Here's the streak by the
#Rays
that I was watching and didn't want to jinx: For the first time in franchise history, they played a full season and did not have a single person ejected from a game by an umpire. Not a player, not a coach, not manager Kevin Cash. Impressive.
Evan Longoria returns to the Trop on Saturday.
The former
#Rays
3B is scheduled to throw out the first pitch prior to the team’s game against the Cleveland Guardians.
He will also make a limited appearance at The Bay Republic team store before the game to sign autographs.
For the
#Rays
fans who have stuck by this team through all this craziness of the
#CIVID19
pandemic, manager Kevin Cash has a special message for you all!
The Rays’ Pete Fairbanks on ESPN’s desire to see Yankees-Astros: “We said, Well, we’re on the brink, so we might as well ruin their day up there in Connecticut.”
- 100 wins
- American League East division title for a second straight year
- Best record in the American League.
None of it matters. 2021 will go into the record books as a failure for the
#Rays
Also, with the announcement of a new stadium, that also clears the last hurdle for MLB at some point to announce that Tampa Bay will host the All-Star Game once the
#Rays
move into the new digs. They are the only team to have never had the mid-summer classic in their stadium.
I’m shocked that the
#Rays
are not going to be involved in next year’s Mexico series. You’d think having the country’s favorite ballplayer would almost guarantee things.
The Astros and Rockies will play in next year’s regular-season series in Mexico, tentatively scheduled again for Mexico City, sources tell me and
@Chandler_Rome
.
A first-day-of-school vibe for
@RaysRadio
broadcasters Andy Freed and Neil Solondz, who also brought one of Dave Wills’ Hawaiian shirts to make sure his presence is felt for every game.
Just found out that my last days covering the
#Rays
this year in person will be in the
#ALDS
. Disappointed that I won't be there for the ALCS or World Series, but it's been a wonderful first year covering the team on my own.
What I've seen
#Yankees
fans use as excuses for why they went 2-8 against the
#Rays
this season:
1) We don't have X, Y, Z, A, B and C
2) Rays pitchers pitch mean to LeMahieu
3) We don't have any fans in the stadium
What they should be saying:
1) Our team got outplayed.
Wander says one reason he agreed to this deal is because the
#Rays
were the team that opened the door for him to play professionally. "I want to spend my whole career here."
Tampa Bay doesn't deserve the red-hot Rays, but Orlando does! Here's my column on the
#TampaBayRays
being the best-run organization in sports with the worst fan base:
I've been trying to piece my thought together about the passing of Dave Wills, but it's tough to think of him in the past tense. I produced
#Rays
Radio broadcasts his first five years with the team, and the joy I got working with him and Andy every day is something I cherish.
Tonight’s game between the
#Rays
and
#Marlins
looks like it will be the largest crowd of the year. Just looked at the sections that still have seats available on MLB Ballpark app and they are ALL single tickets, maybe about two dozen or so.
Ok it's personal news time:
I learned this morning that today would be my last day at
@953WDAE
. It has been an incredible run, one that has only happened because of everyone that has supported me and believed in me. (1/ )
Just remember the series in Boston that took place in mid-August. The Red Sox scored 20 runs in the middle game, but scored a grand total of five runs in the rest of the series. Meanwhile Tampa Bay scored eight runs in each game and ended up taking two of three.
#Rays
I was feeling a little under the weather last night, and so I didn’t get a chance to thank everyone who followed my coverage of this year’s
#Rays
. It certainly ended much earlier than we all expected, but what an incredible ride the season turned out to be.
BREAKING:
#Rays
manager Kevin Cash has become just the second manager ever to win the Manager of the Year award in consecutive seasons after winning this season’s award.
Kevin Cash after finishing his Zoom availability asked all of us in the local
#Rays
media to thank you, the
#Rays
fans for supporting the team. "Hopefully they're celebrating like we are tonight."
The
#Rays
announce not only will they wear the new City Connect jerseys on May 3, but also on May 4 and 5, then on every Saturday home game the rest of the season? Plus on the road against the Braves and Cardinals.
The
#Rays
have announced that they have partnered with global real estate development and property management firm Hines to present a redevelopment plan for the Tropicana Field site to the city of St. Petersburg which would include a new state of the art ballpark.
I know that I should be patient, but being without a job for the first time in almost a quarter century, I’m battling the feeling of being worthless, and want to get back in the race yesterday. Thanks to a friend for helping me my confidence up.
Not sure if I’m alone in this, but I watch Taj Bradley pitch and all I see is early Chris Archer. The numbers say he should have a ton of success, he tries to strike everyone out, and if one thing goes wrong, the wheels fall off.
#Rays
BREAKING: Wander Franco establishes new American League record for consecutive games reaching base for a player aged 20 or younger, as his seventh inning walk gives him 37 consecutive games. He had been tied with Mickey Mantle, who had reached safely in 36 games in 1951-52
#Rays
Ok news time: Thursday was a historic day for
#MLB
(and not because of the power outage) with Shohei Ohtani becoming the first Japanese-born player to hit for the cycle in the bigs. I was asked by
@baseballhall
to donate my scorecard, and gladly agreed. Off to Cooperstown!
