Please Tampa, set your mind on the wild card. The Sox own this division. Before the seaons over, Boston will improve its playoff position and will have the best record in the AL, if not the entire MLB. The Rays hit their stride too early in the season, now theyre treading water to stay afloat. The toll and pressure of being at the top can be gruelling for a young, inexperienced team. They’re not contenders, just pretenders. Even their own Fans dont show up to the games or believe in them....The Rays have been playing to empty seats all year, how pathetic. I’m sure the fair weather fans in St. Petes and Tampa will make it to playoff game.
The way Boston is playing right now should serve notice to the all playoff teams that its going to be a tough road to October and that road will have to go thru Fenway. The Red Sox are clicking on all cylinders and playing for something bigger than the wild card. The Rays are playing not to lose. The Red Sox are about to be at full strength, and they way Beckett pitched last night, its Go Time; He wont lose a game the rest of the year. The Sox pitching staff is deep, the pen is deeper and getting stronger. The Rays are without their two best defensive players at the worst time. Carl Crawford wont be back until the playoffs and Longoria hasnt even had a minor league rehab assignment yet. Even when those players do return, how will they perform? Their injurys are in the wrist...kinda need that to swing a bat with power. After the three game series is over at Fenway, the Rays are going to be looking up the Red Sox Ass on the AL East Ladder. Thanks for keeping the top spot warm for us. Your guys gave a valiant effort and were the sports world darlings. But the defending World Series Champions are going to work on their title defense.
Great post...you made some good points, some hard to argue with, you’ve been there and seen some great playoff baseball. History is definitely on your side, as the Rays have not gotten to your level yet.
Now we find out how good the Rays are with the upcoming stretch against playoff veterans.
Maybe Riverview Rays Fan and I will see you during the playoffs. But you’ll be buying the beer, we’re broke.....
Please Tampa, set your mind on the wild card. The Sox own this division. Before the seaons over, Boston will improve its playoff position and will have the best record in the AL, if not the entire MLB. The Rays hit their stride too early in the season, now theyre treading water to stay afloat. The toll and pressure of being at the top can be gruelling for a young, inexperienced team. They’re not contenders, just pretenders. Even their own Fans dont show up to the games or believe in them....The Rays have been playing to empty seats all year, how pathetic. I’m sure the fair weather fans in St. Petes and Tampa will make it to playoff game.
The way Boston is playing right now should serve notice to the all playoff teams that its going to be a tough road to October and that road will have to go thru Fenway. The Red Sox are clicking on all cylinders and playing for something bigger than the wild card. The Rays are playing not to lose. The Red Sox are about to be at full strength, and they way Beckett pitched last night, its Go Time; He wont lose a game the rest of the year. The Sox pitching staff is deep, the pen is deeper and getting stronger. The Rays are without their two best defensive players at the worst time. Carl Crawford wont be back until the playoffs and Longoria hasnt even had a minor league rehab assignment yet. Even when those players do return, how will they perform? Their injurys are in the wrist...kinda need that to swing a bat with power. After the three game series is over at Fenway, the Rays are going to be looking up the Red Sox Ass on the AL East Ladder. Thanks for keeping the top spot warm for us. Your guys gave a valiant effort and were the sports world darlings. But the defending World Series Champions are going to work on their title defense.
You’re kidding...right? The Rays have shown domination over the Sox all season and after taking 2 of 3 in Fenway it’s clear the Sox are a thing of the past… I’d think they would be more worried about the way the Jays have been beating them all season
I guess its safe to say the Sox dont rule the division any more. The doubleheader sweep last night took ANY kind of wind out of the Red Sox sail. It was so funny to watch the Sox celebrate making the playoffs as if that was a special accomplishment. Good luck going on the road to Aneheim, your gonna need it. No matter what happens in the playoffs, knowing that there will be a banner being raised in April 2009 is an awesome feeling. I wonder how many of those knuckle head Red Sox fans will be there dressed in Rays blue? The thing that gets me most is how most of them who wear Dead Sox red have never even been to boston…
No matter what happens in the playoffs, knowing that there will be a banner being raised in April 2009 is an awesome feeling. I wonder how many of those knuckle head Red Sox fans will be there dressed in Rays blue?
They won’t be there, they’ll be strung out in the mangroves along Courtney Causeway drinking that Sam Adams puke…
No matter what happens in the playoffs, knowing that there will be a banner being raised in April 2009 is an awesome feeling. I wonder how many of those knuckle head Red Sox fans will be there dressed in Rays blue?
They won’t be there, they’ll be strung out in the mangroves along Courtney Causeway drinking that Sam Adams puke…
ghost
Good answer Mr. G that should put you in the top 500 of sports ignorance
No matter what happens in the playoffs, knowing that there will be a banner being raised in April 2009 is an awesome feeling. I wonder how many of those knuckle head Red Sox fans will be there dressed in Rays blue?
