For Tampa Bay Rays fans, last Sunday night was a double-edged sword. It was an opportunity to catch the Rays’ national telecast on ESPN’s “Sunday Night Baseball” with Jon Miller and Joe Morgan. In effect, to see and hear what the rest of the country would see and hear. That hadn’t happened in more than a decade. The Rays, with one of the best teams in Major League Baseball, are now getting more national face time.
The sword’s other edge: A number of fans showed up seemingly disguised as empty seats. More than a few times Miller and Morgan alluded to the crowd of less than 24,000. As in: “Where is everybody? This is a pennant race. This is Boston.” Ouch.
Then reminders that three prominent members of the (starting next year) payroll-cutting Rays will be free agents after this season, and no way will they all be back. Especially All-Star Carl Crawford, who’s having a career year and will command mega-buck offers from, among others, the New York Yankees. He was the subject of a lengthy pre-game interview by Morgan. For the record, Crawford never said: “I love it here. They’ve been really nice to me, and I’m already rich. My ego doesn’t need it. I’m staying put. Let’s win a World Series in Tampa Bay. In fact, let’s win more than one.”
The other key free-agents-to-be are Carlos Pena, who leads the Rays in home runs, and Rafael Soriano, who leads MLB in saves.
So, thanks, ESPN, for those scenic, cutaway shots of St. Petersburg and Tampa, and thanks, Jon and Joe, for the well-called game — if not all the observations and reminders.