Thoughts on the Rays’ First Postseason Win Ever
First of all, I hate being on the sidelines and writing about other team’s successes. But if any team deserves to be written about, it’s the Rays. Here’s why.
* They finally managed to fill up the Trop today! Did you see all those people banging on their cowbells? Where were they all summer? Up north, I know. Well, it was sweet of them to lock up their real houses, come on down to their Florida condos and take in a little baseball.
* Evan Longorio hit two homers. The guy is in his first major league season, and yet look how well he performs on the big stage. There should be no further discussion about who is more famous…..
OR…..
* The Rays can now claim that they, too, have a high-strung (okay, looney) reliever in the grand tradition of Al “The Mad Hungarian” Hrabosky and Mitch “Wild Thing” Williams. The minute he had words with Orlando Cabrera, I thought, Yup. He needs a nickname.
And so I’m calling him Grant “The Mad Australian” Balfour.
* The Rays beat the White Sox in spite of losing Carlos Pena early in the game. Pena’s problem? Blurry left eye. Apparently, he scratched it at home last night. But do we believe that story or do we think his hand slipped while he was….
Yes, even professional ballplayers yawn. Not every game is a nail-biter, plus they stay up way past their bedtimes.
Confessions of a She-Fan 
Its hard not to get interested in Tampa this year, especially for you since they took the Yankees traditional spot atop the A.L. East. The White Sox are looking like a team that should not be in the playoffs, if all was fair either the Yankees or Jays would be better canidates for that spot.
That almost looks like a pick in that Pena picture.
http://homerfoodandhistory.mlblogs.com/
LOL on the pick comment! The White Sox did look pretty lame today, but I’m watching Dodgers-Cubs right now and the Northsiders are playing like they have some dreaded virus.
Grant Balfour has the funniest last name for a pitcher.
Yeah, Grant Ball Four. I would have changed my name!
Hey, Jane …
Yeah, the Tampa Bay Rays continue to be a great story … and, finally, they filled up that “dreadful” Dome … At least, the Rays fans are supporting their team in the post season !!! … But, another big story of this post-season is Joe Torre leading the Dodgers into the playoffs … Jane, How is the L.A. media reporting this whole story of the Dodgers making it into the playoffs? … and, Joe Torre’s N.Y. Yankees connection? … Jimmy [27NYY] …
http://baseballtheyankeesandlife.mlblogs.com/
Hey, Jimmy. The LA media is so different from the NY media – much less intense, which is probably one of the reasons Torre likes it here and seems so relaxed. The LA Times story on last night’s win over the Cubs focused more on the Cubs’ mistakes (not surprisingly given all those errors). Torre isn’t much of a story here. But Manny? The city has gone Manny crazy!
I’m with you being on the Rays bandwagon. It’s sad though that they probably will pull in more fans for the playoffs than they did all season. A team that played that well all year deserved better. There should be a rule in cities like that where you shouldn’t be allowed to go unless you attended 1 game all year, or pass a fan test, something like that. Nothing is worse than fairweather fans and bandwagon jumpers.
J-Boogie
http://boogiedownbaseball.blogspot.com
I wrote in the NY Times in 2007 that I thought the Rays were great, and I was crucified by Yankee fans for “jumping ship.” All I meant was that they were fun to watch and they are. They’re a Cinderella story and good for baseball, and I’m rooting for them as well as the Dodgers (why not, since Torre’s there). It still feels weird not to have the Yankees in it, doesn’t it?