BREAKING: A source tells me that
@953WDAE
and
#Rays
Insider Steve Carney have agreed to a new multi-year extension. No terms disclosed, though the deal runs through end of the 2022-2023 MLB offseason.
These pictures are about 4 years apart. One of us has gotten better, the other has just gotten fatter (shockingly, I'm the latter). So great to be around the incredible
@KellyNash
if only for a day.
I tend to stay quiet on September 11, because of how much that day in 2001 changed my life forever. Maybe one day I'll tell my story, but even 20 years in, it still feels too raw. Say a prayer for those who lost someone, and be kind to those who are still struggling.
Here's hoping that
@Buck
and Smoltzie mention that the
#Rays
acquired Joey Wendle the same day the Yankees got Giancarlo Stanton, and only one of them has gotten an
#AllStarGame
appearance.
My
#Rays
takeaways from Monday night’s win:
1) Randy getting on base four times tells me he’s close to going on a tear.
2) Tyler Glasnow should strike fear into every team the rest of the season
3) How much joy can Basabe bring? Let’s find out!
For the haters of Brandon Lowe, get the antacid out, because the second baseman has doubled and reached three times so far today in the first game post-break.
#Rays
Ji-Man Choi told us tonight that he switched bats before his ninth inning home run Friday night and used the same bat for the whole night tonight. It's been a good one, with five hits, four for extra bases.
#Rays
If you're a
#Rays
fan, you have to appreciate the
@Orioles
changing their profile picture to Robert Andino, whose RBI single in "Game 162" off Jonathan Papelbon allowed Evan Longoria's homer just moments later to eliminate Boston. As
@Britt_Ghiroli
said: next-level trolling.
The 20,521 here tonight to see
#Rays
-
#RedSox
is the largest crowd at the Trop for a contest since 7/24/19 when Tampa Bay and Boston played in front of a crowd of 24,161.
Kiermaier with the fastest home to home in MLB this season on his inside the park homer at 15.10 seconds, and he just jogged to first base. Amazing!
#Rays
It’s been three years since
@BigDogwdae
passed, and there are so many occasions that I say “I wonder what Steve would have said about xxxxxxx?” Tom Brady as a Buc, the
#Bolts
winning back to back cups, and of course the
#Rays
success. He would have had a blast. Miss ya Dog!
I guarantee you that McClanahan remembers this feeling all the way until his next postseason start. I hope the rest of the team follows suit. Use the failure as fuel.
#Rays
For those pundits that think the
#Rays
are killing baseball, I have news for you: The
#Rays
Way has made it's mark all over the league. Just look at how many managers and general managers have been a part of it.
A very nice salute for outfielder Kevin Kiermaier, who may be appearing for the final time in a
#Rays
uniform. He gets a video tribute and a curtain call.
Wander Franco told me that on his two doubles today, he got a hard time from one of his teammates because they were so close to being home runs. "Manuel Margot told me I need to get in the weight room."
#Rays
If you are coming to today’s
#Rays
game, you are going to want to be in your seat by 3:40, as the team will honor long-time radio broadcaster Dave Wills, who died March 5. Dave’s wife Liz and daughter Michelle will be in attendance today.
Could you imagine if Rasmussen had gotten to 26 up and 26 down and Brett Phillips is what stood between him and immortality? I think space-time would have ripped a hole and swallowed the Trop.
#Rays
#Orioles
The August 1 game will be the fifth ESPN Sunday Night Baseball game to be broadcast from Tropicana Field, and the first since July 17, 2011, which was also against Boston.
#Rays
Jacob DeGrom improves to 10-9 on the year after getting three runs of support to beat Atlanta.
If he had gotten three runs of support in all 32 starts this year, he'd be 27-1.
If he got four runs of support, he'd be 31-0.
If he got two runs, he'd be 21-6.
#Mets
Wow, an feature on the
#Rays
and Tropicana Field from a national outlet that doesn't dump entirely on both?? Are my eyes deceiving me? A really great read by
@MichaelBaumann
of
@ringer
And I'll leave you today with this quote from
@TeamCoco
that has stuck with me over the years:
"Nobody in life gets exactly what they thought they were going to get, but if you work really hard and you're kind, amazing things will happen."
The next chapter is to come...
The
#Rays
say a member of stadium operations went up on to the C ring and retrieved Brett Phillips HR ball from Tuesday night. He’ll be signing it and it will be given to 9-year-old Chloe Grimes.
Willy Adames has a great mindset when it comes to dealing with th possibility of MLB getting shut down because of the COVID-19 cases: "If they shut this down tomorrow, I want to win the game tonight."
Excited to be able to help out my friends at Vinik Sports Group engineering audio in-arena and on broadcast for
@Raptors
games beginning with tonight's preseason game at Amalie Arena against Miami.
Ran into the lady who won today’s 50/50 raffle at Tropicana Field and is taking home over $25,000. She said she was still at a loss for words, and I told her three words that usually come to mind for folks who win the raffle: “Drinks on me.”
#Rays