Tampa Bay has had a major league baseball franchise since 1998, and up until this year they have been nothing short of irrelevant. In the team's 10 seasons of existence prior to '08 they finished last in the AL East 9 times, and fourth once. That is not to say there hasn't been bad blood between the teams on the field, there has actually been plenty (check 'comments' for a complete run-down). But despite all of these incidents I have never actually hated Tampa. It's honestly tough to hate a team you are too busy feeling sorry for. After all, the Sox have beaten Tampa 117 of 188 games (.622 winning percentage) and won 2 World Series titles since Tampa joined the majors. The Rays, meanwhile, have finished above last one time. But with Tampa in first place it's now okay to hate the team that has been quietly detestable for quite some time. And this year's Tampa crew, from idiot manager Joe Maddon to goon Jonny Gomes to sissys Carl Crawford and Aki Iwamura to losers Dioner Navarro and Edwin Jackson and on down the line, certainly gives us plenty to hate. And, finally, it's officially okay to go ahead and hate them. Congratulations Rays, you are finally relevant enough to despise. Well done.
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A review of some of the team's history of not getting along:
8/29/00: Pedro hits Gerald Williams who charges the mound. The Rays then throw at Brian Daubach the rest of the night (Pedro, as an aside, still dominates and take a no-hitter into the 9th)
5/5/02: After the first two batter of the game get hit, the third, Trot Nixon, "loses" his bad swining and it flies out toward the mound
7/18/02: Manny and Brent Abernathy both hit twice, Esteban Yan and manager Hal McRae of the Rays both eliminated
9/9/02: Despite a warning from the Commissioner's office, D-Lowe hits Felix Escalona twice
9/10/02: Rays respond by hitting 3 Sox, leading to two suspensions
9/27/04: Bronson hits 2 Rays back-to-back and Rays respond by hitting Manny and Millar back-to-back, dugouts empty, Arroyo and Lou Piniella both ejected
4/24/05: Six ejections, Eight players either fined or suspended
3/27/06: In spring training game Sox Julian Tavarez kicks Joey Gathright while covering home on a wild pitch. Gets 10-game suspension
6/5/08: Following yelling match between Rays manager Joe Maddon and Coco Crisp the night before, Crisp is hit and charges the mound. 3 ejections, 8 suspensions
Another random thing to hate about the Rays: they retired #12 in honor of Wade Boggs.
The same Wade Boggs who played for them for a total of 213 games and collected 210 hits, batting .289 on two teams that finished in last place.
The Sox meanwhile have still not retired Boggs #26. The same Wade Boggs who played in 8 All Star Games, won 5 batting titles, got 200+ hits 7-straight seasons, and in 11 seasons collected 2,098 hits and batted .338.
I guess that one actually annoys me about both franchises.
I hated the Rays from the beginning because of them being a dumb franchise, and my hatred towards most things Florida. Boggs killed it even more as I usually hate Red Sox players after they leave our team on bad terms, read Boggs on the fuckin' Yanks.
I cant stand the Rays right now, but I do look forward to their eventual collapse due to youth and lack of professionalism. Navarro celebrated like he won the world series when he knocked in a run not to take the lead , not to tie the game, but an insurance run. It just looked overly enthusiastic to rub it in to the Sox. This is the same catcher that publicly yelled at Garza on a mound visit. He just loves the attention. They still dont even come close to filling their stadium while in first place, unless the Red Sox or Yankees are in town. Pathetic.
Also, Dick Vitale is their most notable fan. That says enough.
I hate the Rays.. But not as much as i hate the crazies that didnt like the word Devil in their name and made them change it.
Can we go back to the fun loving Devil Rays that we beat 60% of the time and we could like their young talent.
I forgot to mention how much I hate their stadium with the "cat walk calls" needed to be made by umpires. Routine fly balls that are ground rule doubles? What is up with that? Bumper pool similarity...am I dating myself.
By the way - I just watched game 4 of the NBA finals for the 6th time - not kidding - and I keep forgetting to reiterate that the Lakers set a finals record for biggest lead after 1 quarter. And....the Celtics won the game.
when did MDC stop throwing his curveball?
Thanks for the Dick Vitale reminder JBS. Talk about a guy I can't stand! 'Nuff said.
I also think the Trot bat throw was one of the greatest moves I've ever witnessed. Man did I love Trot (when healthy).
I was thinking Tito could give the Rays a little middle-finger action on the All Star selections.
After having done my A.L. All Star team in all honesty there are just 3 Rays who even have a shot in my opinion:
SP - Matt Garza
3B - Evan Longoria
OF - B.J. Upton
Who else even has an argument? Obviously one of them need to make the team and I would guess it would be Longoria or Garza. Longoria is going head-to-head with Lowell so I'm hoping Garza makes it even though it could cost Lester or Dice-K a spot.
Be prepared for complaints from Tampa about the selections, but without being biased I can tell you right now they are unwarrented.
Until you broke it down I hadn't realized how much history had gone into the current contentious relationship. Long buildup....
Hate Dickie V, and stupid modifications of sports team names (i.e. dropping the "Devil") ... but in this case the Devil is describing something, whereas with the "Blue Devils" of Duke, the Devil is the source of the mascot. How does that fly in Good-Ole-Boy Carolina?? ...enough with the meaningless banter
Gotta say, I kind of like B.J. Upton though
On the mascot tip though,
1. I think the Redskins is sufficiently un-PC enough to be changed.
2. The Indians' mascot is hugely offensive.
And I am not easily offended. At all.
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