Tampa Bay Parent

Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg during a Tampa Bay Rays baseball game

The Tampa Bay Rays lost to the Minnesota Twins on Thursday afternoon at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg. If you only watched the first seven and a half innings of the game, you should not have been surprised by the fact the Rays lost the game. As we all know, baseball is a nine inning game and anything can happen on any given day. Thursday’s game was a perfect example of just that.

Those of you that watched the entire game know the last inning and a half of the game provided the most excitement. The Rays scored the first run of the day off a homerun by B.J. Upton in the bottom of the eighth inning. The Rays then loaded the bases when the second run was walked home. With the score now 6-2, Rays manager Joe Maddon sends Jason Bartlett to pinch hit for Matt Joyce. Maddon appeared to be a genius when Bartlett hit a grand slam off Twins reliever Ron Mahay to tie the game at 6-6.

The ninth inning proved to be just as exciting for all the wrong reasons. Jason Repko of the Twins hit a pop up that hit the “A” ring on the catwalk and the ball dropped onto the infield for a single which scored Jason Kubel of the Twins to make it 7-6. Cuddyer singled to left off Rays reliever Benoit to make the score 8-6. The Twins won the game when the Rays failed to score in the bottom of the ninth inning.

Rays manager Joe Maddon was visibly upset after the game. His comments after the game showed his frustration. “That was probably the perfect commercial advertisement, reason to have a new ballpark. There’s no better reason than that. I know it works both ways, but to lose a game in a pennant situation like that because of the roof totally indicates why there’s a crying need for a new ballpark in this area, regardless of where they put it. It just needs to be a real baseball field, where if you were to lose the pennant by one game and look back on a game like that because the roof got in the way, you’d be very upset. There’s not better reason than that.”

The bottom line is that the Rays may need a new stadium but will not get one this season. Hopefully, this amazing team will put the last two heartbreaking losses behind them and play well down the stretch. They still have the second best record in baseball and played the team with the best record in baseball, Yankees, very well last weekend. The Rays might be the only team in baseball capable of hanging with the Yankees so it is essential for them to focus on finishing strong this season and not looking ahead to the possibilities that await them in the future.

Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg during a Tampa Bay Rays baseball game

Family Fun Days are on Sundays at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg. During these days there are special activities for the children and giveaways for the first 10,000 children 14 and under. Children also get to run the bases after the game.

The Tampa Bay Rays are giving away family 4 packs of tickets to baseball games during Family Fun Days. Details of the entry dates and sweepstakes deadline are available on the Tampa Bay Rays website. There are separate sweepstakes and entry periods for each of the Family Fun Days baseball games. Each Family Fun Day sweepstakes has multiple possible winners and the amount of prize giveaways varies with each sweepstakes. The first sweepstakes was from March 29, 2010 to April 2, 2010 for the April 5^th game the Rays had against the New York Yankees. The last sweepstakes is September 13, 2010 to September 17, 2010 for the September 20, 2010 game against the Seattle Mariners. There are several Family Fun Days sweepstakes between those times. So, you have multiple opportunities to win a 4-pack of tickets to see the Tampa Bay Rays on Family Fun Days.

Tuesday was the season opener for the Tampa Bay Rays. The Rays played in front of a sold out crowd at home in Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg The team was able to score a “skin of their teeth” win against the Baltimore Orioles with a final score of 3-4.

This is a great way to start a season with good momentum. The Rays have a lot of talent and it would not be a surprise to see them playing in the World Series.

During the new Baseball Season, the Tampa Bay Rays will be sporting a new jersey during their Sunday home games.

Manufactured by Majestic Athletic, the new alternate jersey is a Columbia blue button-down with navy blue RAYS outlined in white trim across the chest and featuring the Rays sunburst. The sunburst is slightly larger than the sunburst on the home and road jerseys. Navy trim surrounds the sleeves and collar and extends down the front of the jersey. The player’s name is featured on the back in white outlined in navy. The player’s number is navy outlined in white.

This makes four different jerseys for the Tampa Bay Rays. The Rays have a traditional home game jersey, an away game jersey, and another alternate jersey that they will continue to wear.

The Rays are on a 7 game winning streak. Over the weekend the Rays played the Florida Marlins and defeated them in all 3 games of the Citrus Series. Last night the Rays continued their winning streak by beating the Toronto Blue Jays 1-4. Right now the Tampa Bay Rays are third in the American League East division. The New York Yankees are second and the Boston Red Sox are third.

