Congratulations to the Rays

[tedylb]

No excuses. You were the better team. When you beat the best, you become the best. It's a great story when a small market team goes from worst to first in one season.

Now go kick the Phillies' asses.

 

[BradyManny]

No excuses. You were the better team. When you beat the best, you become the best. It's a great story when a small market team goes from worst to first in one season.

Now go kick the Phillies' asses.

I'm not too torn up about the loss given the adversity this Sox team faced, I couldn't possibly ask for more of them than what they did, but the Rays can f**k themselves if for no other reason than their fanbase is remarkably annoying and their stadium is 2nd rate shyt. Seriously, f**k Tampa.

 

[Disco Volante]

I'm not watching the World Series.

*bitterly sits in corner teary eyed*

 

[ctpatsfan77]

I'm not too torn up about the loss given the adversity this Sox team faced, I couldn't possibly ask for more of them than what they did, but the Rays can f**k themselves if for no other reason than their fanbase is remarkably annoying and their stadium is 2nd rate shyt. Seriously, f**k Tampa.

:idea2:

Personally, I think the perfect outcome would be having a deciding Game 7 . . . and having both teams run out of pitchers with the score tied.

As my brother said--you can't say that any team that took a playoff series to the limit is an absolute failure.

 

[ctpatsfan77]

I'm not watching the World Series.

*bitterly sits in corner teary eyed*

I'm with you on that one. I won't be crying, though--I've got other uses of my time.

Besides, I like the fact that FOX is now stuck with, by far, the weakest of the four possible Series ratings-wise.

 

[BadMoFo]

I'm not too torn up about the loss given the adversity this Sox team faced, I couldn't possibly ask for more of them than what they did, but the Rays can f**k themselves if for no other reason than their fanbase is remarkably annoying and their stadium is 2nd rate shyt. Seriously, f**k Tampa.

Rays have a fanbase? That's news.
Actually, all fanbases are annoying when you are not a part of it.

 

[patsfanofNC12]

I hate the fake members of the rays fanbase like this guy I know who has cheered for the Rays against the sox only because he hates us so much.

 

[jmt57]

I'm not too torn up about the loss given the adversity this Sox team faced, I couldn't possibly ask for more of them than what they did, but the Rays can f**k themselves if for no other reason than their fanbase is remarkably annoying and their stadium is 2nd rate shyt. Seriously, f**k Tampa.

Their fanbase is annoying? Why, because they didn't lay down and kiss our butts? Come on BM, given the way Sox fans as a whole have given them zero respect, how do you expect them to act towards us? They outplayed us, they beat us; hats off to them. I swear, some Sox fans act exactly the same way as what we despised for so long: Yankee fans.

 

[sdaniels7114]

Their fanbase is annoying? Why...

Mostly because they didn't show up 'till 1/2 way through this season. For the first 9 1/2 years of their existence you could hear every single word uttered by that goofy heckler guy. Many times he was talking, not even shouting. Now there's all these Rays-fans-for-life all over the place...

 

[BradyManny]

Their fanbase is annoying? Why, because they didn't lay down and kiss our butts? Come on BM, given the way Sox fans as a whole have given them zero respect, how do you expect them to act towards us? They outplayed us, they beat us; hats off to them. I swear, some Sox fans act exactly the same way as what we despised for so long: Yankee fans.

Nothing to do w/ laying down or not - the Rays fans are annoying b/c a few months ago they were all Yankee fans. Or Sox fans. (More Yanks fans down there though) People complain about bandwagon fans in Boston, those Rays fans are the definition of bandwagon jumpers.

 

[scout]

Nothing to do w/ laying down or not - the Rays fans are annoying b/c a few months ago they were all Yankee fans. Or Sox fans. (More Yanks fans down there though) People complain about bandwagon fans in Boston, those Rays fans are the definition of bandwagon jumpers.

Wrong. They weren't Yankee fans. Yankee fans came to the stadium over Ray fans. The Ray fans did not support their team, that's not in dispute. But, they did not root for the Yankees, the Sox, or Cubs and then switch alliance. Now, some of those fans (Sox, Yankees, Cubs ) who live down there will root for the Rays as they take on Philly.

 

[BradyManny]

Wrong. They weren't Yankee fans. Yankee fans came to the stadium over Ray fans. The Ray fans did not support their team, that's not in dispute. But, they did not root for the Yankees, the Sox, or Cubs and then switch alliance. Now, some of those fans (Sox, Yankees, Cubs ) who live down there will root for the Rays as they take on Philly.

People from Tampa have explicitly told me that the Yankees were big down there - partly b/c they have spring training down there. In fact, I was told exactly what I posted - that the Yankees are popular down there. And the cheers you hear for the MFY when they're in town aren't just MFY fans going down to the games, but Tampa Bay residents who root for the MFY. Maybe you know more about the place then I do, but I'm going on what I've heard.

 

[scout]

People from Tampa have explicitly told me that the Yankees were big down there - partly b/c they have spring training down there. In fact, I was told exactly what I posted - that the Yankees are popular down there. And the cheers you hear for the MFY when they're in town aren't just MFY fans going down to the games, but Tampa Bay residents who root for the MFY. Maybe you know more about the place then I do, but I'm going on what I've heard.

