The Rays Tank: Playoffs Return to Tropicana

There will be playoff baseball today at Tropicana Field, but only about 10,000 fans will be there to see it, right? Not quite. Today’s ALDS game 3 between the Boston Red Sox and the Tampa Bay Rays is sold out, and has been since Friday afternoon, shortly after the tickets went on sale. For a schedule of activities today, refer to the Rays tweet below:

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>Pregame schedule for Game 3 vs BOS tomorrow at Trop--Gates open at 3pm, player introductions at 5:45, anthem at 5:56, first pitch at 6:07:</p>&mdash; Tampa Bay Rays (@RaysBaseball) <a href="https://twitter.com/RaysBaseball/statuses/386913147325775873">October 6, 2013</a></blockquote>

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Alex Cobb will take the mound today for the Rays, looking to keep the season alive for Tampa Bay. Per the Rays pregame notes, today will be the 13^th time in MLB history that a pitcher has made a postseason start on his birthday. Evan Longoria also celebrates his birthday today. Ian previewed Red Sox starting pitcher, Clay Buchholz, yesterday here.

The Wil To Win:

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>Back in Tampa. Need 2 more Ws so we can ship back up to Boston and hear Myyyerrrrsss again!</p>&mdash; Wil Myers (@wilmyers) <a href="https://twitter.com/wilmyers/statuses/386885502169018368">October 6, 2013</a></blockquote>

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>We just went through a week of backs to the wall. Boston is lovely this time of year -- looking forward to coming back in a couple days.</p>&mdash; Joe Maddon (@RaysJoeMaddon) <a href="https://twitter.com/RaysJoeMaddon/statuses/386659230654418944">October 6, 2013</a></blockquote>

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>Can&#39;t wait to see how live the Trop is tomorrow night! Almost 40 thousand people making all that noise. It&#39;ll be rocking!!</p>&mdash; Chris Archer (@ChrisArcher42) <a href="https://twitter.com/ChrisArcher42/statuses/386913496484827136">October 6, 2013</a></blockquote>

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Links:

-David Laurila of FanGraphs previews game 3 of the ALDS and examines postseason swing rates.

-Richard Justice of MLB.com sat down with Matt Silverman recently to discuss the Rays front office, the success of the organization, and of course, a little bit about attendance.

-Michael Clair of Sports on Earth compares the Rays to Walter White, and looks into what may have been David Price’s last start for the Rays.

-Speaking of Price, he issued an apology yesterday via twitter for him post-game tweets on Saturday and Maddon also gave his thoughts on the issue.

One last thing, if you’re at today’s game, lets make sure to give Will Middlebrooks a warm welcome back to his favorite place.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>Just passed the trop.... Miss that place as much as chicken pox.</p>&mdash; Will Middlebrooks (@middlebrooks) <a href="https://twitter.com/middlebrooks/statuses/306047681988550656">February 25, 2013</a></blockquote>

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