Tuesday, October 14

Rays Keep Rolling, Lead Series 3-1

Losing sucks, always has and I imagine it always will. I started typing this post in the top of the 6th inning not because I've given up on the Red Sox, but because the Rays look unbeatable right now.

When I played Little League there was one team we could never beat, Swifts Beach. Swifts had the best pitchers, the best hitters, the best 9 & 10 year olds, I think they're coach even bought them Gatorade every game. Point is they seemed unbeatable to me back then and the Rays look unbeatable in every facet of the game of baseball right now.

There's not much to say about the game tonight for Sox fans. The Rays took an early 3-0 lead when Pena and Longoria (this guy is killing us) went back to back in the first inning. Wake gave up another home run and that was his night after 2+ innings pitched; I give him credit he hasn't pitched in 2 weeks and you know he gave it his all but the knuckler just wasn't knuckling tonight. On the flip side Andy Sonanstine pitched a gem for the Rays, of course he did, this game was over when Pena went deep in the first.

The Rays are up 3-1 in this ALCS and other then the day off tomorrow I only have one piece of encouraging news; the Sox have been here before. I won't dwell on it but the Sox do have Matzusaka, Beckett and Lester lined up to pitch games 5, 6 and 7. Matzusaka looked great in game 1 and Beckett and Lester can certainly win a ball game on their own. Are the odds slim at this point, yes, but the the Sox have been here before. I'm not throwing in the towel quite yet.

I'm done with game 4, lets move on to some quickies:

ITM Notes:

The Sox lineup weren't the only ones not to show up; where the hell were the Fenway faithful. I don't even know if that helps but it be nice to hear some noise from the fans.

Ortiz, Ortiz, Ortiz, not that anyone hit tonight but come on guy. I jumped on someone who posted because they had no faith in Ortiz at the plate...I've been wrong before I'll be wrong again. Ortiz did manage a triple in the 7th, maybe that will get things started for him.

At work I asked a couple guys what they thought about tonights game, one guy answered the Sox would get killed and he had no confidence in Wakefield. It's worth noting this is the same guy (who is a sports fan) said that Brady was due to get hurt this year. I am not talking to this guy the rest of the week.

The Sox did get the offense going a little bit in the bottom of the 8th, but it was obviously too late. Hopefully this carries over to game 5, putting 10 up on the Rays would make me and a few other Red Sox fans feel better. Also I forget what cheering is like, and it would be nice to hear the announcers ball wash the Sox for a few innings. Oh no I'm getting bitter...

At this point its one game at a time starting Thursday at Fenway with Dice K on the hill. My Little League team never beat Swifts Beach, but maybe the Sox can, metaphorically speaking.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

To ITM
I decided I wasnt coming back here but after a little time out in the corner I realized that I had most likely been a touch , shall we say, harsh? I had lost touch with what was really important in all of this. I was reminded of it this evening while my son was watching the game with his grandfather. I left this post in response to a Boston fan post on The Heater and wwould like to include it here
Thank you
:A final note to Nova and other Boston fans
While the Rays team isnt used to playoff baseball many of us fans in Florida are used to playoff baseball as most florida residents come from other States. Many of us adopted Either the Marlins or Devil Rays when we moved to the Sub tropics. I adopted the then Devil Rays when I moved here Three years ago. My young son has been with the Rays baseball camps for the past three years and we spent our past three summers hoping for fall ball knowing that a simple win in any three game series was a step up for our poor talented but underachieving young team. This year has been a Godsend to the team and to the fans of this small market team. And no one has been happier than my son. I still remember the sad days of summer I spent rooting for the Hapless Cleveland Indians as a child. I remember the joy and agony of the Orioles teams of the 80's as a young adult when I moved to the DC area. I revel in this because of the time I get with my son, and the Joy he feels after working with some of the different personnel from the Rays in the winter spring and summer camps and finally seeing them win. Many of the players that he worked with are not part of this team. Julio and Rudy Lugo. Shawn Kemp. Brendon Harris. But he learned from them and he learned that you can't always win but you can sure as heck try. So while I might qualify as a Waggoneer since its only been three years its a lifetime for my son. And when he goes to sleep with playoff memories and thoughts of world series possibilities in his head, its all good. ANd I try not to hate on Boston fans because they have young sons and daughters too.

Anonymous said...

Two things:
1) Definitely don't talk to that guy at work..he seems to be the cause of all things bad right now.

2) Harold, it was good to read your comment, it's a good perspective on this "game".

DVicino said...

You didn't beat Swifts Beach because you were on Tremont and you guys were terrible. I distinctly remember beating you 17-2 once....and yes you struck me out once but you threw like 20 mph and I swung twice at a high one. It should be known that I took Tremont deep multiple times.

Anyways, I'm struggling to deal with the Red Sox right now. I'm torn between being impressed with the Rays and extremely pissed at the Sox. I know we've had the "magic" in years past but it seems more difficult to rationalize this time. Kazmir tomorrow makes me feel a little better about our chances to push this series back to Tampa, but .232team average doesn't get me too excited.

Lastly...the Rays collective balls have been so washed by everyone at this point they must have a severe rash.

DVicino said...

and PS: The Citgo sign caught fire today....is that a bad sign or what?

Joe Murph said...

Thanks for passing along the post, Harold. I admit that I do miss some of the personal touches that were more common from the Sox say pre-2001. We never had a "small-market" team, obviously, but we also didn't have a clamoring "nation," for better or worse. And I hope that if things don't go well for the Sox, it will at least mean some solidification for the Rays in the sense of giving the young fans something to hope for and cling to for a long time to come. There's really no reason that Tampa should be a small-market team that I know of. Can't say I'm not looking forward to a couple of the Rays hitting their 6-year mark, but I know it would be good for baseball if this success laid the groundwork for the Rays to start getting revenues to afford keeping those guys.

Custom Search
Free Blog CounterEnglish German Translation