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About the Author - CriticalFanatic
"Hell."

Jason
Chicago, IL
Male 28 years old

About Me:
Somehow remain a passionate sports fan despite living and dying with the Chicago Cubs and Michigan State athletics. Born in California, grew up in Michigan and went to college at Miami U (Ohio). All of which have shaped my sports fandom. Also a featured blogger and editor of this fine website you might have heard about called FanIQ.
Tampa Bay Rays Have Best AL Record [MLB Walk-Off]
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You're Going To Have A Devil Of A Time Digesting The American League Standings
by CriticalFanatic
>7 days ago



I'm not sure what makes me dizzier: This video after Gabe Gross drove in Jonny Gomes for a walk-off win or the fact that the Tampa Bay Rays have the best record in the AL East, and the entire American League after this win.

That's right - your first place Tampa Bay Rays, winners of six in a row and 11 straight at home. This is the best winning percentage the Rays have had in their 11 seasons of existence.

Best of all, the win came off Mariano Rivera and prompted another message from Darth Steinbrenner.

"We've got to forget about all the injuries and start playing our butts off."

 

"The bottom line is that the team is not playing the way it is capable of playing. These players are being paid a lot of money and they had better decide for themselves to earn that money."

Isn't baseball fun?

Who had Nate McLouth with 10 HRs? 10 HR's the entire season that is. I certainly didn't. The Pirates centerfielder had 10 dingers already this season, two more than Albert Pujols and more than anyone in the American League. Can we get a drug test up in here. Pirates 8, Cardinals 4.

Gagned in a good way Eric Gagne who asked to be relieved of full-time closing duties got an opportunity last night at home against the Dodgers and only allowed one hit in recording his 10th save. At least for a day, there won't be any panicking in Milwaukee. Brewers 5, Dodgers 3.

F-ing Shawn Estes I can't believe the Cubs lost a game to Shawn Estes. First win for the lefty in three years. Awesome. Padres 4, Cubs 3.

Another thoughts on the night of action, feel free to share it here.
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67 days ago
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(Edited 05/14/08 12:31PM by RenegadeLG)
I figured supposed sports fans wouldn't again want to be caught with their pants down after the Rockies finally started competing last year.  The Rays have one of the deepest and most talented organizations from MLB to Rookie Ball in the entire game.  They were going to catch fire eventually.  The Royals are pretty close, too, in case you want to brace yourself for their (non)surprise success next season.

McLouth hit 13 Home Runs in half-a-season's worth of ABs last year.  Why wouldn't he hit 10 this year?

And Estes only hasn't won in 3 years because he's been out of baseball that long.  He's a crazy kind of pitcher.  He'll get shelled and still win.  Guys show up and get him runs.  I wonder how many other pitchers have paired near-5 ERAs with 100 wins.
 
67 days ago
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Brewers fans have it soooo bad with Gagne..lol..you want Borowski?

McClouth was touted as a star by his Pirates teammates before the season started, nobody listened cause, well, they are the Pirates!
 
67 days ago
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derms33 wrote:

Brewers fans have it soooo bad with Gagne..lol..you want Borowski?

McClouth was touted as a star by his Pirates teammates before the season started, nobody listened cause, well, they are the Pirates!

He was on a pace last year that would have had him 28 home runs with a full slate of ABs.  The power isn't surprising, but his hitting for average sure is.
 
67 days ago
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Tampa Rays, your 2008 World Series Champions. Hearing that might make my head explode.
 
67 days ago
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Right now Gagne and Borowski probably could get 1-2-3 9th's if they faced the awesomeness of the White Sox bats. Great job guys, Danks pitches a great game and Dotel bails you out of a jam for what? 0, 0 freaking runs! But hey maybe I should take it easy since you scored 7 last night. Seven runs which would equal a win in most situations didn't because of the glacier-esque range of our middle infield and poor team fundamentals.

 

ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG! (Pounds desk)

 

I swear another week of this and I will start pining for NFL training camps to open.
 
67 days ago
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100%InjuryRate wrote:
Tampa Rays, your 2008 World Series Champions. Hearing that might make my head explode.
That would be pretty insane.  I think your head is safe.  They'll probably win 85+ games and still miss the playoffs thanks to the stacked AL.  They'd have to win the East because the Wild Card is coming from somewhere else.
 
66 days ago
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RenegadeLG wrote:
That would be pretty insane.  I think your head is safe.  They'll probably win 85+ games and still miss the playoffs thanks to the stacked AL.  They'd have to win the East because the Wild Card is coming from somewhere else.

Botson has blown leads lately and the Yankees aren't invincible. When the Rays are able to take series from Boston and the Yankees at their home fields...that's when the Rays are ready to make a run for the world series.

 

Then again, you never know what can happen, that's why we all love sports!
 
66 days ago
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I'm just here to say Congrats to The Rays!!  What a great start, let's see if they can keep it going .. it's nice to see The Rays on Top and not The Red Sox .. it's a very, very, very nice site!!  Congrats!! 
 
66 days ago
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They had never before been 7 games above .500 during their entire existence.  That's incredible.  Congrats to tpmm and the other fans who have stuck it out this long.
 
66 days ago
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Can't say I'm really surprised because this team is really talented with youth. And this is an exciting story right now, but will we still be talking about this come September?

 

If we do, then this Rays team can be compared to the '69 Mets and the '03 Marlins.
 
66 days ago
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primo wrote:

Can't say I'm really surprised because this team is really talented with youth. And this is an exciting story right now, but will we still be talking about this come September?

 

If we do, then this Rays team can be compared to the '69 Mets and the '03 Marlins.

