This season ended shorter than we all would have wanted. The Rays team proved a lot of folks wrong each step of the way this year. They proved 2018 was no fluke and that it was just the beginning of something.
This year they won 96 games. They toppled the Oakland A’s on the road in front of 52,000+ rowdy people and made the Coliseum grow quiet. They then took the Houston Astros, the best team in baseball and one of the very best teams assembled in decades in the sport, to the very limit. They went toe-to-toe with a juggernaut. They were able to silence a lineup of only All Stars and MVPs and compete in pitchers duels with two guys who could win a Cy Young this year, while shelling another former Cy Young.
There are some folks who believe anything short of a World Series victory is not a truly successful season. There are some who think celebrating achievements of a team anything short of the ultimate prize is pointless. I pity those people for not enjoying the journey. This season didn’t end where we wanted it to but I’ll be damned if I’m gonna look at this season as anything other than magical.
I’m disappointed that it ended but am beyond excited for where things go from here.
Rays News
- Tyler Glasnow got off to a rocky start getting hit around in the 1st inning and giving up 4 runs. The discussion quickly centered on tipping pitches, and after the game Glasnow himself said that he thought it was “pretty obvious” he was tipping.
- MLB Tonight broke down how Tyler Glasnow may have been tipping his fastball.
- Former pitcher suggests Rays believe Astros are using camera to steal signs in ALDS Game 5 - Thomas Lott, Sporting News: Or if tipping pitches is not your conspiracy of choice, we got sign stealing accusations from Seth McClung!
The @RaysBaseball using multiple signs from the catcher to the pitcher with no @astros on base... folks, that means the Rays feel there is a camera on their catchers signs & that someway #Houston is relaying them to the hitters. #ALDSGame5 #ALDS #RaysUp
— Seth McClung (@bigredbball73) October 11, 2019
- Rays push Astros to brink, but fall short in G5 - Juan Toribio, MLB.com: When you get beat by the best pitcher in baseball in 2019 there’s not much you can do but tip your cap.
- The man who did the Rays in (and a favorite to win the Cy Young this year) gave some major props to the Rays:
Gerrit Cole on the Rays.
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) October 11, 2019
Congrats to @RaysBaseball on a great season. pic.twitter.com/m13Ndhcxyx
- Rays’ Willy Adames is taking the moment and making it his - John Romano, Tampa Bay Times ($): Willy Adames had a star making ALDS. Welcome to the spotlight!
- Speaking of that star (plus the agile cat that is Ji-Man):
Choi boi.#StayHunry pic.twitter.com/ldzRXRiOo5
— Tampa Bay Rays (@RaysBaseball) October 11, 2019
- Rays win on the field, and they need one off of it to ensure future in Tampa Bay - Jason Schott, Fox Business: Signs of hope but still a long way to go towards the hopes of a Tampa located stadium being built.
- Tricia Whitaker shares her heartfelt ode to the end of rookie season with the Rays. Tricia was the best sideline reporter the Rays have had since Kelly Nash and Todd Kalas, and here’s hoping she’s back here for 2020 (and many more champagne and beer showers).
Y'all energized this baseball community.
— Tampa Bay Rays (@RaysBaseball) October 11, 2019
Thank you. pic.twitter.com/Y0uXGsNDRB
- Finally, thank you to the Rays fans, and the DRaysBay community from me and all of us at DRaysBay. Up next will still be lots of discussions, analysis, trade rumors, roster debating and so much more! This was a hell of a run, and I’m happy that we were all in this together.