March 30, 2004
GAMBAREE RAYS!
The "Voyage From The Bottom Of The League" began for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays this morning as they beat the New York Yankees 8-3 during the season opener in Tokyo.
Do not refresh your screen. That score is correct.
Not only did they come from behind to win, the Rays had 15 hits.
Here's hoping there's more where that came from.
Some interesting highlights:
* During a rally by the Yankees in the 8th inning, the sound system at the Tokyo Dome blared "We Will Rock You" by Queen. In English. Insert your own joke here.
* After the Rays got the last out, the sound system at the Tokyo Dome blared "Celebration" at ear-splitting decibels. Nice to see Kool and the Gang translates to the other side of the Pacific.
* ESPN, which sent an army to broadcast the Tampa Bay Buccaneers game in Japan at the beginning of last year's NFL preseason, couldn't be bothered to send its announcers to Japan for the start of the real Major League Baseball season. Or to actually use their regular play-by-play and color analyst. Or to feature the game on ESPN instead of ESPN2. And since there was a half-second delay in transmission between Tokyo and Bristol, Conn., Karl Ravech was constantly announcing events that had happened a second or two earlier.
Being a Dodgers fan since I was 8 years old, I have a tendency to get my hopes up about baseball teams, only to have those dreams squashed by the All-Star Break. Hopefully the Rays won't let me down, too.
Posted by: blunted at March 31, 2004 06:29 AM