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.
Last year it was the 8th inning that did us in at the beginning of the season, this year it's the 3rd. As much as I enjoy the Home Run Derby, I'd rather it not happen to my team. Anything Hollins and Gomes did was completely covered up by what Fossum didn't do.
For some weird reason I'm not as disappointed with Fossum as I was with S&M. I don't think it's because I've just put my hands up in despair for the season, but Friday's loss was a lot worse. S&M giving up 5 runs after we scored 4 was much more disheartening. Jackson is back and that is a good sign to me. Put S&M in the bullpen? I don't know. Maddon keeps expressing faith in him, as evidenced by the fact that he is the starting pitcher against the Yankees on Wednesday. Hey if he wins that game, I may start using his first name again. Back to Fossum, he's always seemed an up and down pitcher to me, good starts, bad starts. I don't know that I expect any different. Waechter in for two scoreless innings and three strikeouts, looking much better than my aforementioned "favorite pitcher"
Well, since no one else is saying it, I've decided to change Rocco Baldelli's name to Grant Hill. Hill is the fantastic player for the Orlando Magic who seems to be injured all the time. Rocco had a great spring, and we are waiting no until the first part of May for him to get back into the lineup. Time will tell if we'll see #5 up at the plate anytime soon, he does seem to be enjoying his huge Devil Ray contract making Kids Club commercials. There is no doubt he is a great face for the franchise, but I'd like to see him at the plate.
Well, tomorrow is the Yankees and thus the inevitable give and take at the workplace. Lots of teachers and students (I work as a media specialist) are big Yankee fans and boy did they hear it last year when the Rays went 11-8 against them. We'll see how we do. Regardless though, I'll keep right on bla bla blaing here.
