I got my free t-shirt.
I’m surprised there weren’t more men going for these shirts. I know guys who have way bigger crushes on Longo than I do, and that’s say something.
The place seemed pretty empty, but then the people just kept rolling in. 22,000 is not bad for Friday night, and I would think there will be more over the weekend. Plus wasn’t there some sort of draft going on?
So I’m not going to lie. When Matt Garza’s other personality showed up I was squirming in my seat. You see my mind is warped and I was starting to wonder if this was all my fault. Did I break the streak by not being in my comfy chair at home, where I was for the first three of his awesome starts. Then I decided to get over myself, and hope he’d snap out of it. It turned out to be the first inning from hell. Matt did better after that, but I don’t think he was ever feeling good out there. Remind me to never piss him off in person.
I wish I knew if he was getting squeezed on pitches. The Navi ejection made me think so, but it’s hard to tell without foxtrack. Cecil seemed pretty comfortable. Plus he looked badass in those glasses.
The Rays had quite a hole to dig out of and they just came up short. Willy Aybar got things started with a home run, but Grant Balfour came out and gave it right back. Mood killer.
The boys kept picking away though. Benny doubled in Kapler to add one. Kapler homered to add two. He and Willy had great nights. BJ singled to add one more. Plus he’s awesome to watch roam centerfield. So they are down by one, with two on and Jaso hits one hard and far but…it’s caught. Tease.
Oh the bullpen did a good job of keeping the game within reach. On to the bottom of the ninth, which puzzled me. Why didn’t they pinch hit for Kapler? Barty struck out looking. Where was that pitch? Looked too good to take. Carl singled. Which brings up Benny. Once again, I don’t know where the pitches are but man it looked like they were close to take. I’m surprised he wasn’t more aggressive there? I’m not going to doubt him though since he’s pretty good at baseball.
It was a bummer, but exciting to the end. It’s not easy to win games when your starting pitcher is human and gives up five runs early. Let’s hope Niemann gets back on track tomorrow. The game is not on TV, so someone will have to let me know how he looks. Go Rays!
The Philadelphia Inquirer was ragging on Rays fans today:
Where is everybody?
“Put me in, Coach, I’m ready to play today,” John Fogerty once sang. The Tampa Bay Rays, off to great start with nobody in Florida watching, have taken the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer at his word – and thrown in fellow Famers ZZ Top, too (we hear Billy Gibbons has a mean circle change).
The Rays started a nine-game homestand featuring the Blue Jays, A’s and Royals at Tropicana Field on Friday, which is not drawing well. The club tells Marc Topkin of the St. Petersburg Times that tickets remain available in all price categories. To entice fans – winning baseball evidently not being enough – they have concerts after games by Fogerty on Saturday and ZZ Top on May 1, along with giveaways (Evan Longoria T-shirts and Ben Zobrist Zorilla Gorilla Webkinz).
If that doesn’t work, there’s always direct appeals from the players. “We’ve been in first place, we’re winning, you’d think it’d be a nice crowd,” Rays outfielder Carl Crawford told Topkin. “. . . I hope the fans feel like we do and want to come out and cheer for us.”
Perhaps this plaintive appeal from Rays righthander Matt Garza will do the trick: “It’s a lot funner playing in front of people than it is in front of empty seats.”
http://www.philly.com/inquirer/sports/20100424_Low___Outside__AL_Notes.html
Got to tell you, I had to rock one of those white I (Heart) Longo T-shirts to the game on Friday night as a post bet penalty when I thought the team might go 6-4 on their road trip.
Since I was pesstimistically challenged, someone in the Rays FO dared me to wear a Longo T-shirt. Rocked it under a older Rays Bullpen warm-up, but a lot of people knew I had Longo close to my heart.
That was the first of three women’s style T-shirts this year.
But I think more of the men will (heart) James Shields after his personally designed T-shirt is given out soon.
Love your muses…Keep me smiling and laughing!
That’s great Renegade. I heard the Rays ordered a bunch of XL shirts in case men were interested in them. I’m looking forward to seeing the other shirts. Keep dancing!