Category Archives: Tampa Bay Rays

Baltimore Orioles, Houston Astros, Major League Baseball, Tampa Bay Rays, Texas Rangers

Tampa Bay Rays Join My Triple Double Club

Tonight around 7:30 or so I will be at Minute Maid Park watching the Tampa Bay Rays play the Houston Astros in the third game of a four game series.

While the night will include postgame fireworks to celebrate the Fourth of July, it occurs to me that it will mark another milestone as well.

While it did not occur to me at the time when I purchased my ticket, tonight’s game will mark the second time that I have seen the Rays play in Houston. Add that to two games at Tropicana Field and two games at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington and the Rays become the first member of my Triple Double Club.

Fresh off their first World Series appearance in 2008 I visited the Tampa Bay Rays in 2009 for a long overdue trip to Tropicana Field. Photo R. Anderson
Fresh off their first World Series appearance in 2008 I visited the Tampa Bay Rays in 2009 for a long overdue trip to Tropicana Field.
Photo R. Anderson

There have been numerous teams that I have watched come and go through Minute Maid Park through the years.

But with the exception of seeing a few of them for Spring Training games, there have not been many that I have seen in multiple Ballparks so the Rays induction in the Triple Double Club is sort of a big deal.

The fact that the event will be met with post game fireworks is sort of a happy coincidence.

Okay so the Triple Double Club may be something that only matters to me but I thought that it was pretty cool. Considering that I have only made it to four of the 30 Major League Ballparks so far the fact that I saw the same team twice at three of those ballparks is nothing to sneeze at.

I have seen the Baltimore Orioles play at three stadiums during the regular season but only once at each ballpark so they are in the Triple Single Club. Of course seeing them play in two different Ballparks over a four day period gives them bonus points. And I have seen them play in three ballparks over the years during Spring Training.

A second ballpark viewing of the Rays was added in Arlington when I saw them take on the Texas Rangers. Photo R. Anderson
A second ballpark viewing of the Rays was added in Arlington when I saw them take on the Texas Rangers.
Photo R. Anderson

The Texas Rangers are in the Double Double Club as I have watched them at both their home Ballpark and Minute Maid Park. It stands to reason that they would be a strong candidate to join the Triple Double Club as all it would take was a trip to an additional ballpark when they were in town to get them there.

The Toronto Blue Jays make it into the Double Single Club as I have seen them play at both Tropicana Field and Minute Maid Park.

The Houston Astros are the team I have watched the most due to the close proximity between my house and the Minute Maid Park. I have probably seen close to 100 games at Minute Maid Park over the past decade but ironically I have never seen them play a regular season game at any other Ballpark.

I’ve made numerous trips to Florida to see the Astros play in Spring Training games but during the regular season it seems that the desire to see them play far from home just doesn’t exist. In that way the Astros closeness is both a blessing and a curse.

Minute Maid Park became the third ballpark to watch the Rays in when I saw them take on the Houston Astros in 2011. Photo R. Anderson
Minute Maid Park became the third ballpark to watch the Rays in when I saw them take on the Houston Astros in 2011.
Photo R. Anderson

There have been years where I thought about making the four hour drive to see them play the Texas Rangers in Arlington but those thoughts were usually quashed quickly at the thought that I could just wait until the Rangers came to Houston.

But there are certainly worse places to watch games than Minute Maid Park.

With the Astros move to the American League this year the odds of me completing the Single Thirty Club of seeing all 30 teams at Minute Maid Park is pretty high.

I do not have the number in front of me but it seems highly likely that I am less than five teams away from reaching that goal of seeing all 30 teams from the air-conditioned comfort of Minute Maid Park.

Off of the top of my head I know I have yet to see the New York Yankees play there but the other teams that I am missing escape me at the moment. The Oakland Athletics seem like another team that I have yet to see play but with them sharing a division with the Astros that is an easy team to cross off of the list.

Tonight will mark the sixth Tampa Bay Rays regular season game that I have attended and the second at Minute Maid Park earning an inaugural induction into the Triple Double Club as I have seen a pair of games at Tropicana Field, Rangers Ballpark in Arlington, and Minute Maid Park. Photo R. Anderson
Tonight will mark the sixth Tampa Bay Rays regular season game that I have attended and the second at Minute Maid Park earning an inaugural induction into the Triple Double Club as I have seen a pair of games at Tropicana Field, Rangers Ballpark in Arlington, and Minute Maid Park.
Photo R. Anderson

I suppose it is entirely possible that the Yankees and Athletics are the only missing teams but I will definitely have to look into that.

I do know that the National League, and in particular the National League Central, is well represented in my list of teams that I have seen multiple times there.

While the focus tonight will be placed firmly on enjoying the Rays and the induction of the first member of the Triple Double Club the festivities will be short lived.

Tomorrow afternoon I will start my way towards the Triple Triple Club as I will be catching a matinee game between the Rays and the Astros.

I guess that means I need to plan road trips back to Arlington and St. Petersburg to complete the Triple Triple Club for the Rays. I don’t think my arm will be twisted to hard to make that happen.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to decide which Rays shirt to wear to tomorrow’s game.

