In a blog post 10 days ago, I referred to the Tampa Bay Rays’ nine-game road trip (just-completed) as maybe the most crucial in the team’s history. Come back 7-2 or 6-3, I reasoned, and they could anticipate a sold-out Tropicana Field. Lay a 1-9 or 2-7 egg, and “the air’s out of the balloon,” the fickle crowd will have figured that the team had reverted to its old losing ways.
Neither scenario happened, although the team’s 3-6 road jaunt was more of the egg-laying variety. But here’s my spin on keeping fan interest up.
• The Rays got swept by Boston 3-0, but Boston is the defending champs, and, plus, there was that cool brawl.
• Then they went into Texas to play the Rangers and took the series 2-1.
• They went 1-2 against the Anaheim Angels, but routed the team in one game, and besides, the Angels are one of the top teams in the American League. (On the rather bleak side, James Shields and Scott Kazmir took back-to-back losses).
So at risk of being a rah-rah guy, despite the 3-6 road swing, I didn’t see anything from the Rays that suggested they were reverting to their macabre history. Sure would be nice to see the Trop rockin' when the Florida Marlins come in for a three-game stand starting Friday.
This article appears in Jun 11-17, 2008.