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| Male
19 years old
SAUGUS, MA |
Rays, Rays, Go Away
So the buzz around the Nation today is not what you would have expected. Any other season prior to this one, Red Sox fans would have been talking about this four game series at Yankee Stadium even before the series with the Rays. Now here in 2008, the buzz was all about the Rays before, during and now even after the series is over all we can talk about is the Rays.
Well what did you expect from a team that got the first selection in the draft on several occasions after finishing dead last. Sooner or later their young talent was going to emerge, that was no surprise. The surprise is that they hold the best record in baseball. We all knew their young talent would be able to come together and contend, but dominate? Who saw that coming? Not only do they have the best record in baseball but they are an astonishing 33-13 at home.
What ESPN and the rest of the media outside of Boston fail to recognize is that the Red Sox have also swept the Rays twice. Everyone is just too caught up in the "feel good" story of the Rays that they don't feel it's necessary to tell the whole story. The Rays may have swept the Red Sox at the Trop, but that doesn't mean that the Red Sox aren't capable of returning the favor in their next series in which they square off.
I know it's a little early to be looking towards the playoff picture but I have full confidence that the Red Sox match up perfectly with the Rays in a best of seven series. Plus you have to factor in that the Rays have zero playoff experience. October is a whole different ballgame and in recent years our boys from Boston have made it an art form.
Also, on the topic of Ortiz, it's unfortunate that he has ruled out playing in the All Star game (not a big surprise) but he said in a recent interview that if he is voted in to the American League All Star team that he will be there at Yankee Stadium to honor the fan's votes as appreciation for their recognition of his playing ability.
Tonight, in Yankee Stadium, Jon Lester will be asked to be the stopper of the Red Sox recent bleeding by shutting down the Bronx Bombers. The man who's job tonight is to continue the Red Sox skid is the veteran lefty, Andy Pettitte. In my opinion, the Red Sox need to take three out of four or better to stay where they are and/or move up in the AL East standings because the Rays next series is a four game set with the bottom of the barrel (but not all the way at the bottom, Cleveland) team from the AL Central, the 38-47 Kansas City Royals.
-Jared Carrabis
-CARRABIS 13
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