is struggling and we are actually doing a lot better than everyone else if you compare 08/09 not too mention TV ratings are up and everything else. I just find it hard to believe that in a city so rich with LL baseball combined with a history of bandwagoning (sry guys look at the bucs Attendence and following after they got good) once the economy evens out and the Rays put together 3-4 good years in a row I don’t think it will matter whether it is in St. Pete or Tampa the Rays will become the talk of the town (especially if the Bucs don’t turn things around quickly as they appear on a downswing).
That's not so much bandwagon as fairweather
Bandwagon fans have no reason to be fans of a team, i.e. Location, family ties, etc. and just choose whichever team wins the most. Fairweather fans only show up when their team is winning. That’s how I define the terms, at least.
by jwgator on Aug 26, 2009 1:01 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions
For me it is more about how bad we were compared to how good we've gotten
We were one of the one teams in American pro sports history. Friedman and Co came in and turned that around. They’ve done exactly what we’d expect them to do with even better results. Every pro sports team expects their front office to be competent and do the best they can. The Rays finally have that, with even better results than what we could have expected. Prior to that we had nothing. It was like your little sister ran the team after a few beers. This is what having a pro baseball team should feel like.
Can David Ortiz please send Dioner Navarro some of his PED's? K? Thanks
good idea for the post I like it
while not being in 1st or even 2nd sucks, it isn’t like this team is bad. Raymondo and others, mainly raymondo come on here a lot and bitch about how bad we are and how bad moves are made. We are 13 games over .500 in argueably the best division in baseball we have a good shot at 90 wins this season and if that isn’t good enough to make the playoff’s, well that just sucks. This franchise has done the unthinkable, gone from the laughing stock of baseball into a model franchise for teams with low payrolls. We have talented young players, good veteran leadership, and a good farm system that includes 4 guys ready to take over next season, 5 if you consider Sonny in that boat, if needed. We also have another very talented group 3 years behind them in HV and BG.
The Burg!
The right to brag. This is the true essence of any St. Pete sports fan. To look a Flyer, an Eagle, and most resoundingly, a Red Sox fan in the eyes and know that you are a better man. To have the confidence to mutter under your breath, “you suck,” and to mean it. To loudly pronounce that our franchise pays a scintilla of what yours pays for victory. We do it with heart and grit. Y’all mercantilist bandwagon scumbags deal in acquisition and the dominance of the dollar. We deal in the tenacity of bootstraps moxie. Fuck Boston. Go Rays Bitches.
OT: But surprising
I was reading an SI article about Abreu, etc etc, and it’s saying that TB had offered him a 2yr/16M deal- do we know if there’s any truth to that?
In late December, Abreu turned down a two-year contract from Tampa Bay for approximately $16 million, believing that a .300 hitter who knocks in 100 runs a season could do better.
from Jenkins’ article @ si.com
There is.
I had actually never heard 2-16, but it’s certainly a good possibility. I know for a fact 1-8 was offered and he turned that down to sign a 1-5 in California with higher taxes, so he definitely cost himself a good bit of money.
Tools Whore
And I guess we qualify in the no one wanted Abreu category
FO is so smart, it’s everyone else that is too dumb lol
by Transplanted on Aug 26, 2009 2:24 PM EDT up reply actions
I moved here from CLE right after the Indians blew the '97 WS to the Marlins
so while i paid attention to the Rays, i was still an Indians fan
As the team showed no improvement i found myself rooting for the NYY (except when they played the Rays) cause i so hated the Red Sox and knew they were the only ones who could beat them.
It really was in ’05 when this owner/FO took over that i sold my soul to the “Devil Rays”
I had no choice.
I was born here. Spent a lot of $$$ I didn’t really have to follow this team when I was out of the area. That’s what makes it all so cute when people who have only paid attention for the last 18 months get all huffy about this “disappointing” ballclub. Prior to 2008, the best thing that happened at Tropicana Field was when they leased space to the Dipping Dots cart. Despite the team’s chronic spells of underachievement, this season has been fucking awesome. The haters can go put their Longo jerseys in the far side of their closet, next to their Martin St. Louis jerseys for all I care.
