Entries Tagged 'Tampa Bay' ↓

So… what the heck happened, Tampa? You were rolling along the highway of happiness and then the car crashed into the Liberty Bell that is Citizen’s Bank Park.

And, to make matters worse, you let the PHILLIES win the Series. That’s like the Patriots letting the Eagles win.

To be honest, this wasn’t the Series even die-hard Tampa fans (are there such things?) needed to get the underperforming, late bloomers to the pinacle of the baseball world. They needed a lot of offense, they got zip. They needed strong pitching from their supposedly strong bullpen, and they got zip.

Overall, this was about as much of a rollover scene as was the Rockies during the ‘07 Series.

I think there is huge potential. I think there is a great need for better competition in small markets. I think the Rays are finally getting the hang of this winning thing.

So! Regardless of this “lowest-ever rated World Series in the history of baseball” event, the Rays come into the ‘09 season with some great, young talent and an American League Pennant. Nice work. Let’s see you do that again…

Well! There you go!

For the first time in your short history you’ve made the playoffs. Red Sox Nation would like to extend a warm welcome to the Executive Lounge, complete with free wi-fi.

Any team that has the best home record and the best record in one-run games deserves some street cred. And, to be honest, I’m one of those people who thought you’d crack. Crack under the pressure, crack under the weight of the Florida sun and just plain crack in half to a losing record. I guess I wasn’t giving you the credit you deserve. (Secretly, I gave you a ton of credit, but damn you for actually being good).

Oh! And, to your fans, the only people who made this happen were the actual players employed by the team. Just as the case in Red Sox Nation. I’m very, very glad that you have a team to root for in the post season, but please go into this without the chest-thumping attitude and Yankee-fan mentality. The only people who belong in the post season are the ones who played their way into the post season. As they say in the spirit business: Enjoy Responsibly.

Oh, and Joe Maddon, I’m glad you are truly, finally making a name for yourself. I’ve been a sideline fan of yours for a while, but I still don’t love the way you handle the bullpen. Maybe, even though you’ve gotten the most out of your team this far, the Sox will be able to squeek through those close games when / if you meet them again.

Congrats on a long, well-deserved post season berth. Now, please lose so I don’t have to carry around a box of Kleenex this Winter for reasons other than a cold.

Best,

Keith

I am quietly hating and loving the standings of the AL East. On the one hand, we have the Red Sox, my team from birth with whom I have felt an enormous emotional connection through good times and bad.

On the other, the streaking, red-hot, in-your-face, talented Rays. The former bottom-feeders who just couldn’t scrape together a winning season (Boggs or not).

The fact that the Rays are now a very comfortable 5.5 games ahead of Boston means little to the Red Sox, who will tell you that it just doesn’t matter and that they’ll catch up or take a Wild Card if necessary. They don’t care. They took the Wild Card in ‘04, ended an 86 year drought and kicked ass through a four game sweep.

Will it happen again?

The Red Sox need to get back the injured talent (no excuses; everyone who plays in the bigs IS a big league player and should perform as such). They also need to learn from their mistakes. Not as defensively sound as they could be, the Sox still enjoy one of the better defenses in all of baseball. Keeping their youngest players mentally checked-in will prove to be a hell of a task if they get to the post season.

The Ray and the Sox have six games against each other through the rest of the season. Standings notwithstanding, they need to sweep one or two of those series.

The other interesting thing is that they don’t play the Twins (very tightly up the rear end of the Sox for the Wild Card; 3.5 games as of today). As a matter of fact, they play Texas and Cleveland, which can only help the Twins and White Sox. Such a predicament for the Sox at this point in the season is not a good thing.

So! The help the Sox need is all about the schedule of the Rays.

Hey, Sox… Earn that spot.

Dear jerks Tampa Bay Rays:

So… what the hell are you doing? The AL East community thought they had a deal. It’s you in the bottom two until the anti-Christ shows and the Sox and Yankees battling it out for good and evil. SOMEtimes we may invite Toronto or Baltimore to a dance, but you, ugly stepchild, you should stop being so pesky.

See that first place position? It’s unhealthy for you to be there. I just care about your health. See how nice I am?

It’s about time for those injuries and unaccomplished deadline deals to wreak havoc on you and your goal. Quite frankly, I don’t know if you’re just oblivious to it or if you’re just simply ignoring your destiny.

If you continue to play this way, people will have no choice but to take you and your talented players seriously. And, really, that wouldn’t be fair to the media outlets. They’ll lose sleep and forget about their big-market teams that cry for attention. Those poor writers will produce garbage because they don’t know how to correctly identify your players without doing a double take at the team with which they’re associated.

Let’s try to pull it together and make everyone in Red Sox Nation happy. We just want things the way they were, that’s all.

Here’s to your health and your pending demise playoff goal. We hope you fall apart wish you the best.

Love, RSN