“I have tickets!” Strawberry
declared.
“To...?”
“To the press conference today!”
she yelled.
I got word from Sandra, the bartender
over at Boneyard, about this stadium ordeal being made legit on a
Friday.
“How'd you get...wait...er...don't
even bother telling me,”
Strawberry smirked in a grimacing way
as she looked away. What she did at night for her money was her
business.
They had the press conference set up
over at this little bungalow house just off 8th Avenue
where I'd been jumped a handful of times and where Strawberry had
given me dome a couple of times behind the bushes.
Oh the memories.
Prior to showing up, I popped into
Gaspar's Grotto for the infamous two dollar shot and beer combo.
Nothing like getting the nerves calmed.
At the bungalow I spotted a couple of
faces from the newspaper. Hagan, Buckhorn, Sykes, some other balding
white dude and ole' Stu Sternberg. The security gave me a demeaning
look as I entered those creaking old doors. In spite of the entire
ordeal, I rocked my old inaugural 1998 Devil Rays t-shirt.
Some reporter from Channel 10 seemed to
be on speed or something -judging by those pupils- ready to fire a
thousand questions at these white men. “Reporting the facts”.
The spotlight took its place on the
group and they begun...
“Today marks the beginning...” one
of them started.
I was put to tears knowing that the
Rays were finally getting the hell out of Pinellas County and
possibly over to this side of the bay, which is to say, the right
side of the bay.
After their speeches ended, the
journalist from Channel 10 kept yelling and screaming and the woman
with ten inches of makeup kept demanding they take another question
yet the reporter kept on and on. Kudos for him for really caring but
in actuality, I didn't give a fuck either way. No matter how I cut
it, I'd remain poor and the city would gobble up all of my taxes
whether for trash, sewage or RayJay. corruption or not...just look at
the president. This country is already fucked beyond fucked.
Thank you ladies and gentlemen.
The reporter was
restrained and nearly escorted out of the bungalow. That's a good
white boy.
I felt
philosophical and quixotic while strolling down 8th by all
of the homeless people and September 11th memorial. My
mind ran to the inner diamond...
This spring we
shall find quite the competition in the infield. Let's look at some
of the acquisitions of Joey Wendel, Micah Johnson, Ryan Shimpf. I
like the idea of anyone being in the infield over Brad Miller as
Miller seems a bit overrated by many but no matter. Left handed bats
are always a nice entity in the lineup. Seems like in 2017 the lineup
was very right handed heavy. Shimpf has a lot of power potential yet
seems plagued by strikeouts (like many power hitters). Souza could
fall in there. Christian Arroyo shall also be in the mix as we traded
Longo for this dude. I don't really know how to feel about Wendel, I
guess spring will expose what kind of player the Rays received. Now!
The really exciting part! Willy Adames and Jake Bauers and Matt
Duffy. A full season of Matt Duffy is so critical for this team to be
successful. I remember seeing him play limited in 16' and like his
slap hitting approach and feel he really could be a corner stone dude
at 3B. Makes you wonder where Arroyo will be used as Willy will most
likely be the shortstop of the future. Cannot forget ole' Hech too!
Despite his bat being somewhat below average, his defensive abilities
are something really special. When the Rays went out and got him at
the trade deadline, it was such a pleasant thing to see. His range
and athleticism makes him a nice short stop, which translates in Rays
terminology, as a trade chip by the trade deadline with Willy in the
wings but this will be an evolving story as spring continues. I
really like Hech but with the Rays paying him five million plus, they
are more likely to move him at some point this season. Despite
D-Rob's athleticism and great defense, that bat just makes me
question him mightily. I will just go ahead and pencil in Bauers.
Going by sheer lunacy, I will predict The Rays infield come Opening
Day:
Cather=Ramos
1B= Bauers
2B= Arroyo
SS= Willy Adames
3B= Matt Duffy
Bench: Shimpf,
Miller, Micah
I have given up on
Brad Miller, I really wish they would trade him but seems less likely
as his value is extremely low (much like Odo's) . He has power
potential yes, no debate there, but is not a great defender and has a
lot of swing and miss.
I felt greater than
great. I felt like really, really great.
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