They won’t be there, they’ll be strung out in the mangroves along Courtney Causeway drinking that Sam Adams puke…
ghost
Good answer Mr. G that should put you in the top 500 of sports ignorance
There’s 500 of us? Dang, I figured maybe 5-10 at the most. Thanks, my PULEO friend....
Seeing as we Rays fans were asked to set our minds on the Wild Card ( So as not to be let down I suppose) I hope Sox fans didn’t set their hopes TOO HIGH. . . it sure would make second place feel a lot worse. Make sure to chew that crow before swallowing, otherwise you might choke. I don’t think Sox fans will be too let down, they’ve got 86 years experience in being let down. =)
These playoffs have been awesome so far! I write this on the Sunday after Game 2 of the ALCS, so I’m pumped right now, lol. I don’t want anyone to think I’m taking anything away from the Red Sox. They’re a great team, with a tough pitching staff, and clutch hitting. Pedroia is a stinkin’ Ray KILLER and Ortiz is due to step up at some point. I want everyone to remember these points when the Rays win Game 7 and the Rays advance to their first World Series, because it shows we are also a great team.
Don’t feel so bad though, Red Sox Nation, we’ve still got plenty of room left on the bandwagon. All we ask is that you wash your stinky Red Sox and burn those ugly “B” hats.
I think the Rays are a great young team with fantastic fans who know how to show up and make some noise, although they show up for only a handful of games per season and need metal clangers to make themselves be heard. Still great team and great fans. I am most impressed by the long and rich history enjoyed by this team. Over a decade now, wow. And how good it must feel to be able to take eleven innings to beat the most beat up, battered and injury riddled team in the majors. Now, that is something to gloat over. Kudos
Still, it is a bit disconcerting that the Rays can only beat a defending World Champion team in a playoff when they are operating below seventy percent strength. However, the Rays have beaten the Red Sox quite decidedly all year long and that means a lot in the post season. Red Sox fans know this because several of their teams dominated the Yankees during the season… oh yeah, that’s right and then the Yankees whipped them in the playoffs. So, I guess regular season records mean next to nothing in a playoff series context. But I’m sure Rays fans with so much knowledge about haircuts, facepaint and bandwagon maintenence surely are versed enough in the actual game to know this as well.
Even a wounded and battered champion is still dangerous to count out.
BTW, saw a lot of Red Sox shirts at the Trop. I wonder how many hardcore, “lifelong,” Rays fans will show up at Fenway. I also wonder how long it will take for them to realize baseball isn’t a fun reason to get out on a Saturday night in Boston. It’s Religion. That’s how you get through 86 years of close calls, near misses and absolute heartbreak. And that tradition of suffering is why Boston fans disdain Johnny-come-lately, buy a hat for the playoffs, “it would be nice if we won” type fans. And coincidentally, the Religious fundamentalism we practice up here in Boston doesn’t require that you hate gay people, just the Yankees. So, Rays fans are welcome at Fenway.
Lowell is out of the playoffs and you are ‘beat up, battered, and wounded.’? Ooooooooohhh, I get it...if you lose this series that’s the excuse right? Okay, that’s cool. Good thing we had a healthy Longo and Crawford at Fenway in what everyone (mainly Boston Sportswriters) called “a playoff atmosphere in September”, otherwise we would’ve never beat the mighty mighty Sox. What’s that? Oh. Longo was just returning from an injury and Crawford was out? My bad. Well, what do the Rays know about big games anyways? It’s not like they took 4 out of 6 from the Red Sox in the heat of the division race! Oh...sorry again. Silly me. They did. I guess that first series in September was the easiest. How can we lose with Ben Zobrist, Gabe Gross, and Fernando Perez in the outfield? Glad we had Willy Aybar at third. Wayyyyy better option than Longo.
I’m glad Longoria had that wrist injury. It’s like Rookie of the Year. You get hurt and then you come back stronger. That happens all the time.
Lots of Red Sox shirts at the Trop. They don’t call you guys a Natio0n for nothin’. Boston’s so nice those fans had to move to Florida to root for their team. We Floridian’s can’t stand the hot summers, the beaches, the breeze, the bikinis...we’re itching to fly north where we don’t have to suffer through these things.
Ten years. It took us ten years to get here. It’s our fault we didn’t have a team all this time. It’s the fan’s fault the Tampa Bay Rays play their games in St. Petersburg. It’s our fault we don’t get off work till 5:30 in Tampa and drive out to a 7:15 game so we can arrive back home just before midnight. We Tampa natives don’t work for a living.
We’re certainly bandwagon fans. LOL. I lived in California when the Rays were concieved and I was STILL a Rays fan from the start. Funny thing is, I don’t remember too much ballyhoo and hoopla over Sox nation. MAtter of fact. I don’t remember ANY Sox fans before they finally won it all. Talk about bandwagon fans. Oddly enough, you guys weren’t even lovable losers during those times. WHo did you like in those times?
