Our trip to first place might not have lasted very long – really, it was just mere hours – but it sure was fun while it lasted, wasn’t it? For the first time in, well, ever, there was a real buzz about this team – almost reaching bandwagon proportions – and even the Everything Sox Please Network started to cover our little team more. It’s been good times to be a Rays fan, for sure.
I, for one, welcome the bandwagon with open arms. Whatever it takes to get the Red Sox and Yankee fans out of Tropicana Field and back to their couches watching the games on Extra Innings. There’s always a sense of, “This is my team! Where were you when things were bad?” when a team suddenly starts playing well and thus gains a huge base of support, but without these so-called “bandwagon fans” it’s very difficult to keep a winning team together. Without them, the money’s not coming in. Without the money, you can’t pay the players, and… well, I think you see where I’m going with this.
Have the Rays done enough to erase 10 years of bitter taste still in the mouths of many people in the area and, really, people around the country who still look at them as “the crappy Devil Rays”? Probably not, but this past week sure has gone a long way to at least keeping the Rays at the top of mind of the national conscience. Has the team made some amazing strides that leave us believing that we are capable of winning any series of any team? Absolutely. Is this the first REAL sense of optimism rather than sheer blind hope in franchise history? It just might be.
Now, if I can only find those keys to start up this bandwagon…
May 6th, 2008 at 12:02 pm
Soon come the day of seeing pink Rays hats in your local Lids store.
May 6th, 2008 at 2:40 pm
I went to Sarasota last week to see a minor league game. It was the first time I saw some people wearing Rays apparel outside of St. Pete or the Trop. And after the game, one fan saw me in my jersey and cap and began cheering for the Rays with gusto, excited that he saw a contender in the making. It was terrific.
May 6th, 2008 at 2:52 pm
I am enjoying this season even though it is kind of on a roller
coaster right now. If we can stay 500 with the big boys and come out ahead of the rest of the division will be just fine