I agree with you 100% ... I'm not too surprised either ... but I hope we are talking about this in September ... wouldn't that be great?  Like I said, it's so nice to see The Rays on Top and NOT The Red Sox!! 
 
66 days ago
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FishMan wrote:
I agree with you 100% ... I'm not too surprised either ... but I hope we are talking about this in September ... wouldn't that be great?  Like I said, it's so nice to see The Rays on Top and NOT The Red Sox!! 
Or the Yanks.
 
66 days ago
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primo wrote:
Or the Yanks.
No, just the Red Sox ... I'm a Yankee Fan ... lol
 
66 days ago
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FishMan wrote:
No, just the Red Sox ... I'm a Yankee Fan ... lol
I wonder if Tampa even knows they still have a team? I see highlights (since the games aren't televised on the West Coast), and there are no people in the stands. Maybe everyone is at the Marlins game
 
65 days ago
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primo wrote:
I wonder if Tampa even knows they still have a team? I see highlights (since the games aren't televised on the West Coast), and there are no people in the stands. Maybe everyone is at the Marlins game
Maybe .. I guess they don't care about their team down there .. it's a shame too .. because they are a very good team and no one is coming out to see them .. we'll see .. if they can keep this going all season .. maybe that will change .. you know how some fans are .. their team is never any good then when they start winning people come out of the woodwork .. I mean .. if your a fan of a curtain team .. BE PROUD .. stand tall .. stick with them though thick and thin .. I have never be embarrassed about any of my teams ever .. and I never walk around when one of my teams is doing badly and say "they suck" .. because that's not true .. if you say one of your favorite teams suck .. then you're not a true fan of that team .. always be proud of your favorite teams!  Wow, I guess I got a little long winded there .. well that is my two cents worth .. and believe me .. it's not worth two cents, LOL.
 
65 days ago
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(Edited 05/16/08 10:33AM by Buttons)
primo wrote:
I wonder if Tampa even knows they still have a team? I see highlights (since the games aren't televised on the West Coast), and there are no people in the stands. Maybe everyone is at the Marlins game

They draw only about 13K to 16K per game, but they are definitely starting to create some enthusiasm down there.  At the end of yesterday's Rays/Yanks game, the fans were on their feet for the entire 9th inning, loud as can be, chanting "Yankees Suck", but more importantly recognizing the fact they were about to take 3 of 4 from the Yanks, having held them to 2 or fewer runs in each of the 4 games.  That's a place which during the Yanks series is routinely dominated by NY Metro transplants.  That wasn't the case yesterday. 

They've got a solid orginization there, with a good owner who says he will spend money this season to add a piece if they need it to contend.  "People will come Rae, People will most definitely come."
 
65 days ago
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Buttons wrote:

They draw only about 13K to 16K per game, but they are definitely starting to create some enthusiasm down there.  At the end of yesterday's Rays/Yanks game, the fans were on their feet for the entire 9th inning, loud as can be, chanting "Yankees Suck", but more importantly recognizing the fact they were about to take 3 of 4 from the Yanks, having held them to 2 or fewer runs in each of the 4 games.  That's a place which during the Yanks series is routinely dominated by NY Metro transplants.  That wasn't the case yesterday. 

They've got a solid orginization there, with a good owner who says he will spend money this season to add a piece if they need it to contend.  "People will come Rae, People will most definitely come."

I agree with you 100%, but I only agree with the Ray fans 99.9%, The Yanks Do Not Suck, LOL.
 
65 days ago
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This is why you got to love baseball. This is one of those feel good teams that you root for. Sort of like a Rocky Balboa.
 
65 days ago
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Buttons wrote:

They draw only about 13K to 16K per game, but they are definitely starting to create some enthusiasm down there.  At the end of yesterday's Rays/Yanks game, the fans were on their feet for the entire 9th inning, loud as can be, chanting "Yankees Suck", but more importantly recognizing the fact they were about to take 3 of 4 from the Yanks, having held them to 2 or fewer runs in each of the 4 games.  That's a place which during the Yanks series is routinely dominated by NY Metro transplants.  That wasn't the case yesterday. 

They've got a solid orginization there, with a good owner who says he will spend money this season to add a piece if they need it to contend.  "People will come Rae, People will most definitely come."

They did have that span where they did spend on name brand players, but the problem was that they were paid for their name and not what they could've contributed to the team. Here's a list of:

Wade Boggs

Fred McGriff

Greg Vaughn

Wilson Alvarez

Jose Canseco

 

Now shouldn't Griffey try to go to this team? He would add that extra pop in the line-up, generate some more fan responses, and possibly take players such as Carl Crawford, BJ Upton, and Evan Longoria underneath his tutelage

 

 
 
65 days ago
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primo wrote:

They did have that span where they did spend on name brand players, but the problem was that they were paid for their name and not what they could've contributed to the team. Here's a list of:

Wade Boggs

Fred McGriff

Greg Vaughn

Wilson Alvarez

Jose Canseco

 

Now shouldn't Griffey try to go to this team? He would add that extra pop in the line-up, generate some more fan responses, and possibly take players such as Carl Crawford, BJ Upton, and Evan Longoria underneath his tutelage

 

 

The truth is, if Rocco Baldelli were healthy they wouldn't even need to add a bat. 
 
65 days ago
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Buttons wrote:
The truth is, if Rocco Baldelli were healthy they wouldn't even need to add a bat. 
True, but they might need the experience and Griffey doesn't have the same rep that Bonds has, Griffey is a fun loving guy and doesn't divide the clubhouse.
 
 
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