It's FanPost Friday. This makes two in a row, Ashley. Look out, Joe DiMaggio!
Best of 2018
Best Rays pitcher: Snell
Rays MVP: Wendle (I don't like to give MVP awards to pitchers, otherwise it would be Snell)
Rays Rookie of the Year: Wendle
Breakout star of the season: Wendle
Best single play: Any of the really great ones by Wendle. D-Rob's grand slam walk off. (I stole this from @wertop8. I failed to do the research and originally went with the full on #mancrush nod to Joey Wendle.)
Best walk-up song: Chris Archer's Voodo Chile. Music is so dependent on individual taste, so let's just give Archer an this award as a parting gift. :-)
Best Rays position player: Wendle
Best "I can play anywhere" guy: Wendle
Best reliever: Ryan Yarbrough for two reasons. 1. Wendle didn't pitch. 2. It's the most Raysie one to pick.
Prospect you’re most excited for: Nate Lowe
Best Players’ Weekend nickname: "FUH-REE-UH" because I can relate with "uh-DRAG-nuh" being my last name
Worst of 2018
Worst umpire call: every reviewed call that was just "upheld" but looked like it probably would have been reversed with better video -- THIS is something people need to be concerned about. It can be improved upon. We have the technology.
Worst single play: the entire bottom of the 9th in the 9/20 loss to Toronto, giving up 7 runs!
Worst weather-related disaster: Hurricane Florence because it forced the Durham Bulls to play an entire series on the road, possibly setting them up for a letdown in that one gamer in Columbus.
Worst "they should have won that game" loss: 9/20 loss to Toronto
Worst Players’ Weekend nickname: SCHULTZY. Rays fans are calling him other names right now.
In Closing, A True Story
How We Watch The Rays in my Home
When my daughter was in kindergarten she made friends with a girl who was not in her homeroom class. Her name was Kendall (rhymes with Wendle). Every single day, after school, as she was let out of class for pickup -- among the melee of kids, yoga moms, and dads wearing crocs -- she would run to the border of the playground and shout at the top of her lungs, "KENDALL!" Upon which, Kendall would look over and my daughter would just smile and wave back. Then we'd leave. It was just like that, every day, full volume.
So shouting "KENDALL!" got to be a thing for us over the years. During any unexpected moment such as hearing the name Kendall on a newscast, we shout, "KENDALL!" Even as some sort of odd punctuation in situations where it might add humor in a quirky, nonsensical way.
Of course with the emergence of Joey Wendle, we must shout "WENDLE!" any time he does anything even slightly positive in a game, even routine plays, walks, singles, etc., and everyone in the family participates. Ballgames, like ballgames do, sometimes slip into the background. Now, any sleeper of a game can suddenly roar back with a random shout of "WENDLE!" You hear that, and look up at the screen to see Joey Wendle, standing on second, pantomiming like he is eating some invisible bowl of cereal. (What is the deal with that, by the way? Wait! Ashley, here's an idea. Fan Post Friday: What is in the bowl?)
Yeah, OK, maybe not.
Well, that concludes my FanPost. Thank you for reading.
WENDLE!