Willie Aybar. Boom!
Matt Garza. Boom!
David Price. Boom, Boom, Boom!!!
What a fantastic win (3-1), for a fantastically lovable team. They keep trotting young players out who do nothing but impress.Oddly enough, I'd watched very little pro baseball for years but I'd seen David Price multiple times pitch for Vanderbilt, either against the Gators or in the SEC baseball tournament. My lack of connection to the pro game was so complete, I wasn't even aware he was on the Rays until this magical rise in October. Now, he has a win and a save in the postseason before attaining either in the regular season and may actually play a crucial role in the World Series.
Let the partying begin all over Florida.
The celebration started officially at 11:40, when Akinori Iwamura fielded Jed Lowrie's hard grounder and tagged second base for the final out, launching a wild celebration that might last until Wednesday, when the Rays will host the Phillies at Tropicana Field for the first game of the World Series.
"I'm probably going to hit a few pigs when I fly home, and Hell is serving ice water tonight," reliever Trever Miller said. "No one thought we'd be here. And here we are, we just knocked off the beasts of East, the defending champions."
Even pitcher Scott Kazmir, who brazenly observed on the first day of spring training that the Rays were good enough to play in October, admitted he didn't expect them to get this far — four wins from an improbable world championship.
"Not in a million years," he said. "I knew we were going to be good, but I never expected this. I don't think anyone did, until we got halfway done with the season. After that, we knew, we knew we had something."
The players went into the clubhouse, donned blue AL champion T-shirts and caps, then came back out on the field for the official trophy presentation, and some impromptu celebration, several taking a champagne-spraying lap around the field.
Then it was back inside for more, their fourth beer and champagne shower of the past month (212 bottles of bubbly, 40 cases of beer), a group circled in the back of the clubhouse, amending manager Joe Maddon's new-math motto of 9=8 and chanting "Nine equals one.''
The Rays got to this point because they were a true team, with no one star, and a determined effort through the season. They got to the World Series because they were able to put behind them the shock and frustration of Thursday's Game 5 loss, when they were seven runs up and seven outs away from the AL pennant, but the Sox rallied to stage the greatest comeback in a postseason elimination game. When they lost that night and again Saturday, it appeared they might not recover.
But they stayed confident, and calm, and the difference was noticeable on Sunday.
Yes it was.
Goodbye to the Boston Red Sox, worthy adversaries who played like champions and nearly pulled off an incredible comeback. Hello, World Series.
Unbelievable.
I left Mass. 10 years ago, but I'm still a Red Sox fan. But the Rays are truly a championship team, they were the better team, they are PEAKING AT THE RIGHT TIME, and I will be rooting for them in the Series!
GO RAYS!!
Posted by: JewishOdysseus | October 20, 2008 at 12:27 PM
My New Hampshire-born wife is a huge Red Sox fan, so I am compelled to be one as well. (It was part of our marriage vows).
I have to give the Rays some props for finally pulling through.
It was funny hearing about the champagne celebrations in Tampa Bay at the beginning of the 7th inning of that sixth game, because I knew that was too soon. The Red Sox have come back from some pretty bad spots before, and they were incredible that night.
Alas, ultimately it was not enough. So, kudos to the Rays, this year.
Posted by: Mark | October 20, 2008 at 02:15 PM
Phil, Match-a-chu-chetts!?! Who knew?
Mark, when that early homerun was hit and the Sox took the lead, I started mumbling. And this is what I mumbled:
Oh.
Hell.
No.
The finish was storybook and that bases-loaded eighth almost killed me. The bad hop in the ninth on the final out almost made me pass out.
Sports can bring you such complete pain and all-consuming joy. Today is all about the joy. Because I have a sister in Philly and I know that town, I'm pulling for the Rays completely but I'll also be pleased for Philadelphia, the City of, if the Phillies win.
Posted by: RattlerGator | October 20, 2008 at 03:39 PM
By the way, beautiful column by Bob Ryan in the Boston Globe:
http://www.boston.com/sports/baseball/redsox/articles/2008/10/20/just_raise_a_toast_to_tampa_bay/
Posted by: RattlerGator | October 20, 2008 at 10:14 PM