Scott Kazmir had not pitched since May 20 when he faced the Oakland A’s.  He had been on the disabled list with a quad injury until pitching against the Florida Marlins on Saturday night at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, FL.  After 32 days of being on the disabled list, he looked refreshed as he played one of his best outings of the season.  His five strikeouts over five innings of work was impressive as he showed the form that made him a two time All-Star.  The 2 earned runs given up by Kazmir came in the first and third innings which gave the Marlins a quick 2-0 lead.  That did not last long because the Rays responded with runs in the fourth and fifth innings to tie up the score 2-2.  Kazmir’s control was outstanding as he threw 61 of 92 pitches for strikes and kept the Rays in the game.  In fact, the score stayed 2-2 until the bottom of the ninth inning when pinch hitter Willy Aybar hit a sacrifice fly to center field scoring Jason Bartlett to win the game 3-2 over the Florida Marlins.  The Tampa Bay Rays won 7-3 on Friday night in the Citrus Series opener and extended their winning streak to 4 games after Saturday night’s victory. 

The Citrus Series is being played this weekend between the Florida Marlins and the Tampa Bay Rays.  We have a twice crowned champion of baseball team going against last year’s American League Championship winner.  In 1997 and 2003, the Florida Marlins won the MLB World Series.  Last year the Tampa Bay Rays, to delight of fans, became the American League Champions and made it all the way to the World Series.  Florida had its first baseball team when the Florida Marlins began in 1993 and then had its second baseball team with the inception of the Tampa Bay Rays in 1998..  Although both teams are relatively young, compared to the New York Mets and the New York Yankees, they have accomplished a lot.

In the 3 game series the Tampa Bay Rays have taken the lead by  beating the Florida the Marlins 7-3 in last night’s game.  The next game two games will be tonight and tomorrow at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida.

Yesterday my husband went to a Tampa Bay Rays baseball game with his sister and dad. While sitting and watching the game, some guy started throwing dollar bills from the stands to the people below him. . People below him were excited to get the dollar bills and were jumping up to get them. The guy did that several times before being stopped by security.

That’s one of the weird, but true moments that someone has every now and then.

The guy was trying to brighten the day of the baseball fans that came to watch the Rays take on the Philadelphia Phillies. Tampa Bay Rays’ fans did leave last night’s game happy when the team beat the Phillies 10-4.

The Tampa Bay Rays have had an up and down season in 2009. It seems like the Rays will win 5 or 6 games in a row only to lose 3 or 4 in a row. The Rays finished out their series with the New York Mets by winning the last two games at the new stadium in New York. Now the Philadelphia Phillies come to St. Petersburg to start a three game series with the Rays. The Phillies have lost 6 games in a row and are in desperate need of a win or two. Of course, this is a rematch of last year’s World Series in which the Phillies won 4 games to 1. This is the perfect opportunity for the Rays to show they are the same team that won the American League pennant last year and play well against the Phillies. The Rays have always played well at home and should win at least 2 out of 3 games against the Phillies. If the Rays should sweep the series, it would extend their winning streak to 5 games and the Phillies losing streak to 9 games. That would be a little taste of revenge against a team that outplayed the Rays last October and took away the luster of an otherwise magical 2008 season.

There have been a lot of home runs hit this year at the new Yankee Stadium in the Bronx, New York. Many baseball fans are already wondering if the fences should be pushed back. If this kind of talk continues, it has to make Tampa resident George Steinbrenner nervous. After all, his Yankees moved into the $1.5 billion stadium in April and he expected fans to enjoy a great time for each ticket they purchase. Lost in all this talk is that the Yankees are off to a pretty good start this season. If the Yankees win the World Series, maybe baseball fans will focus on the accomplishment of the Yankees instead of the unbelievable number of home runs flying out of Yankee Stadium. Hopefully, the Rays will take advantage of “Homer Field” when they visit Yankee Stadium again in early September.

We all know that the baseball season is extremely long, but now is the time for the Tampa Bay Rays to make their move. They are currently in fourth place in the American League East and are very close to over taking Toronto for third place. Toronto has lost three in a row and the Rays have won four in a row to make up some ground recently. The Rays need to continue their win streak to not only pass the Jays but to compete against the Red Sox and the Yankees during the dog days of summer. Only a maximum of two teams from the AL East Last can make the playoffs each year, and the Rays need to ensure their spot again this year. The Yankees were the team left out of the dance at the end of the season, but are determined to turn their fortunes around this year. It is important that the Rays take advantage of every opportunity and stay focused against each opponent. Many experts say that the only games that matter are played in October. I agree that the post season is important, but the Rays will not be playing in October again this year unless they start winning consistently this summer.

