Very interesting. April 6 was the Devil Rays home opener. Sold out house. A Devil Rays sell out in which you can see a lot of blue seats, but still pretty good turnout. It was also Good Friday so our family wasn't able to attend.
I got home to watch the game on tape. Devil Rays bopping home runs is a great sign, and good plate patience is also going to be great for the year. When we gave up the lead in the late innings, it just gets so frustrating (see right). Going into the bottom of the ninth losing 5-3 was the perfect recipe for three losing home openers in a row.
I couldn't script Delmon Young's game tying home run or BJ knocking in Aki to win the game 6-5. It was slightly reminiscent of the 2003 with Carl Crawford and his walk off homer. It was great to see the Rays win in front of a huge crowd.
That translated to good attendance for the second game. This was our family's "opening day." The four of us got to the ballpark early, took lots of pictures and had a great time.
Fossum did not have so great a time, giving up seven runs before leaving in the 4th. At this point, I'm going to chalk that up to nerves. He hasn't pitched since last August. It was disappointing to see Frank Thomas hit the grand slam. Fossum seemed to be scared to pitch to him. When he was 3-1, he left one right over the plate. The Devil Rays could not recover. down by six runs, they didn't give up however. Brendon Harris out of nowhere hit a three run home run, making it respectable and winnable. The Jays got some great bounces that night too. Some crazy plays. A couple of plays here and there and we would have walked away winners. I guess you could say that about any game.
The Trop looks great, the huge score board is awesome! It's going to be a great experience this year going to the games.
Yesterday I again watched the game in tape delay. Kazmir looked sharp, unbelievably sharp, striking out 10 in the first 5 innings. A home run doomed them, and Stokes came in and made it even worse.
Three good games I thought. The Devil Rays got down early in game 2 but continued to battle.
Impressed- Trop Renovations. it looks great there. Kazmir strikeout strike out strike outs.
Not Impressed - Dioneer Navaro. Is he going to hit the ball this year? It's almost like he's our pitcher up at the plate. Josh Paul had a few hits last Thursday and he'll be up tonight.
The good news is no more tape delay for a little while. I'm watching tonight's game live.
It's good to see that there are some actual Devil Ray diehards. Someday when the Rays finally start winning you'll be able to say you supported them before they were good.
I think their rotation is better than it's been in awhile. (Is that saying much?) James Shields is great, but still young. Same with Edwin Jackson. Sometimes Fossum is sharp...other times..well we saw that Saturday night. If we had some consistency or a veteran on the stuff....that would really help. Kazmir is good, but in my opinion, he needs someone to look to.
