Today Major League Baseball fans did a good thing, finally sending a little more respect to the former doormats of the AL East Tampa. In this month's All-Star game there are a combined 6 starters from the Yankees and Red Sox, true both teams are traditional baseball powers, but the Ray's have the best record in baseball! Wow, I never thought I'd ever see that in writing unless it was in a video game.
Evan Longoria being voted in as the final man to the roster proves the fans show some respect to the former cellar dwellers as opposed to voting in another Yankee like Jason Giambi. I like the Rays' story; perennial loser who has finally taken some cuts at the big boys in baseballs most expensive division. Unfortunately I see Tampa's success going the way of their in-state friends the Marlins. While the Marlins have won two world series they have always been lightning in a bottle, hard to catch and quite a rarity. If the Rays do make the playoffs this year, which I hope they do, it will drive both the Sox and Yanks to spend more to put Tampa back in it's place.
So Tampa fan I give you this warning enjoy your run now, because the hated rivals in Boston and New York can't stand to allow you to win more than once every century. Well at least it's not another sport were teams can live and die by the official or which team calls the venue home (the ball is now in your court Mr. Stern). For the actual All-Star game in less than a week I'm going to go out on a limb and say the AL will win again and continue the trend that dates back to 1996 when Mike Piazza was the MVP in a 6-0 NL win. As far as I'm concerned the tie debacle in 2002 didn't happen, there are no ties in baseball and I'm still with those fans at Miller Park chanting, "Let Them Play."
No comments:
Post a Comment