Perhaps tonight is the night that the nay sayers will be silenced. At times the originator of this thread is prone to a bit of hyperbole and overenthusiasm. However he is on to something here and has been since day one.
His reference to Al Lopez brings to mind the most classic of all fifties American League matchups. Those were between NYY southpaw Whitey Ford and the resilient little left hander of the Lopez managed Chicago White Sox Billy Pierce. Lopez led the 1959 masters of zen, speed and manufactured run little ball, the "Go Go Sox" to the American League pennant over the power-laden Yankees.
I was there to see it. Because I was a young kid then and not yet introduced to bourbon, weed or painkillers, I am now rewarded with a clear, sharp long term memory of it all. Conversely if they played ball between the Denny McClain, Bob Gibson series and Bob Stanley, Mr. Bill and Mookie one well....I missed it. But I digress.
Tonight we will have one of those eye riveting southpaw duals of epic proportion as The Big Unit himself goes against, the almost unhittable as of late, John Halama.
I for one am on the bandwagon and suggest that a surging club such as the Rays may just be a tad undervalued at +210 especially with Robert Fick hitting a perfect lifetime 1.000 and Brook Fordyce a robust .400 against Johnson.
Tonight the Rays become AMERICA'S TEAM. Tonight will be a major step toward the Tampa Bay area emerging as a powerhouse in other than just hockey.
I will go so far as to predict that if the club can sustain the momentum in this and the upcoming series at Toronto; we may upon the return of the team at the conclusion of this roadtrip see a crowd of possibly close to 20,000 or maybe even more at the Trop. The World Champion Marlins are coming to town.
Somehow eventually we in these parts will learn to suffer through the ignominy of the NFL season to get to the NHL and MLB. The latter will be played in a state of the art retractable roof stadium located in an as yet undisclosed area which will finally unify this community with no unity, as the late Chris Thomas called it, far sooner than most expect.
13 1/2 games out and counting..... this club and its climb into contention will soon steal the hearts of America as easily as lead off man Carl Crawford steals second today and White Sox lead off man Luis Aparicio did in '59.
I can see New Englander Rocco Baldelli hitting a walk off shot heard but not yet taken seriously around the world on September 29th against the Boston Red Sox at the Trop. With 3 games remaining for both clubs, the Rays will have cut the Sox AL east lead to 2 games in front of a crowd of possibly close to 30,000 or maybe even more.
Now the scene will be set for the improbable wild finish. The surging Rays will roll into Motown and sweep the Tigers in three. While the stunned and reeling Red Sox will be swept in three at Camden Yards by the O's.
The final game will see the Red Sox with a comfortable lead in the ninth only to have a potential game ending strikeout of Rafael Palmeiro by a Tim Wakefield knuckleball get away from Jason Veritek [See Mickey Owens 1941]. Argueably the best switch hitting catcher of all-time will thus dwell in the house of Buckner forever. I hate to single out Veritek. Heck I like the guy and he's a catcher at that. But a goat we need. Always we need a goat. The story is no good without a goat. This year the goat will be a player and not a fan although I haven't covered the post season yet and I do see the Cubs in it. But again I digress.
And so will flutter away even the wild card which will go to a hose of a different color; the surprising pale hose of Chicago.
This pre-noon bourbon induced vision unfolds the ongoing pathos of a nation not just a ballclub finally vanquishing Goliath only to have native son David sling this years shot. It has the DRays'incredible run to glory. And it sets up the long shot possibility of a subway series in Chicago but that's another story.
By the way the Yankees, plagued during the second half of the season by their inability to manufacture runs, will have dropped out of even wild card contention by the last week of the season. Not however before in September setting an American League record for solo home runs in a month by a team with a losing record for that month. King George will realize he needs more pitching but being the stubborn man he is will seek one more power bat and will open his wallet for Brooks Kiesnick in the off season.
And then finally Tropicana Field will sell out for the playoffs or at least the ALCS as long as they sell some eight dollar tickets.
His reference to Al Lopez brings to mind the most classic of all fifties American League matchups. Those were between NYY southpaw Whitey Ford and the resilient little left hander of the Lopez managed Chicago White Sox Billy Pierce. Lopez led the 1959 masters of zen, speed and manufactured run little ball, the "Go Go Sox" to the American League pennant over the power-laden Yankees.
I was there to see it. Because I was a young kid then and not yet introduced to bourbon, weed or painkillers, I am now rewarded with a clear, sharp long term memory of it all. Conversely if they played ball between the Denny McClain, Bob Gibson series and Bob Stanley, Mr. Bill and Mookie one well....I missed it. But I digress.
Tonight we will have one of those eye riveting southpaw duals of epic proportion as The Big Unit himself goes against, the almost unhittable as of late, John Halama.
I for one am on the bandwagon and suggest that a surging club such as the Rays may just be a tad undervalued at +210 especially with Robert Fick hitting a perfect lifetime 1.000 and Brook Fordyce a robust .400 against Johnson.
Tonight the Rays become AMERICA'S TEAM. Tonight will be a major step toward the Tampa Bay area emerging as a powerhouse in other than just hockey.
I will go so far as to predict that if the club can sustain the momentum in this and the upcoming series at Toronto; we may upon the return of the team at the conclusion of this roadtrip see a crowd of possibly close to 20,000 or maybe even more at the Trop. The World Champion Marlins are coming to town.
Somehow eventually we in these parts will learn to suffer through the ignominy of the NFL season to get to the NHL and MLB. The latter will be played in a state of the art retractable roof stadium located in an as yet undisclosed area which will finally unify this community with no unity, as the late Chris Thomas called it, far sooner than most expect.
13 1/2 games out and counting..... this club and its climb into contention will soon steal the hearts of America as easily as lead off man Carl Crawford steals second today and White Sox lead off man Luis Aparicio did in '59.
I can see New Englander Rocco Baldelli hitting a walk off shot heard but not yet taken seriously around the world on September 29th against the Boston Red Sox at the Trop. With 3 games remaining for both clubs, the Rays will have cut the Sox AL east lead to 2 games in front of a crowd of possibly close to 30,000 or maybe even more.
Now the scene will be set for the improbable wild finish. The surging Rays will roll into Motown and sweep the Tigers in three. While the stunned and reeling Red Sox will be swept in three at Camden Yards by the O's.
The final game will see the Red Sox with a comfortable lead in the ninth only to have a potential game ending strikeout of Rafael Palmeiro by a Tim Wakefield knuckleball get away from Jason Veritek [See Mickey Owens 1941]. Argueably the best switch hitting catcher of all-time will thus dwell in the house of Buckner forever. I hate to single out Veritek. Heck I like the guy and he's a catcher at that. But a goat we need. Always we need a goat. The story is no good without a goat. This year the goat will be a player and not a fan although I haven't covered the post season yet and I do see the Cubs in it. But again I digress.
And so will flutter away even the wild card which will go to a hose of a different color; the surprising pale hose of Chicago.
This pre-noon bourbon induced vision unfolds the ongoing pathos of a nation not just a ballclub finally vanquishing Goliath only to have native son David sling this years shot. It has the DRays'incredible run to glory. And it sets up the long shot possibility of a subway series in Chicago but that's another story.
By the way the Yankees, plagued during the second half of the season by their inability to manufacture runs, will have dropped out of even wild card contention by the last week of the season. Not however before in September setting an American League record for solo home runs in a month by a team with a losing record for that month. King George will realize he needs more pitching but being the stubborn man he is will seek one more power bat and will open his wallet for Brooks Kiesnick in the off season.
And then finally Tropicana Field will sell out for the playoffs or at least the ALCS as long as they sell some eight dollar tickets.
