Well, I give up. It grieves me to say this, but I'm pretty sure the Tampa Bay Rays are not going to lose 90 games this season. I suppose a little respect would not be out of line.
It was fun while it lasted, and it lasted. Only two teams in history have managed to put together ten consecutive 90 loss seasons in a row - the Philadelphia Phillies (1936-1945) and the Tampa Bay Devil Rays (1998-2007.)
Was it the name change? Was it as simple as that? Just removing that devilish modifier?
Nah - back in the spring, Gwyn wrote
These guys are for real.
And they're about to become really damn annoying.
And it came to pass. I hereby submit. R-E-S-P-E-C-T. Don't sock it to me no more.
What I think has happened here is the Ottawa Senators effect. You hockey fans must all remember how utterly bad and awful the Senators were, year after year after year. And they kept drafting first overall, or second or third - and eventually, they couldn't help themselves. Even if they blew a pick or two on guys who didn't quite work out - Alexandre Daigle anyone? - in time, the sheer accumulation of talented youth, or the talent they were to obtain in exchange for that youth, won the day.
And so it is with not-so-devilish Rays. Drafting Josh Hamilton didn't work out for them, but they got Carl Crawford in the second round the same year. Rocco Baldelli proved to have all kinds of talent, but all kinds of health issues - but they nabbed James Shields in the 16th round of the same draft. Dewon Brazelton was a wasted pick, but Jonny Gomes came in the 18th round. They wasted little time getting rid of Delmon Young and turning him into Matt Garza, which has worked out very well for them. And they're running B.J. Upton and Evan Longoria out there every day.
So - they're the Ottawa Senators. Young and good, and likely to stay that way for awhile, even if they haven't actually accomplished anything significant yet.
I can mock them no more. They come to town tonight, having beat up on the Jays pretty well every time the two teams have met this season. I am.... apprehensive. I don't want to think about it. I have to cover two of these three games. I am not confident that I will be enjoying my work.
So - a diversion is in order.
Tampa is the Ottawa Senators. Let's link up other hockey teams with other baseball teams.
The Detroit Red Wings and Boston Red Sox seem too obvious a match for words. Famous franchises, with a great and distinguished history, who at this moment are more or less on top of the world. The reigning champions, loaded with talent on the ice and on the field, and run by really smart guys. Often utterly despised by the fanbase of the other teams, because they have such a high regard for themselves and then they... well, they go out and kick your ass. With style, with panache! (All right, all right. I confess to being a Red Wings fan. I have been one ever since I got a Gordie Howe sweater for Christmas. When I was six. My longest, deepest sports loyalty.)
Who are the Leafs? First thing that came to my mind were the L.A. Dodgers. They think they're the greatest franchise around. They're not and they never were, but they persist in the illusion. Their fans let them get away with it. And they haven't won anything signifiant in a generation (two generations, for the Leafs. So maybe they're the Giants... nah, the Giants know they suck. The Dodgers don't.)
The Montreal Canadiens might be the Yankees, except there's something attractive and loveable about the Habs. The Yankees, not so much. Neither team has won the big prize for an eternity - eternity, in this case, is measured entirely by the way Canadiens and Yankees fans think of these things. Which, by the way, do not even remotely resemble the thought processes or general expectations of the fans of any other franchise in the sporting world, with the possible exception of Manchester United.
The parallels are there, people! Waiting for us to find them!
https://www.battersbox.ca/article.php?story=20080727235252716