Days 2 And 3 From Anaheim: All I heard Was “The Rays Suck”

I heard one sentence repeatedly from Angels’ fans. “The Rays suck.” When I first heard this on Tuesday night, my response to the fans was “Did you stay up all night thinking of that one?” I mean seriously, that’s all you got for me? At least insult me with something intelligent. Talk about how 2 out of the 3 hits are from a catcher that we’ve had for less than a week. Talk about how your worst starting pitcher has held us to 3 hits. Tell me how a rally monkey would tie a sting ray into a knot. I heard none of that, just “The Rays suck.”

Then, there was Wednesday. I thought I might finally get my retribution and see a victory on the road. The Rays had a 2 run lead with 2 outs in the 6th. There were 2 runners on base, but I was fairly confident with Grant Balfour on the mound and the number 8 hitter, who has hit 2 homeruns all season, Gary Matthews Jr. at the plate. I figured worse case scenario would be a single and 1 potential run. I didn’t see a bomb that would wind up 10 rows deep into the right field bleachers. That’s when everything unraveled and next thing I knew, my ticket was good for free buffalo wings since the Angels had put 10 runs on the board.

All the sudden, I heard it again, “The Rays suck.” This time, I didn’t even try to balk back at the fans. Right now, they were right and I deserved to hear it. Less than a week after the Rays closed the gap in the wildcard race to 1.5, the Rays were swept out of the building and luckily ended a 1-5 road trip. Of course, I don’t think this team sucks. I do think this team is failing to meet expectations and is not playing to their potential. I think there is some poor execution at the plate, in the field, and on the mound. Time is running out. If Rays keep playing like this, Rays’ fans should expect to hear “The Rays suck” all through September as fans won’t be hearing it in October. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure this out.