Eight family members attended the Twins/Rays tilt on July 1st. Due to some late planning, we were scattered by two's all over the left field bleachers. Here are some of my random observations on the night:
* Dead patch of grass in right field (probably from Magglio Ordonez butchering plays out there during the Tigers' series) was covered with brand new sod...right field kind of resembled the Metrodome playing surface if you stared at it long enough.
* I'm starting to finally come around on Delmon Young. It doesn't hurt when you throw a runner out at home from left field, plus hit a home run to tie the game late (7th inning, I believe) to help sway me. I really hated Delmon Young last year, and even the end of his first year here (he casually jogged in the ninth inning after a fly ball down the left field line in Kansas City/which ended up as an inside the park homerun to tie the game...I believe we eventually won the game, but Joe Nathan was steaming...then, combine that incident with the fact that the Rays came out of nowhere to dominate the AL with Garza and Bartlett as major cogs). So, I don't know if I've ever hated a local athlete (past or present) more and had that same athlete turn his career around/my feelings towards him while he was still a member with the local team. Normally, a trade to another team would maybe blossom a career...but, to Delmon's credit he has resurrected his career wearing the same uniform and has really supplanted himself as an everyday player.
* Good: Two guys were sporting the baby blue and bright orange tuxes worn in Dumb and Dumber. Bad: Rays apparently have fans that travel...? Four obnoxious idiots cheer everything pro-Rays...and by everything, I mean EVERYTHING...like balls and strikes. Ugly: Two intoxicated women were wearing eye black underneath their eyes, while sitting under an overhang in left field, during a night game...they should've been the ones sporting the Dumb and Dumber gear.
* Bottom of eighth...Rays are jogging out to take the field. I start thinking to myself why the hell Carl Crawford doesn't play centerfield for this club. They currently have lanky, but athletic Ben Zobrist patrolling centerfield. As if the Baseball Gods were answering my exact thoughts...Carl Crawford, while warming up with a bullpen arm in the outfield...not only overthrows his partner once...but, twice...consecutively...drawing great applause from the left field bleachers.
* Bottom of ninth...Rauch comes on for the save in a 4-3 game...he easily gets the first two guys out. Then, some asshole turns another set of the stadium lighting on (the lighting directly behind home plate). The whole stinking game they only had the stadium lights on down the lines (1st base and 3rd base lines) and now they turn everything on with one more out to get in the game...in a middle of an inning too...does that make any sense...?? Carl Crawford proceeds to single and then score on Evan Longoria's double down the left field line...all with two outs...tie game. It was as if they were prematurely prepping for the postgame without the game actually being over yet...doesn't anyone learn that nothing is in the bag when you're a fan of a Minnesota sports team.
* Game went into extra innings...however, a good percentage of the fans left before Rauch even took the mound in the ninth inning (when we were leading)...our fan base sucks...we get a new stadium and we're not even a year into it and everyone is still consumed about beating traffic. Do us all a favor and don't show up in the first place if beating traffic is your main objective.
* Gardy gets tossed on a "Jim Joyce" type call by the third base umpire.
SBG
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