The Rays lost a tough one tonight 2-1. There were a few things I took from the game and the aftermath in general. Here we go..

  •    Regardless of my bitching about the fans not showing up, there are more Rays fans in the park. Well not really regardless but this is it. There were noticeably more fans there tonight (almost 21,000) and from the looks of things the Rays fans were more abundant. This is what I’m talking about. The Rays are slowly building a fan base (when I say slowly I mean a snail would be proud). The problem is, as always, the Rays count on the Yankees and Red Sox drawing big crowds. As I said before the Yankees fans should be ashamed because they wait for there team to come to town and refuse to root for the Rays. Now your team is here and you can’t sell out? I don’t care if it’s a week series and not the weekend, you wait for this A-Holes! Now they’re here and you can’t come out because they’re not winning?! Wusses! I know for a fact that the Sox fans would have been there and they will be there in the future. I hate Sox fan but at least they show up to support their team. If you’re going to live in the Tampa Bay area and stay Yankee fans you should at least show up and support your team. If not, you should go ahead and be turncoats and support the Rays! Hell, at least we have a better short term future than the Yanks and, oh by the way, you LIVE HERE!
  •    The Rays are becoming over-confident. I know I’ve been bitching about this for a while but stop looking at called third strikes! I know I’ve made the point of saying that I’m not a stat guy so I’m not going to go there but I think everyone can agree that there are more positive things that can happen by SWINGING at an iffy pitch than looking at a pitch close enough to be called a strike! I’m tired of the approach from certain guys, Upton, Gomes and Longoria, that makes them take called third strikes when the count ISN’T 3-2. Anyone that has played baseball at any point knows that you PROTECT THE PLATE with two strikes, especially when it’s not 3-2. This is becoming a horrid trend and it needs to stop. Let’s try to figure this out real quick. If it’s not 3-2, say it’s 2-2, what can happen by taking? You strike out looking, bad! You get another pitch, good. Wow great options. Now let’s figure out what happens when you swing the freakin bat. You strike out swinging, bad. You foul a pitch off, count stays the same and you draw another pitch out of the pitcher. You ground out, pop out or line out, bad. You get a hit of any kind! Now lets sum up, if you look you have no chance of getting a hit but if you swing you could get a hit, which would you choose? I could tolerate this better from anyone on the team if they had more walks than strikeouts but no one, I mean no one, does! Striking out has become too acceptable in today’s game. I’m all about drawing pitches out of a pitcher,working the count and looking for certain pitches to hit early in the count but one thing should remain constant throughout, protect the plate with two strikes! Let me make the point here. Barry Bonds became the greatest hitter of our generation not because of steroids, because he looked for his pitch and when he got it, he hit it. Everyone can debate all the crap they want about him but he knew how to hit, period. He only struck out more than he walked three times in his career. Those were the first three years of his career. This is what I’m talking about. The strike zone is catered to the hitter, the ball parks are catered to the hitter and the game in general is catered to the hitter. This should make a hitter want to hit, not walk. There aren’t many guys anymore that strikeout less than they walk and I can live with this change in the game but I’ll never go along with a guy that isn’t looking to hit all the time. Give me Vlad Guerrero over Frank Thomas anywhere anytime!
  •    Ferg’s needs a rival somewhere. After the game my buddy and I went to Ferg’s to have a couple beers and it was unbearable. Ferg is my old PE teacher from Southside Fundamental Middle School and he is prepared for any crowd at his joint. I’ve never seen another bar that is more prepared for the crowds that come in than his but the crowds are ridiculous! I like the fact that I can get a beer within 5 minutes regardless of the crowd but damn I need some elbow room! Ferg should buy more property or someone should open up something near the stadium to take in some of the overflow. I’ve talked to Ferg about this and he wouldn’t mind the competition. Someone do something please! By the way, if you want to get on Ferg’s good side tell him you were in the Lucas Smith, Tommy Kidwell, Scott Brannelly and Keith Crosby class and he’ll love you!

Sources: Baseball Reference, Yahoo

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