SB Nation User Blog: GatorSphere

Congratulations to you guys and the team!

GatorSphere — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 13:14:07 -0000

It was awesome to see the Angels SWEEP Boston right out of the playoffs!

As a dedicated Rays fan, I hate the Boston Red Sox more than any team out there, and your team kicked their butts right out of the playoffs! Way to go!

I know Kaz didn't pitch well, but I'm happy he gets a chance to return to the ALCS and I hope he and the Angels reach the WS this year.

If I had to choose a second favorite team in baseball, it'd be the Angels. I remember watching with great fondness the 2002 WS and wanting the Angels to win so badly. I had a class with David Eckstein in the fall of 1996 at the Univ. of Florida. It was a Poli Sci class, "Women in Politics". Each of us took the class b/c we needed a junior or higher level Poli Sci class. We spent most of the semester in the back of the class talking baseball. Never in my wildest dreams did I think he was going to ever make it in the bigs, but he was a key member of the Angels 2002 WS and then won the WS MVP with St. Louis in 2006. At any rate, it was fun watching the Angels back then and now we have one running our team in Joe Maddon. So there are some Angels ties to the Rays and to me personally so I really hope you guys and your team beat the Yankees!

Best of luck in the ALCS!

Coming to Houston next May...

GatorSphere — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 18:53:56 -0000

I have a question about the ball park and a couple other things to ask.

When the schedule for 2010 came out last week, I was hoping the Rays would be at home in St. Pete on the weekend of May 22nd, as it's my 40th birthday. But they're going to be in Houston so we're thinking about putting together a weekend trip to go see the game and some of the sights in Houston.

So my question about the ball park is what section (from about $45 and down in price) would be best to watch a game? I prefer the outfield or along the RF line but I'll be happy just to go and enjoy a game in a park I've never been to before.

Also, aside from the game, what is on the "must do" list when one is in Houston? I've only been through Houston twice, once on the way to Air Force basic training in San Antonio and the other driving to Florida. At any rate, we're looking to put a trip together so any advice you guys have would be appreciated.

Thanks!

2010 Schedule thoughts.

GatorSphere — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 18:39:39 -0000

Well here are my initial thoughts on the 2010 schedule. It's out and is at raysbaseball.com.

The Rays have no holiday games again: Memorial Day, 4th of July, and Labor Day are ALL away again this year. We do get Boston and New York in here for one weekend and play the Astros, Padres, Marlins, Braves (away) and Diamondbacks in interleague.

But on a selfish note, I turn 40 next May, on a Saturday (the 22nd) and would love to have been able to go to a game on that day but alas, for the I-don't-know-how-many-years in a row, the Rays are away on the 22nd.

At least we open at home next season!

Rays are racing to 94 wins.

GatorSphere — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 13:27:58 -0000

At the AS break I posted that I believed the AL Wild Card winner would need 95 wins. So now I've revised it somewhat with the three teams, BOS, TEX, & TB, all having 43 games left to play. Boston leads by a game over Texas and three over the Rays. I figure if Boston wins 58% of its remaining games, the Red Sox will have 93 wins. If that holds true, the Rays must get to 94 wins (not factoring in a 1-game playoff for the Wild Card if they both get to 93, or if Texas, TB, and Boston were to all somehow end at 93, whatever the procedure from there would be).

To get from 65-54 to 94-68, the Rays would have to play .674 baseball, if my estimate holds true. Boston meanwhile to get to 93 wins would only have to play .580 baseball (Red Sox have played .571 ball to date).

I think more importantly, the Rays must at least split the remaining games with Texas (3 home, 3 away) and pretty much have to take 4 of the remaining 6 against Boston. For argument's sake everything else is equal that would put the Rays 2 behind Texas and 1 behind Boston, meaning the games against the lower teams on the schedule ( 6 vs TOR and 9 vs BAL) the Rays almost have to win 12 of those 15 games.

Do that and the Rays would still have to go 10-6 in the remaining games against NYY (7: 3H, 4R) DET (7: 3H, 4R) SEA (2, both at home).

Or you could look at it this way: Tampa Bay has 22 home games left. They are 40-19 now, and if they finish 16-6, they would still need to go 13-8 on the road. No matter how you slice it, the Rays MUST start winning games on the road at a better pace than they have. The last road trip (1-5) could prove to be a killer in the end.

It's an uphill battle, that much is a certainty no matter how the numbers are arranged. Go Rays!

Make or Break...the next three games vs. NYY

GatorSphere — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 14:49:13 -0000

It's my belief the series set to start tonight at the Trop is the make or break series of 2009. It has a very similar feeling to it as last year's Boston series in late June/early July where the Rays swept the three games and told the baseball world they were in it until the very end.

The Rays did a pretty good job answering the post-All Star game bell with a 6-4 mark in the 10 game road trip. Aside from having a perfect game pictched against them, they did sweep KC (a team they had to sweep), the did take 2 of 3 in Toronto and had an awesome comeback win Saturday from down eight runs. I posted during the AS break I felt the Rays needed to go 47-26 to close out the season, earn 95 wins and be right there for a wild card spot. I still contend that is the case and winning 6 of 10 on the road is what they needed to do.

And that brings us to the Yankees series, the start of a 10-game homestand in which it's practically imperative they accomplish both of the following:

1) win at least 2 of the NYY games.

and

2) win at least 7 of the 10 home games.

Rays win two NYY games and they are only 5 1/2 out, lose 2 and they're 7 1/2 out, get swept and they're 8 1/2 out.

Win 7 of the 10 games, they would be 61-48 and still must maintain a 13 out of 20 win pace for that 95-win mark.

So this series is a make or break series in terms of winning the division. The Rays make this series and they are still in the race, break this series and they are pretty much resigned to chasing Boston for the wild card. And oh, in case anyone forgot, Boston comes to town for games 9 and 10 of the homestand next week.

Go Rays!

Now let the trades start, that's always fun to follow.

Video of Evan's HR from 6/11/09.

GatorSphere — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 18:01:04 -0000

Chicks Dig The Longo Ball - Evan Longoria's 14th Home Run of 2009 (via FloridaGator96)

Rate if you like it, comment on the You Tube page as well. Go Rays!

Ok, it told me the post had to be at least 75 words long, so read this if you want, it's just filler. :) I hope you enjoy the video, it's nothing award-winning, but it is one of our Rays doing something great!