Yea, I lived there for a number of years. I was around when people wore t-shirts that said, Hey MLB, with a middle finger protruding upward. I was there when the Rays mismangement built an obsolete stadium but had no team to play in it. I witnessed (from far) some bad Ray teams. There are many people down there from NY and Boston. When those teams come to town those fans come to the stadium and root for them. Hell, my nephew was the batboy the last few years and he'd switch spots with another bat boy depending on whether the Rays were playing the Yankees or the Sox. I'm sure there are some Tampa residents that root for the Yankees that now root for the Rays. Just like my dumb ass brother-in-law who still roots for the Giants. But the majority of Tampa fans were rooting for the Rays this year, tho, not showing up at the park.

 

[T-Bone]

During this season, I saw more Yankee and Red Sox gear at Tampa Bay than I ever saw Rays gear. How many sellouts did this team have during the season, two? Could you imagine what a team like this would have done in KC, the Royal fans would have went nuts!

And I just saw an article in Forbes saying that this team was one most likely to move because of lack of fan support.

I am proud to be a Red Sox fan, and I am proud that our team sells out all its games, regardless of who they play. The Red Sox did me proud this season and I would rather support this team than be a bandwagon jumper like all those Ray fans that showed up wearing Tampa Bay stuff for these playoff games. All of which looked pretty brand new to me.

And really, Fox TV should ask for a rebate from MLB, because who really is going to care about this series outside of Philadelphia? The Tampa Bay fans will stop watching as soon as the Phillies get a couple of games up on them.

 

[scout]

The Tampa Bay fans will stop watching as soon as the Phillies get a couple of games up on them.

How's that going to happen when Tampa sweeps them?

 

[SmokeShowin]

Mostly because they didn't show up 'till 1/2 way through this season. For the first 9 1/2 years of their existence you could hear every single word uttered by that goofy heckler guy. Many times he was talking, not even shouting. Now there's all these Rays-fans-for-life all over the place...

That's why they use the cowbells and noisemakers, to make it seem like there are alot of them. Their fans are bandwagoners, without a doubt. The Rays themselves those were very impressive. They outplayed us, that's it.

 

[LiveShot]

The Rays won and are to be congratulated. Injuries hurt the Sox but that's the nature of the game. I do think there is cause to wonder about the health of Ortiz. Possibly he's hurt but he doesn't seem able to catch up with a good fastball. Ellsbury, will he ever be a major league hitter? Can Delcarmen learn to throw strikes? The automatic outs in the 7, 8, 9 position in the batting order are cause for alarm. You can't have a successful playoff tyeam with 3 black holes in the batting order. Is Jason Veritek done as a starting catcher? He can't hit or throw anybody out. What good is a catcher who can't hit or throw? The Sox missed Mike Lowell's bat. Is his injury a chronic problem and can he return to the clutch hitter/fielder he was last year?

 

[jmt57]

Given how bad the previous ownership was and how bad the team was on the field, I can't say that I blame Tampa Bay fans for not supporting their baseball team previously. And it's no different in Boston; how many showed up to watch the Celtics two years ago, or the Pats prior to Bob Kraft taking over?

We can't compare them to the Red Sox. The Sox have been competitive for over forty consecutive years, giving fans realistic hope every season since 1967; the Rays have only been competitive for six months. If the Sox were as bad as Tampa was for the ten previous seasons, the attendance at Fenway would probably be about the same.

When a team wins, attendance usually jumps more the following year than the same year due to increased season ticket sales. If they still have attendance problems next year, then I'll say they should move and their fans don't deserve a team, but I'm willing to give them the benefit of the doubt until then.

 

[scout]

Given how bad the previous ownership was and how bad the team was on the field, I can't say that I blame Tampa Bay fans for not supporting their baseball team previously. And it's no different in Boston; how many showed up to watch the Celtics two years ago, or the Pats prior to Bob Kraft taking over?

We can't compare them to the Red Sox. The Sox have been competitive for over forty consecutive years, giving fans realistic hope every season since 1967; the Rays have only been competitive for six months. If the Sox were as bad as Tampa was for the ten previous seasons, the attendance at Fenway would probably be about the same.

When a team wins, attendance usually jumps more the following year than the same year due to increased season ticket sales. If they still have attendance problems next year, then I'll say they should move and their fans don't deserve a team, but I'm willing to give them the benefit of the doubt until then.

Lets' hope so, but if the Marlins are any indication then they are doomed. Baseball needs to establish a hard-core cap. There is no way around it. If anyone says that it worked out because a low payroll team such as Tampa wins is way off base. I feel sorry for fans around the country who see their favorite players traded away each year because they can't compete with the top tier teams, its just wrong. Tampa will be trading away some great players in a few years because they can't afford its payroll, and that will have nothing to do with paying customers.

 

[beastoftheweek3]

David Price was disgusting last night, I now see why he was #1 pick/moved up so fast.