Copyright 2013 R. Anderson

Baltimore Orioles, Houston Astros, Major League Baseball, Tampa Bay Rays

A Tale of Two Cities in Four Days Following a Black and Orange Bird

I have been a baseball fan for a long time but last Thursday I did something that I hadn’t done in three decades of fandom and also did a few things that I had never done before.

As mentioned before the first Major League Baseball game I ever attended was a Baltimore Orioles home game at Memorial Stadium in 1983.

Since then I have seen numerous Orioles Spring Training games over the years in ballparks all across Florida. But for 30 years I had not seen the Orioles play in a game that counted in the regular season standings. I had also never seen them play in a regular season game outside of Charm City.

The Baltimore Orioles came to Minute Maid Park and a 30-year drought was ended. Photo R. Anderson
The Baltimore Orioles came to Minute Maid Park and a 30-year drought was ended.
Photo R. Anderson

When this year’s MLB schedule was released and I saw that the Orioles were coming to Houston to play the Astros, it was a no brainer that I would circle one of those games on my must watch list for the season.

That lucky three decade drought ending game was Thursday afternoon at Minute Maid Park. Of course, I did not just end the 30 year drought with one game in one city.

No, no. I went one step further in true go big or go home fashion and saw the Orioles in St. Petersburg, FL as well when they wrapped up a series with the Tampa Bay Rays.

So in the course of four days I ended a 30-year drought with not one, but two, games in two different cities in two different states.

So let us compare and contrast the two ballpark experiences starting first with the Orioles and their visit to Minute Maid Park.

Four days after seeing the Orioles in Houston it was time to travel south and see them in Florida but unlike previous times watching the team in Florida this game counted. Photo R. Anderson
Four days after seeing the Orioles in Houston it was time to travel south and see them in Florida but unlike previous times watching the team in Florida this game counted.
Photo R. Anderson

Selecting a day game to see the Orioles was an easy choice to make as I try to attend one day game a season. Thursday was this year’s selection for that honor.

I enjoy day games for multiple reasons, but two in particular rise above the others. The first reason of course is that it just seems down right fun to be sitting at a ballpark watching a game while the majority of the world is working.

The second thing that makes day games so much fun is that they have smaller crowds on average (see reason one as a probable cause) which tends to mean better odds to catch a ball during batting practice.

For the past three years I have caught a ball at all of the day games I have attended. So it was that experience that had me feeling fairly confident that my luck would continue this year when I went to see the Orioles visit the Astros.

I arrived at the gate shortly after it opened and made it to my seat in front of the short right field porch. Sadly when I surveyed the field I noticed that batting practice was not going on.

At first I thought that it was just starting later than usual but then I realized that none of the tell tale signs of batting practice were on the field. I would not get to continue my streak of catching batting practice balls. I know I can always add another day game later in the season but I thought that it would have been nice to catch a ball from one of the Orioles.

The game itself was nice once the disappointment of no batting practice subsided. The Orioles ended up with the victory and although I did not go home with a ball I could be consoled by the fact that I saw a victory by the first team I ever rooted for.

The Ted Williams Museum inside Tropicana Field is well worth checking out. Photo R. Anderson.
The Ted Williams Museum inside Tropicana Field is well worth checking out.
Photo R. Anderson.

My Orioles karma continued Sunday at Tropicana Field, as did my string of missing out on batting practice.

As was the case earlier in the week the Orioles were victorious although the Rays definitely went down swinging.

In both instances I was conflicted somewhat regarding who to root for since all three teams are in my stable of teams that I follow.

But in most case during head to head match ups I will tend to pull for the Orioles. So in that sense I saw two Orioles victories in four days and was happy.

Tropicana Field is also home to a Ted Williams museum which is a must stop for any visitor to the ballpark. Admission to the museum is included as part of admission to the game and allows fans to see various artifacts from both Ted Williams as well as artifacts from the earliest Rays season.

Now if you’ll excuse me I need to think of some other long droughts to end while I am one such a roll.

Copyright 2013 R. Anderson

Baltimore Orioles, Houston Astros, Major League Baseball, Tampa Bay Rays, Texas Rangers, Washington Nationals

Stable Stability is a Tricky Thing to Balance

Early last year I decided to add an additional team to my stable of baseball teams that I follow.

The addition of a new team into the stable is not something that is taken lightly and a variety of factors are involved in the process in order for a team to be determined worthy.

At the time of the decision to expand, my stable included the Baltimore Orioles (added in 1980), the Tampa Bay Rays (added in 1998), the Houston Astros (added in 2000), and the Washington Nationals (added in 2005). Each of the teams represented areas where I had either previously lived or had a history with following.

While the logo has changed, thirty three years later the Bird is still the word and the Baltimore Orioles still are the longest tenured team in the Stable of teams I follow. Photo R. Anderson
While the logo has changed, thirty three years later the Bird is still the word and the Baltimore Orioles still are the longest tenured team in the Stable of teams I follow.
Photo R. Anderson

I still follow the Atlanta Braves and Florida (Miami) Marlins for sentimental reasons but they were considered on the outside of the core four teams.