The Rays have won 2 games and lost 4 at Tropicana Field to start the 2009 baseball season. The Rays are traditionally a strong team at home and need to win at home to secure another strong season. Last year the Rays were 55-27 at home and therefore had double the wins to losses at home.

This past week the Rays have commemorated their championship season before each game with some sort of ceremony. For example, last night Evan Longoria received his Rookie of the Year award. Although the Rays are American League Champions, they did not play like it this week. Of course, Evan Longoria was out for a few games due to a death in his family and that was possibly a factor in some of the Rays losses.

Now that we are in a regular season mode, the Rays will hopefully shift gears and start playing like true champions. We know that they have everything they need to win it all this season. They are a great team and they have their home town fans backing them all the way.

Tampa Bay Rays baseball

Pat Burell has been added to the Tampa Bay Rays’ roster. Burrell was signed a 2 year contract with the Rays.

Burrell hit 33 home runs for the Philadelphia Phillies last season, while batting .250 with 86 runs batted in. The outfielder spent his entire nine-year career in Philadelphia and will probably be Tampa Bay’s designated hitter.

Source: Bloomberg.com

Tampa Bay Rays

This has been the best season that the Tampa Bay Rays have played in series history. They made as far as the World Series and did put up a good fight. In the end it was not enough to win the World Series but they have proved that they definitely are a team to be reckoned with. Teams will definitely have to give more respect to the Tampa Bay Rays. Seats at Tropicana stadium will be a lot fuller than they have been in seasons past.

Congratulation Tampa Bay Rays on a great season!!

Tuesday October 28, 2008 between 2 p.m. and 6 p.m. you can get a free taco from Taco Bell because someone has stolen a base during the MLB World Series. Each person in line can get a free beef taco from Taco Bell, so you can get one for yourself and the kids.

More Free Tacos Information

Last night the Tampa Bay Rays suffered their 3^rd loss to the Philadelphia Phillies in the World Series. The Phillies clobbered the Rays 10-2. Philadelphia has not been too good for the Rays and this game tonight is pivotal if the Rays are to continue on in the World Series. The Rays have it within them to come back and win the game and bring a MLB World Series victory back to Tampa Bay. The pressure is definitely on for the Rays, but they can handle it.

Tampa Bay Rays

The Rays have been holding their own during the first 3 games against the Philadelphia Phillies. Leaving Tampa Bay the series was tied 1-1. Last night the Phillies came ahead of the Rays 5-4 in the 3^rd game of the series. The Series is now 2-1 with Phillies leading. These close games have us knowing that the Rays will come out on top and win their first World Series title.

Tampa Bay Rays

Special Shout outs to the long time Ray fans. I mean the ones that bought season tickets for years and sat in rows of empty seats and became familiar with the Tropicana field staff. Those fans that were ridiculed by friends and family for supporting a “Loosing Team.” Those fans that sported the Ray’s shirts and baseball caps when it was not the cool thing to do. Those fans that followed the Rays games and smelt the change in the air and new something great was coming. These are the fans I want to say congratulations and thank you for your faithfulness.

Tampa Bay Rays

It probably would have been enough to know that we made it to the postseason with all the defeats the Rays have had in the past, but to make it all the way the World Series is like Wow. I knew in my heart that the Rays would come home to win The ALCS title, but it was kind of tense with the win going to be determined by the last game. The red Sox were tough competitors and they should be proud of themselves, but they should have known it was not going to be their year.

Congratulations Rays.

Tampa Bay Rays

The postseason game last night that the Rays had at the Red Sox seemed to be a shut-out. The Rays were winning 7-0 against the Boston Red Sox and it seemed that the Rays were going to going to make their first visit to the World Series, but the Boston Red Sox came back and defeated the Rays 8-7.

Although the Rays did lose last night Tampa Bay fans can look at it as a silver lining because they get to be in the stands when the Rays defeat the Boston Red Sox at home in Tropicana field.

Sorry Red Sox you will not being going back to the World Series this time.

Let’s Go Rays!!!

Tampa Bay Rays