RAYS GO TO THE WORLD SERIES!!!!

Photo by Michael Spooneybarger

Well, the Rays have done it! It's just too hard to believe. I remember watching the Devil Rays last year and watching great lead after great lead just go to hell when the bullpen would get lit up by Boston or the Yankees or any other team that wanted to. I also remember seeing that spark, even then. If you go back and look, we would win a lot of games just like how we won them this year, with late inning heroics and string heart from our defense. And they did it with guys who unfortunately aren't here anymore. Brendan Harris, Ty Wigginton, Toby Hall. 

However, some guys were there and are still doing the same thing for the Rays. Carlos Pena, Carl Crawford, Rocco Baldelli, BJ Upton, Dioner Navarro. But with additions like Troy Percival (however his season ended), Matt Garza, Jason Bartlett, Evan Longoria, Grant Balfour, Chad Bradford, David Price, and Willy Aybar, the Rays brought it all together. They strengthened an already solid defense into the best in the league. They brought in some good relievers and made the bullpen one of the best in the league. I mean, c'mon! J.P. Howell was fighting for a spot in the starting rotation when Maddon decided to work him out of the bullpen. I don't think anyone but probably Maddon and Hickey saw that move working out as well as it has. Genius!!!

I gotta say, though, I was very torn up by this ALCS series. After losing the first game at home, I was pretty optimistic yet a little perturbed when Shields great effort was spoiled by a lackluster offensive game. And then we came back, taking the second game at home and heading to Fenway all tied up 1-1. After that, the homerun derby began, with games 3 and 4 being filled with great at bats and even greater pitching efforts by Garza and Sonnanstine. After that I was feeling pretty good, with the Rays up 3-1 in the series. 

After that things got hairy very quickly. I had to watch most of the game 5 online at school. A bunch of us Rays fans all huddled together on out break and watched as much of it on TV as we could, commandeering the flatscreen in the cafe. We were up 4 to 0 when I left. All of the Rays faithful wished each other well and felt confident we would take the series. Alicia, Jeremy, and I rushed over to my parents house after I got home. It really started to hit me that we may go to the WorldSeries. I was beside myself. We pop into the Club, get comfortable and..... alas, we blow a 7 run lead in game 5 with just three innings to go. That loss killed me. I had nightmares about it. I was just floored.

Then we play them in game 6 in Tampa and drop that game as well. That game really killed me. I just felt horrible. After watching every single game this season, I was horrified at the possibility that the Rays team that ruled the American League all year would go down in flames to the Sox. Ugh.

Enter game 7. The game for all the beans. The game for a ticket to the World Series or a slow trip back the clubhouse having given a 3-1 series lead back to Boston.

I must interject here and make a confession. I had a small crisis before the game. After two straight nights of having my heart ripped out by the Sox, I was hurting. The Bucs were playing Sunday Night football against the Seahawks. There are two TVs in the Club, a large TV for the main attraction and a secondary, smaller TV for a side game, usually a regular series Rays game or a college game of interest. When faced with what game to put where, I was conflicted. I didn't think I could take another Rays loss. The last two had really messed me up. So, I made the decision to out the Bucs on the big TV and the Rays on the smaller TV, hoping that I would get lost in football and let the first half of the Rays game float by and see where the Rays were then. If they lost, they lost. If they won, they won. I just wanted it to be over.

But as I was supposed to be watching the Bucs game, I couldn't keep my eyes off of the Rays game. Even though it has no sound and was much smaller, I found that I was watching Garza pitch on 0-2 in the 2nd inning instead on the Bucs on 3rd and 6. I looked around the room. Everyone was doing the same. So, giddy-up, boys. We changed the game over to the Rays and never looked back. I couldn't miss what could be the last Rays game of the season. I wanted to be with my boys through the end of it, no matter what that end may be.  

Now on the big screen in glorious 5.1 surround sound, the Rays play ball. Garza gives up a homerun in the first inning, a 1-0 lead the Sox held for the next few innings. After that, Garza calmed down and pitched 7 1/3rd innings. We got some much needed runs. We are up 2-1. Aybar hits a HUGE homerun in the 7th, bringing us up 3-1.

And David Price, 22 year of age, who was pitching for the Durham Bulls until a few months ago, hops into the game to close it out. He gets out of a jam in the 8th and walks back to the dugout. One of the most powerful moments occurred when the broadcasters for the game said, "you can see who the Rays plan to pitch the 9th by taking one look at the bullpen". The camera pans to the Rays bullpen. Cups, sunflower seeds, towels, Gatorade coolers. No one warming up. Price would get the ball in the 9th.

He throws fire and brimstone. He pitches a low fastball to Jed Lowrie that is hit for a groundball to right. Aki scoops up the ball and steps on second base for the force like he has done so often this year. Only this time, he officially closes out game 7 of the American League Championship Series and seals Rays into the World Series.

The Club was rocking. We hung on every pitch. When Aki stepped on that base and jumped high in the air, we all lost it. There were hugs all around. We did it. From worst to first. 9=8.

And now, on to the World Series against the Phillies. We have home field advantage for this series as well. If any team can do it we can. And of course we'll play the underdog once again. No matter what, though, it's been a wild ride. GO RAYS!!!