This is Cleveland-Browns-bad I’m talking about here.
So it’s official. I’m a masochist. I keep coming back for more; I keep expecting something different and keep getting disappointed. They say the definition on insanity is repeating the same thing over and over, expecting a different result. Well then I guess I’m insane too.
Sitting at another Rays game on a Thursday afternoon with high hopes of win, I left disappointed. Today was their 19th loss in the past 22 games. Practically unheard of. This is Cleveland-Browns-bad I’m talking about here.
Still, it’s not as bad as the Atlanta Braves, Minnesota Twins or Cincinnati Reds, who racked up even more losses than us, but I’m feeling like I’m back watching the old Devil Rays, minus the purple jerseys.
They’ve played 82 games so far and they’ve lost their 51st of the season, which is (almost) half over. The league enters the mid-season all-star break after three more games in Boston, leaving little hope of anything else but heartbreak and frustration for the remainder of the year.
Today’s game was no different than the rest: anemic offense, laughable errors, confusion and downright despair. This was all against the equally-as-bad Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, who had no problem scoring 25 runs on the Rays in the past three games.
Coach Kevin Cash recently had a sit-down with his players, urging them the put forth more effort, but they look like they themselves have given up.
But I don’t give up as easily. I hate myself enough to continue to watch the blundering Rays and their endless woes.
Why? For the bright notes. If history has taught me anything, we are looking at the future stars of the Rays. Blake Snell pitched a gem today, pitching through six innings with seven strikeouts and giving up two earned runs. Snell could be joining the Rays long-term in the future. Relief pitcher Ryan Garton, who made his debut in May, also shone with a six-pitch inning in the seventh.
These are the reason I subject myself to the failure: so I don’t miss the high notes. Not to mention the hilarity. This train wreck of a season is beginning to become humorous. I mean, Tim Beckham striking out three times on only 10 pitches? That’s impressive, if not pathetic. Brad Miller’s confusion on a double steal? Gold.
The club has time. Plenty of it. At least to claw its way out of the pits of the AL east this year. The team is also young, the second youngest in the league, according to statista.com, with an average age of 27.8 years. There is time and room to grow, and I’ll be eagerly and miserably waiting for it to happen. Remember their 2008 World Series appearance? The season where we won 97 games and only lost 65 (only 14 more than the Rays have lost midway through this season)? Well, that came only one season after we lost 96 games and only won 66.
It may just be the matter of tweaking a few things here and there, such as Nick Franklin’s walk up music. How does anyone get pumped for baseball to Walk the Moon’s “Shut up and Dance”? Well, he has the second-highest batting average on the team. Guess we’ll let him keep it.
Just keep plugging away, boys. Don’t give up yet. I sure haven’t (yet).
This article appears in Jul 7-14, 2016.
