Say A's, say Rays

by javaball on Jun 20, 2008 9:43 AM PDT

The Rays are playing good baseball. And if you saw yesterday's game between the Cubs and the Rays, you would say that it is simply incredible.

The A's were 3 games behind the Rays in the Wild Card. After the A's lost 2-1 to the Dbacks on a home run, I was secretly wishing that the Cubs would beat the Rays. The Cubs, who hold the best record in the majors, already lost the first two games, but they had never been swept this season. So the chances seemed good, but what happened in that game was something I never thought was possible.

In the top of the seventh inning, the Cubs scored 3 runs to take a 3-1 lead. In the bottom of the inning, Lou Pinella sent in his trusted relief pitcher Carlos Marmols, who had been lights out this year, to shut down the Rays.

Marmols walked the first two Rays batters, and then, to my utter disbelief, he hit the next one to load the bases, and hit another to force in a run! The next batter, Carl Crawford, stepped up to face Scott Eyre, who relieved Marmols, and hit a game-winning grandslam.

So there it is. On the same day, the A's lost by a homer, the Rays won by a homer. The Rays have played better than the A's, but I just couldn't figure out how and why.

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Let me get this straight

When the A’s walk a lot, they’re being over-patient and can’t hit.

When the Rays walk a lot (and get hit by pitches from a pitcher who clearly couldn’t find the strikezone with a flashlight and a GPS device), they’re playing “incredible” baseball.

What was that fairy tale again? Three billy goats gruff?

Your 2008 Athletics: It's Nothing Personal.

by PaulThomas on Jun 20, 2008 9:57 AM PDT reply actions

Fairy tale or Adult video? The line is so fine

I can’t help rooting for the Rays – it would be so cool if they got in, instead of the Yankees or Detroit-Cleveland-Chicago. If the A’s could somehow win the West and TB at least the WC, how awesome would that be? Go A’s, go Rays, boo everyone else.

I like Cindi. A. She never pretends to know more than she does. B. She has unbridled enthusiasm for her "Hotties," and isn't afraid to show it. -IM4Oakgal

by Nico on Jun 20, 2008 10:04 AM PDT up reply actions

I'd like the Rays to win the AL East this year for a change, but after that I've no love for them.

by OldhamA on Jun 20, 2008 10:13 AM PDT up reply actions

It's funny ...

I want to root for them, since they’ve been so godawful terrible their entire existence, but this isn’t like the 2003 Royals, who were surprisingly good for no good reason, had a cinderella season and then returned to mediocrity (or worse). This Rays team is having a 1999 A’s team kind of season. In other words, this is likely the worst they’re going to be for the next five years or so.

So I want to root for them, but then, I kinda rooted for the Red Sox to win the 2004 world series … and look where that got us. You see my point? We’re rooting for the team that is going to kick the crap out of us for the next five years. It’s a good story now, but it won’t be for A’s fans in a year or two.

by Crosbino on Jun 20, 2008 10:39 AM PDT up reply actions

Yeah, but if for the next five years

they kick the crap out of the Yankees and Red Sox twice as often as they kick the crap out of us, it’ll be worth it.

"Dispatch knuckleheadedness with Bond-like aplomb." –74mk

by iglew on Jun 20, 2008 7:03 PM PDT up reply actions

You know, I really don't understand this at all

I mean, I get that the Rays are young and exciting and have a farm system. Fine. You could say that about a number of other teams, like the Dodgers, but whatever. It’s true.

I still don’t understand why that’s suddenly creating this onrush of bandwagon-jumping fans. This is a team that:

a. has consistently sucked off revenue sharing monies
b. is in the process of extorting a new zillion-dollar boondoggle stadium (to replace the current zillion-dollar boondoggle, which is all of 18 years old) from the local politicians
c. has monopolized top draft picks by putting a dismal product on the field
d. quite probably did so intentionally for the past few seasons, thereby screwing over teams with worse actual talent

I mean, as much as I admire their management for pulling out the bag of tricks to win with a totally hopeless franchise, it’s still a totally hopeless franchise. It’s a drain on the rest of the MLB franchises, it’s a drain on the talent base, it’s a drain on the Florida taxpayers. It’s like finding a leech hidden in your (speaking generally, not just to Nico here) groin and your reaction is to compliment it for enterprising behavior.

Just because a team has no actual fans does not make you innocent of sports bigamy if you hop on board.

Your 2008 Athletics: It's Nothing Personal.

by PaulThomas on Jun 20, 2008 10:57 AM PDT up reply actions

+1.85

"I'm seeing more and more Paul-baiting these days."

by OptimistPrime on Jun 20, 2008 11:03 AM PDT up reply actions

I agree with you

at least in the business sense of things. Didn’t the new owner promise to change the image and direction of that franchise, though? I seeme to remember watching a baseball special on that subject?

by mrod on Jun 20, 2008 11:03 AM PDT up reply actions

yeah, like I said in the other thread...

I’d much rather it be the Royals (who, unlike the Rays, actually have fans).

The A's colors are green and gold.

by mikeA on Jun 20, 2008 11:06 AM PDT up reply actions

I just like to see different teams in the playoffs,

rather than the same old, same old every year. Except the A’s. 2000-2003 was cool.

I like Cindi. A. She never pretends to know more than she does. B. She has unbridled enthusiasm for her "Hotties," and isn't afraid to show it. -IM4Oakgal

by Nico on Jun 20, 2008 12:17 PM PDT up reply actions

PT

You have to be here in the SW Florida area to realize that the area is quite honestly considered Yankees South and/or RSN-Florida. They have no fan base because they’re considered to be the Washington Generals of the Yankees and the Sox, and all the other stragglers. They built a stadium and staged a ball club here for all these retired East Coasters and Midwesterners to be able to still see their team when they float down here. It’s completely contrived. The entire experience-the very strange indoor park, the fact they’ve retired Wade Bogg’s number, the low attendance, the unwillingness of the locals to embrace them-it’s like baseball-studying aliens came to SW Florida and decided to recreate the essence of baseball. But it’s always been like cotton candy-all sweet and color but with little substance.

Until this year. They win games they are supposed to lose. They hold onto leads and they come back when you don’t expect them to. They steal the ball from Curly and punch Meadowlark in the stomach when he tries to play keep-away. Sweet Georgia Brown, my ass. Plus, they’re making the Yankees and the Red Sox sweat. A lot. And that is never a bad thing.

Now I am not a sports bigamist. I bleed green and gold, but they are not the punching bag they’ve been in years past, and…they’re kinda fun to watch. And, if we start holding the teams accountable for what the owners have done to the game…well, he who is without sin…

Florida ain't no place for a self-respecting A's fan.

by Leopold Bloom on Jun 20, 2008 4:45 PM PDT up reply actions