FanPost Friday: Who is *your* favorite Ray?

There are a lot of factors that go into making someone a “favorite” player. It can be their onfield prowess: perhaps they’re the best batter or pitcher you’ve ever seen in action, or they make such mind-boggling defensive plays you know it will be Must See TV to tune in whenever they take the field.

Perhaps they’re just charming and funny and have developed a dugout routine that makes you chuckle, and their gift for a good interview never fails to bring a smile to your face, so you find yourself cheering for them as a person instead of as just a player on the field.

Maybe you learned about their charitable accolades or a personal story from their life that made you connect with them, or more than that maybe you had a chance to meet them and the experience changed your whole opinion of them.

Whatever the reason, we all have our most beloved player. Sometimes it’s a player who might have retired before you were even old enough to see him play, sometimes it’s the newest guy on the club’s roster who has impressed you so much you’ve already ordered his jersey. Whatever the reason, that player is your favorite.

So that’s the theme of today’s FanPost prompt. We want to know who your favorite player is and why. For me, it’s Brett Phillips. I’m not like some DRB readers who can claim to have been around since the start of the franchise. I’m only on my sixth or seventh season with the team. In those years I’ve had plenty of players I loved: Evan Longoria, Tommy Pham, Steven Souza Jr. Guys who were fun to watch for a myriad of reasons, but I never bit the bullet and bought a named jersey. This year there’s a very real chance I’ll buy one for Phillips. He’s not the best player in Rays' history, but his charisma, his kindness, and his unbridled love of the game are what make him my favorite Ray.

Head over to the FanPost section, select “New FanPost” on the left, and tell us who your favorite Ray is and why.