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datruth55

Can you feel the excitement in Tampa Bay for the Rays?

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6 Comments
by
datruth55
, 07-03-2008 at 09:14 AM (469 Views)
      
   
   
Being a Marlins fan I sort of know what the Tampa Bay Rays fans are going through. In 2003 we had a young team, a small payroll and a cinderella season winning the World Series over the Yankees in 6 games. That season was even more improbable by the fact that the Marlins were 19.5 games under .500 when Jack McKeon took over and began our ascension to the top.

In some ways the Rays season is better than that of the Marlins. While the Marlins rise was a complete surprise the Rays have been at or near the top all season and only now are people starting to believe this team is for real. The best record in baseball for the second lowest payroll in baseball. That is fantastic. Even though I'm not a Tampa Bay Rays fan it's pretty exciting. Hopefully they can finish the job.

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Comments

  1. Soel v25's Avatar
    Well, they did drop "Devil" from their name. Just saying....
  2. Azazel's Avatar
    yeah arent they the "tampa bay really gays" now?
  3. GatorsRock's Avatar
    Here's a debate from Jayson Stark. He says they are the best team in baseball and that was before the sweep of the Red Sox. http://proxy.espn.go.com/chat/chatESPN?event_id=21312

    They prove that the term speed kills isn't only for football.

    The scary part is that their offense has underachieved for the majority of the year. Longoria has been red hot lately to move his avg up in the 270s. Dioner Navarro is the only Rays everyday player hitting over 280 at 312. BJ Upton is 2nd with 278 after hitting 300 last season. Carl Crawford is a career 294 hitter and he's hitting 277 right now. Last year Carlos Pena hit 46 homers in 490 ab's for a 10.65 AB's per homer ratio and this year he's hit 11 in 229 ab's, which is a 20.82 AB's per homer ratio, while hitting a terrible 223. You can't expect them to continue to hit so badly. Some of the journey men are having overachieving years like Eric Hinske and Gabe Gross, but overall they have underachieved.

    They have won by pitching and defense and could have some added boost when #1 pick last year David Price is likely going to be called up in September at the latest. If they make the playoffs Kazmir, Shields, Garza, Price would be hard to hit. This team is for real and it's scary to think that the best has yet to come. Not only that, but it's possible that they can trade some of their prospects(since they have so many now) for a stud like a CC Sabathia type of player by the deadline.
  4. datruth55's Avatar
    Their defense has been very solid. Are they not the best fielding team in the major leagues?

    Timely hitting outweighs high averages every time too. You could have 3 guys over 300 like the Marlins and still not score runs cause the hits are not coming back-to-back. Also, they have good at bats. Meaning they take pitches, draw walks and make opposing pitchers have to work to get them out.
  5. Sascha's Avatar
    Actually, I heard the Rays have merely the 8th lowest payroll, not the 2nd.

    Who would have ever thought the Rays would even be a candidate to land C.C. for a couple months?

    I just hope we don't have to sell off all our good talent the way Florida, Oakland and Minnesota have had to.
  6. datruth55's Avatar
    I don't think they will. Attendance is way up this year for the Rays which is a good sign. It takes a while to build a loyal fan base and I believe the Rays had about 11,000 a game before this season. I think they've been averaging somewhere around 19,500 this season which is a very significant boost. Even in the Marlins good years we didn't average that much. Of course when the playoffs rolled around Dolphins Stadium was a plus cause we had 60,000+ a game.

    Fickle fans man.