Despite their two World Series titles, and the history of me following them since their first year in 1993, the Marlins fell from prime stable positioning a few years ago after years of inept decisions by ownership that led to repeatedly fielding a non-competitive team.

That is not to say that winning is everything, I just want to know that ownership is making an effort to field a competitive ball club year after year. Astros you have been put on notice as well.

As I mentioned, one of the criteria for selecting a team to admit into the stable is historical attachment to the team through living or traveling frequently to their home base.

While once Devilish, The Tampa Bay Rays are the second longest tenured team in my stable of baseball teams. Photo R. Anderson
While once Devilish, The Tampa Bay Rays are the second longest tenured team in my stable of baseball teams.
Photo R. Anderson

Over the past few years I have traveled extensively in and around the Dallas area; including Arlington and Frisco. For those who may not be familiar with those areas they are home to the Texas Rangers and the Frisco Rough Riders, the Rangers’ AA affiliate.

During many of my trips north I would find myself at one of the two ballparks, or watching games in the hotel during downtime.

As the trips grew more frequent, so did the exposure to the Rangers to the point that I started watching Rangers games back home in Houston when the Astros were not on.

So, after careful consideration I decided that, while I consider certain Rangers’ fans to be some of the rudest people I have ever encountered in a ballpark, the Rangers had many pros that made them worthy of stable inclusion.

A new century, and a new team. The Houston Astros joined the stable in 2000. Photo R. Anderon
A new century, and a new team. The Houston Astros joined the stable in 2000.
Photo R. Anderon

The pros included proximity, Nolan Ryan, and Josh Hamilton. It was also decided that with the Astros in the National League and the Rangers in the American League I could easily follow both teams in the same way that I followed the Nationals and the Orioles since they were in the National and American Leagues respectively.

So, in 2012 the Rangers were officially added to my stable. While there was not an official ceremony or military flyover the day was marked with the purchase of a Rangers hat and t-shirt during one of my trips up to Frisco.

Shortly after the stable inclusion, one by one the carefully met criteria that allowed the Rangers in began to crumble.

The Washington Nationals joined the stable once they were exported from Montreal in 2005. Photo R. Anderson
The Washington Nationals joined the stable once they were exported from Montreal in 2005.
Photo R. Anderson

It was announced that not only would the Astros be moving to the American League, they would be moving into the same division as the Rangers. This meant they would face each other repeatedly in head to head battles beyond the yearly Lone Star interleague series.

I already had the Orioles and the Rays in the same division and the heartburn that gives me each year on who to pull for more when it comes to playoff time often has me reaching for the Pepcid.

I quickly came to terms with the fact that most analysts believe it will be years, if not decades, before the Astros are competing for the playoffs in the American League so I will have time to build up a plan for which team to root for more when the pennant races roll around.

The next obstacle to overcome for the Rangers to remain in my stable was the loss of Josh Hamilton to the Angels during free agency.

While I know that players come and go with great frequency, it really seemed like Josh Hamilton was one of the faces of the franchise for years to come and was one of the good guys that one wanted to see succeed based on the personal demons that he had overcome.

Ok, so no Josh Hamilton, no problem. At least they still had Nolan Ryan who by many accounts is the epitome of Texas baseball and has a museum just down the road from Houston.

While the Frisco Rough Riders were already in the Minor League stable their big brother joined the stable in 2012. Photo R. Anderson
While the Frisco Rough Riders were already in the Minor League stable their big brother joined the stable in 2012.
Photo R. Anderson

Then a few weeks back it was announced that Nolan Ryan may be leaving the team that he helped purchase a few years back.

While I would hate to see him go I know that Nolan Ryan will land on his feet if his tenure with the Rangers does end. Nolan’s loss alone, like that of Josh Hamilton, would not be reason enough to rescind the Rangers’ membership in my exclusive stable of teams to follow.

So, the Rangers become the fifth team in my stable with their place firmly entrenched. Of course whenever they play the Orioles, Rays or Astros they will not be the team that I root for the most. I mean tenure in the stable has to count for something.

Of course if they end up playing the Nationals in interleague play that creates another interesting dilemma since the Rangers were once the Washington Senators before leaving for the suburbs of Dallas in 1972. I guess who to pull for in that pairing of D.C. past and D.C. present will be another decision for another day.

This brings us to this Sunday and the start of the 2013 Major League Baseball season. The Rangers and the Astros will face off in a nationally televised game to kick the season off.

I am sure there will be a sellout crowd at the game. If past games between the two are to be any indication, the mix at Minute Maid Park will be about 60 percent Rangers fans, 30 percent Astros fans and 10 percent Texans fans (Seriously, the number of people who wear football jerseys to baseball games amazes me).

I haven’t decided for sure which jersey I will sport at the game. I am leaning towards the Astros even though I am fairly confident that the Rangers will prevail.

Now if you’ll excuse me I need to review another stable application that just came across the Triple B news desk. After all, if realignment has taught me anything it is that even numbered divisions are much easier to manage than odd ones.

Copyright 2013 R Anderson