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My Beloved Rays are once again alone at the top of the American League – the first time since 12 June.  It helps that the Hated Yankees have lost two games in a row to Toronto.  But more than anything the Rays are just playing great baseball, including against New York, winning last weekend’s series in St. Petersburg.

B.J. Upton, a player I’ve been known to badmouth, has really stepped up lately, and his performance tonight shut me up.  His three-run home run won the game, and Sean Rodriguez’s long ball gave the game good momentum early.  I had until recently been dismayed by the way the Rays had been leaving so many runners on base, and how their bats had been quiet, but these recent games show them improving in that regard.  Good ball tonight!

Filed under: Sports on August 3rd, 2010 | No Comments »

HOMESTEAD, FLORIDA – This summer I have watched nearly every Tampa Bay Rays game, missing only those that took place while I was away in Virginia, and a few on evenings when Miriam and I were enjoying a night on the town.  I have spent upwards of twelve hours per week all summer watching Rays baseball.

I am visiting friends in south Florida for a couple days this week, and while we enjoyed a relaxing dip in the pool last night, Matt Garza pitched the first no hitter in Tampa Bay Rays history against Detroit, and I missed it.  Judging from history, they’ll have several no hitters and two perfect games thrown against them before a Rays pitcher has another such performance.

Filed under: Sports on July 27th, 2010 | No Comments »

Back in April, my father and I attended a game at Tropicana Field that didn’t turn out as we’d hoped.  The hated New York Yankees beat our beloved Rays.  Worse, the already large contingent of Yankees fans in attendance became a majority by the late innings, so that it felt as though we were strangers at our own home park.  We resolved not to attend any more home games against New York or Boston.  So, last week’s Cleveland series seemed to be the perfect opportunity to see the Rays again, and we attended Sunday afternoon’s game against the Indians.

We arrived early, and parked in a distant, but cheap, parking lot.  We had to walk five blocks or so, but we saved at least ten dollars, and avoided all the post-game traffic.  We bought tickets at the park this time, and for two extra dollars each, the tickets included lunch.  The folks in the box office must have really been pushing the right field bleachers, because our seats–in Row GG, Section 142–were cramped.  When the end of the second inning rolled around, we opted not to try and squeeze our way back through the crowd, and instead moved to an emptier part of the park, above the Rays’ bullpen.  Those were much better seats.

The game itself got off to a troubling start.  Cleveland scored three runs in the top of the first.  But the Rays came back, and were ahead by the time Wheeler took over for Niemann.  Regrettably, Wheeler blew the lead, and the game stayed tied into extra innings.  The Rays had ample opportunities to go ahead, but they left more than a dozen guys on base through the course of the game.  Finally, in the bottom of the tenth, Bartlett hit a ball into deep right-center field, sending the winning run home.  The Cleveland outfielders didn’t even bother to pick up the ball; they just turned around and walked off the field.  My Dad and I left happy.

Later, I saw that we were on TV: once when we were in our outfield seats, and several times when the cameras focused across the infield.

All in all, a wonderful day halfway through the Summer of Baseball.

Filed under: Family, Sports on July 15th, 2010 | No Comments »

If you watch much baseball, particularly in person, you have no doubt witnessed it: a frantic rush for every home run and foul ball batted into the stands.  Occasionally, these balls are caught outright, and the happy fan holds up his prize and receives cheers all around.  Far more often, however, the batted ball bounces off a seat or a spectator’s hand, and initiates a mad scramble to retrieve it.  Grown men and boys leap over one another, and crawl along the floor to snatch it.  It would not be exaggerating to say that, for some young boys, the quest for a foul ball holds greater interest than the game on the field.

The same foolish impulse that animates the men who snatch baseballs from from one another in the stands, and the boys who race each other from section to section in greedy anticipation, is the same one that prompts fans to interfere with balls in play.  The infamous Steve Bartman incident is the best known, but others occur almost daily, with fans reaching over walls, gloves in hand, to scoop up fair balls.

This obsession reached its logical climax in Arlington last night, when a fan at Rangers Park tumbled from the upper deck to the stands below.  He had been reaching for a foul ball and lost his balance.  He dropped thirty feet onto fans below.  Fans in the park screamed when they saw it happen.  The home plate umpire threw his hands over his head in horror.  The television announcers were similarly terrified.  The game was halted for fifteen minutes, and many players were visibly distressed, with several of the Cleveland fielders clearly mouthing prayers.

Everyone loves a souvenir.  But is a $16 baseball really worth all that?

Filed under: Current Events, Rantings, Sports on July 7th, 2010 | 2 Comments »

As I have previously declared, this is the Summer of Baseball™.  And though today may only be the first of July, and Major League Baseball may still have months to go, for me some of the joy is ended.

Curiously enough, the Summer of Baseball actually began last winter.  I started attending Florida Gators baseball games back in March.  At that time, it was dusk as the games were getting under way, and I needed to wear a jacket to keep from freezing in the bleachers.  Time sure flies, because the Gators played their last game of the season weeks ago in Omaha, losing to Florida State.  I had had high hopes for the team at the College World Series, particularly since they played so well all season, and pulled out some amazing wins.  But it wasn’t to be.

Still, I have tons of great memories to keep me until next season.  I’ll remember always getting in free with my student ID.  I’ll remember the “Bleacher Creatures” out in left field who psychologically tortured the opposing team: “Hey, center-fielder, look at the left-fielder; he sucks!”  I’ll remember the time that the mascot, Baseball Al, gave me a fist bump (or “terrorist fist jab”) during a Gators rally.  I’ll remember the Dollar Nights, and how I vowed to never eat a jumbo pretzel again.  I’ll remember the fans selected at random to (poorly) sing the chorus to “Take Me Out to the Ball Game”.  I’ll remember the time that some poor fan picked to play the Mystery Pizza Box Challenge chose to take the mystery box over the ten free pizzas and got a Tootsie Roll, then the next game another fan chose the ten free pizzas, and the mystery box contained a new HDTV.  I’ll remember how the girl who tosses out the free t-shirts following innings with double plays or home runs never tried to throw the t-shirts more than about three feet from where she was standing at the time.  I’ll remember that even run-of-the-mill foul balls are frightening when they’re coming toward you and you aren’t wearing a glove.  I’ll remember the night that Marty and I looked up toward the lights behind us to see what appeared to be a plague of locusts.  I’ll remember the astonishing NCAA Super Regional series against the Miami Hurricanes, where a bizarre electrical storm threatened to postpone the first game, and a jaw-dropping seven errors cost Miami the second game.  (My favorite joke of the game: “You can’t spell ‘Miami’ without an ‘E’”.)  I’ll remember singing “We Are the Boys from Old Florida”.

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I’ll remember the many great wins, and the very few losses.  And, of course, I’ll remember some great plays and players, including my favorite, center-fielder Matt den Dekker, who is off to join the Hated Mets.  I’m glad for him.

And I am glad for myself, for getting to spend so many nights enjoying our national pastime.

Filed under: Musings, Sports on July 1st, 2010 | No Comments »