Lead singer, songwriter, and caterer for the band Suicide Phoenix. We play sitar-based anthems on real estate law. Available for weddings, birthdays (13+, please), and LAN parties.
Yup yup
Bucs games could be like that this year if they don’t frisk you.
I can't help that I make some things look easier than they really are.
by Sandy Kazmir on Aug 26, 2009 10:59 AM EDT up reply actions
i liked the guy who did the fins dance
What was his name? Al?
Also, it’s been easier than ever to sneak down into the good seats this season, excluding high attendance games. I sit in my season ticket seat upstairs maybe a few times a month.
by jwgator on Aug 26, 2009 1:08 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions
I remember during ST last year I wen't down to Florida to attend a gymnastics meet of my sisters at the Trop
as well as go to some ST games but I got to walk around on the field b/c that is where the meet was and I was thinking to myself man this is where Wade Boggs, Fred Mcgriff, and Carl Crawford played on but other than individual players there was nothing to really say wow this happened here, it’s nice that things are changing.
Best summer of your lifetime...
I can’t argue that. Last summer wasn’t the best summer of my life but it was in the Top 5, that’s for sure.
It was a lot of fun a year ago and so many memories are tied around Rays games, either going, watching on tv, or trying to sneak away at work to check a score.
The three best moments of last summer for me were:
1. The post-game feeling after the Rays swept Boston in early July. Leaving the Trop and the feeling of how other people felt, there was something very special and powerful in the St. Pete air that night.
2. The day the Rays clinched a playoff spot. I was so fed up at work for having to be there until God knows when, I decided to leave and never went back. Yeah, really. I was so pissed off about working a Saturday and not knowing my schedule for the rest of the week, I left. That Saturday night was one I’ll remember forever!
3. Leaving work in mid-May one evening thinking to myself as I walked to my car, “so, this is what it’s like to have a competitive team I can call my own?” I knew on that night and I don’t remember the exact day, but it was in mid-May that we had something going on in the Rays.
This summer hasn’t had that same feeling, it’s been one of frustration in relation to the Rays, but that’s due in large part to the expectations being raised. Maybe this fall will have a better ending!
The PA System playing "Sweep Caroline" after that July sweep was badass
Last season was as cool as this one has been frustrating. That being said I think this one WILL be just as good when we sneak past the Sux and Rangers for the WC and in doing so keeping either the Yanks or Sox out of the playoffs in consecutive years.
by BJ the Bossman on Aug 26, 2009 3:25 PM EDT up reply actions
You mean the summer when you got your first real six string?
by BJ the Bossman on Aug 26, 2009 3:26 PM EDT up reply actions
Would it have been better for the franchise
To reverse the last 2 years?
Last year would have built the excitement of a first pennant race, and this year we’d be heading to the WS.
Oh well – we ain’t out of this one yet. Brutal scheduling stretch going on right now though, I also find it very hard to be cheering for the Yankees against Texas – but I am.
What has happened to the dream OF we all looked forward to a few years ago?
Delmon Young 678 OPS
BJ Upton 680 OPS
Elijah Dukes 707 OPS
Let me get this correct on BJ
He was injured April and May, suddenly got better in June, only to be re-injured for July and August, except for a couple games when he got well again, only to once again get injured
Sound right?
I have no idea if he's injured or not, but I think it's pretty clear his swing his fucked up from the shoulder injury.
June is an outlier.
Or his timing just sucks.
Correlation does not equal causation.
by RaysTheRoof on Aug 26, 2009 11:59 AM EDT up reply actions
.. which is probably related to the shoulder injury.
BJ had a 300/400/500 year, followed it up with a 380 OBP the next year despite playing through an injury, and has completely fallen apart following surgery for that injury without being given proper time to rehabilitate. I’m pretty sure these things are related.
It brought us the Gangsta K pic
So it was all worth it, really.
Lead singer, songwriter, and caterer for the band Suicide Phoenix. We play sitar-based anthems on real estate law. Available for weddings, birthdays (13+, please), and LAN parties.
That is something to remember
We already have more wins than all but two seasons of our existence this year. This year is still a success regardless of playoffs or not.
"That's not baseball. Little numbers in a newspaper is...So-dookie, or whatever."
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