It's all about me!

I knew it was going to happen. I should have been prepared and actually thought I was, but as it turns out, I wasn’t. It was inevitable that the secret would get out and the rest of the area would find out about the Tampa Bay Rays and start going to ball games at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg.

Now most folks think that this is a good thing. Others simply don’t care and then there is me. I don’t like it. You see, I have grown accustomed to being able to sit anywhere I wanted to, whenever I wanted to at that ballpark. I have grown accustomed to getting a hot dog or a sausage sandwich whenever I wanted it without having to wait in line. I have grown accustomed to waiting until the last minute to use the head because there was no chance that I would have to wait in line. Alas, that is no longer the case. 

Last Thursday night I missed almost a full inning of the Cubs/Rays game just getting a hot dog and a Pepsi. I had to wait in line at the food counter and then had to wait in line at the condiment counter. By the time I got back to my seat the inning was almost over and the dog was cold. Thank goodness nothing much happened while I was gone and thank goodness that I’m too lazy to keep score. Later in the game I postponed a trip to the rest room because there was good stuff happening on the field. It never occurred to me that there would be a line at the urinals when I finally did get up to take care of my plumbing issues, but there it was at a most inconvenient time. I had to pay a kid in front of me three bucks to let me go in front of him to avoid an embarrassing accident. He wanted five but I guess I convinced him that I didn’t have any more cash and he felt sorry for me.  

Now don’t get me wrong; I love the fact that the Rays are viable in the American League this year. After spending the last ten years watching them play with the worst pitching in baseball, one of the most porous defenses in baseball and rarely having more than three legitimate Major Leaguers on the field at any given time, this year is a pleasure; except for the fact that it becoming more and more uncomfortable and inconvenient to go to a ball game with all of these other people around.  

I should have realized that this was going to be the way it was going to be on opening day. My wife and I had four “babes” in their early twenties sitting in front of us that didn’t seem to have any idea what was going on in the field. They would stand up in the middle of an inning for no apparent reason and would look at me like I was asking for their first born when I asked them to sit down so that I could see the game. After about four innings had elapsed, their scent had permeated every corner of the stadium and single guys were arriving alone, in pairs and at one time, five guys (all carrying their $8 beers) showed up. The problem for us was that there was no place to move to except up in the nose bleed section. We finally left the game at the seventh inning stretch rather than get into an altercation that probably would have required some kind of bail. 

I guess the point of all this is that even though I want the Rays to be successful, I am not happy with all these people messing around in my sandbox. If I only went to a few games a year, I would probably accept the inconveniences that large crowds bring. But I go to a lot of games and I am becoming unhappy with the inconveniences that success brings. 

It's all about the team!

The Rays are 6 games short of being exactly half way through the 2008 campaign. Their record is 44-31 as we speak and only 3 teams in Major League Baseball have a better winning percentage than the Rays have. Some interesting facts concerning the Rays season thus far:

·        They have played 25 series in which they have won 14 and tied 3. Of the 14 series wins, they have swept five, which include sweeps over the Cubs, Angels, Red Sox, Orioles and Blue Jays.

·        They have played 14 different baseball teams of which 11 have winning records. Only the Mariners, Astros and Blue Jays have losing records and only 12 of their 75 games (16%) have been played against those teams.

·        83% of their games have been against teams with winning records.

·        They are 10-8 versus the teams in MLB that have a better winning percentage than they have, and only the Red Sox seem to have their number and then only in Fenway Park.  

It makes no sense!