HER RAYS!

Oh right, it’s just spring training.  Carry on.

Tale of two CC’s.

CC – “Get in my belly.”
CC – “You can’t eat, what you can’t catch.”

(AP photo ESPN.com)

The Rays had their first game today.  It wasn’t on TV, but the Dan Johnson game was.  How cool is it that we call it the Dan Johnson game.  I have never loved a man as much as I loved him in that moment.  So of course I watched it over again today, and I realized how much I’ve been missing the Rays.

I miss Carlos Pena’s smile.
I miss Aki’s swing and run.
I miss everything about Barty.
I miss Longo’s homerun trot.
I miss CC’s triples.
I miss BJ’s cannon.
I miss Fernando’s electricity.
I miss Navi’s doubles.
I miss Shields efficiency.
I miss Kazmir’s torque.
I miss Garza’s passion.
I miss Sonny’s eyes.

You get the idea.  I can’t wait to get out and see some games, and hopefully they’ll be back in my living room soon.

Spring is in the air.  Some people celebrated the weekend with treats like these…

but my cupcakes looked more like this…

but the real reason love is in the air is… 

Look!  Rays!!  Waahoo!! 

I guess it’s time to come out of hibernation.  I’ll be going to a couple of games in March, and I’ve been working on some things behind the scenes here.  Hopefully we’ll get back in the groove and have another great season.  Go Rays!! 

Alex Rodriguez tested positive for steroids in 2003.  That is very disappointing for sure, but I for one need more information.  5% of players were using performance enhancing drugs at that time.  Why is he the only one being called out?  Did he continue this after 2003?  I mean has he been using steroids all along?

I don’t know if you’ve ever seen Alex play baseball in person, but he is an amazing player.  He has stood out from his peers at every level he’s ever played at.  Physically he’s gotten bigger, but his numbers have been pretty consistent all along.  Matter of fact after his rough 2006, he dropped some weight and bulk before his MVP 2007 season.  Is it possible to get leaner and trimmer on the roids?

I have followed his plight for years now, and I will be very bummed if I find out he has been using all along.  However if it comes out that this was a short term thing, I could very easily get past it.  Alex has always been a guy who’s searching for something.  I’m not sure if it’s acceptance, adoration or just a place that he belongs.  I think he’d try a lot of things to find that something. 

So let’s hope he just made a bad choice in 03-04.  You know what sucks?  Josh Hamilton can make several bad choices, but since it didn’t effect the integrity of the game, he was able to come back and be viewed as a hero.  For some reason Alex has never been viewed as human, even though he proven to us many times that he is just that.

There is something that really upsets me about all this though.  Why now?  Americans need to question the media more and this is definitely one of those times.  Why is this story coming out now?  Why is Alex the only one being thrown to the wolves?  Also did the union break the agreement to keep these records anonymous, or did somebody get too much access during the feds investigation?

I guess what bites the most is just when we are all getting excited about baseball, this is what we’ll have to hear about for a long time.  The steroids era happened.  Will we ever be able to move on from it?  Will I be able to cheer for Mr. Rodriguez when he hits his 800th homerun? (as long as it’s not against the Rays of course)

Rays fans should be happy since their spring training should be pretty quiet and might actually focus on baseball.  The whole media circus will be in Tampa.  Speaking of Yankees fans…there is one that I’m pretty sure has never touched the roids.  Jane Heller is a fellow blogger who’s book Confessions of a She-Fan has just hit the shelves.   The girls at We’ve got Heart have an excellent interview with her as part of their Women in Baseball series.  If you have extra time the whole series is definitely worth a look. 

I know.  I’ve taken this whole off season thing a little too seriously huh?  I guess I’m just tired of talking/reading about baseball.  I don’t want to analyze what might happen, where, when and with who anymore.  Eleven more days until that romantic holiday.  Forget the chocolate and roses.  All I want is green grass, blue skies and the Rays back in uniform playing America’s favorite pastime.  That’s a better aphrodisiac than oysters any day!

It occurred to me that I never gave Jonny Gomes a proper send off.  After all the entertainment he’s provided me, that is completely unacceptable.  I wish him all the luck with the Reds.  So I think I’ll throw him Overboard.

When I think of Jonny as a leading man, Dean Proffitt is the obvious choice.  When Joanna first meets Dean he is struggling to make ends meet.  Jonny definitely had his struggles when he was with the Rays.

Dean tricks Joanna into believing she is his wife Annie.  Annie soon finds out that Dean is pretty obnoxious, lacking basic manners.  I’m sure Jonny is a nice guy and has more manners, but visions of him drinking beer out of a protective cup definitely fit the comparison.

Annie works hard to clean up Dean’s life.  She then realizes that although Dean is rough around the edges, he is loyal and has a soft side too.  This mirrors my love/hate relationship with Mr. Gomes.  Jonny is super loyal.  He always had his teammates backs, and although some times he could be so frustrating, you had to love the guy!

In the end Annie/Joanna and Dean’s relationship made them better people.  The fell in love and lived happily ever after.  There’s no happily ever after for Jonny and the Rays, but I think the relationship made them both better.  I can’t imagine that run last year with out him, and I hope he does find his happy ending.  Maybe he’ll even rescue a rich chick and raise a bunch of rowdy boys.