I can understand your frustration with the Yankees. After years and years of finishing second to the Yankees and their ridiculous payroll, you guys have recently upped your own payroll. . . only to finish second to the Rays. $133 million dollar payroll should certainly knock down the little $45 million dollar guys right? You don’t pay Jason Varitek 10 million to hit .220 .
After all, management had so much confidence in their boys that they didn’t have to make any moves at the trade deadline. Besides bringing in Paul Byrd. And Jason Bay. And bringing in Mark Kotsay.
Well. You got us.
I’d better start looking for excuses if my Rays don’t win the division. The hair from our mohwaks got in our eyes...the fans facepaint smeared and got in all the players eyes. Rocco Baldelli’s ‘disease’ is contagious and the whole team came down with it. We didn’t pay our players enough. Joe Maddon forgot how to spell Longoria, thus wasn’t able to insert him in the lineup. We couldn’t compete with the check swing doubles. Kazmir’s mustache wasn’t shaved properly. “The Curse Of Missing Out On Jason Bay.” I dunno. Maybe we too will have 86 years to come up with one. ((Shrug))
Sox Rocks, you are an idiot!! Who cares if the Rays field is empty, I am a Sox fan and people like you embarass us!! Rays fans, good luck with Kazzy Thursday night, I don’t know what will happen, I will be rooting for my Red sox, but not like the a--hole whp osted this original message. Soxrocks, are the Sox still coming to get the Rays?? I don’t know, we need Manny back!!
The Sox obviously are a great team, they’ve been arguably the best team of the new millenium. Year in and year out they’ve been in the playoffs. I’ve always been someone who relies on that gut feeling and chance. There’s no way that the Red Sox can come back from 3-1 or 3-0 THREE times in a row. It’s not a matter of if, it’s a matter of when the Rays knock off the Sox. The Rays owe the division it’s thanks for where they stand today. If it weren’t for the playoff atmosphere they’ve seemed to have all year long, their lack of experience may have cost them in these playoffs. Fortunately they had to play big games all year. I will not accept Sox injuries for what’s happened in this playoffs. ANd I won’t let anyone take away from what the Ryas have done this year. I will admit that we seemed to heal from our own injuries just in time to make this playoff run. I will say Joe Maddon’s PHENOMINAL coaching has gotten this team here and won games. Allowing Longo and Pena to swing away in Game 1 was a smart move, whether or not it paid off. You had much to gain and little to lose there. Calling in Perez late in Game 2 was a smart move as it was NOW OR NEVER. The decision to stick with Sonny entering the playoffs over Jackson was smart ( he knew Sonn was more consisten than Jackson, although at his best, Jackson is the better pitcher.)
Sticking by his former ace Kazmir, Maddon refuses to pull him from the starting lineup, instead “promoting” him to Game 5 starter. Allowing him to be the one to CLINCH the series for his team. Looking at it from all angles, he took in the fact that Kaz is a better pitcher at Fenway than Shields. Shields a better pitcher at home than away. Also, Kaz had an unfavorable game lined up with that McClelland behind the dish in Game 6.
I can’t argue that the Red Sox miss Manny right now. Jason Bay is no slouch, but he doesn’t have the ability to hit that game changing homer that Manny does. (Man, did you see that game early in the Dodgers series where Manny was thrown behind? Then he comes up next at bat and rips a game changing Homer. You think he got lucky there? HELL NO, that’s Manny being Manny at his finest.) Big players make the big plays. Pedroia has shown up for the Sox this series. Watching him swing the bat it looks like he knew EXACTLY what was coming and it’s coming at half the speed we see it in. He’s unbelievable. Big Papi hit a slump at the wrong time, but he may be breaking out ( I can’t believe he legged out a triple. LOL. WOW.)
You can’t take too much away from the ARays and say the hitters are in a slump. You’ve got to give some credit to the Rays pitchers for stepping up as they have. The Rays also were fortunate to get a flat Wakefield. A part of me wonders if more pressure was actually on the SOX in this series.
Think about it. The Rays had little to lose here. They’ve heard all year that they didn’t belong here. They weren’t expecte to beat the defending World Champs. Just come out and play ball. DOn’t sweat the rest of it. All in all you had a good year. THe Sox on the other hand “ Can’t POSSIBLY lose to the RYS!” Beleive me, maybe Sox FANS came out with a “ it’s in the bag mentality.” But I gurarantee you the players knew they had to win or they wouldn’t hear the end of it until NEXT October. This is baseball at it’s finest. It’s a changing of the guard and both teams deserve their credit. Kaz might get rocked in Game 5, but there’s no way Shields loses it at home. I expect another GEM. COngrats on a great season Sox. WAY TO GO RAYS!
