For as long as I can remember, there has been a bond between New York and the greater Tampa area. The Yankees consider Tampa a second home: you can find a decent loaf of bread, my parents moved there to live out their final days*, you can find a nice Entenmann’s. All very New York things. This is why it was only natural that we would throw our entire support** behind the Rays last night.
Yes, some people wanted to “earn it” by going through Houston, but a vast majority of Yankee fans were cheering for the Rays. We hoped to see them in the Bronx on Saturday and looked forward to a little fun in the sun next week down in Florida. Unfortunately, the Rays couldn’t get the job done, and their season came to a screeching halt last night thanks to some tipped pitches and Gerrit Cole pitching outside of his mind.
Post-game I saw a ton of tweets from Yankee fans thanking the Rays, for pushing Houston to their limit. Some would even say that thanks to the Rays effort, this would be an AL East World Series Championship*** when the Yankees win. But then we were stabbed in the back.
Just when we let our guard down for one second, and stopped making jokes about how terrible their stadium is and that the average age of their fan base is 92, we learned to never trust an enemy.
So, let’s all remember this in the future, when Tampa trades away all this talent to the NL Central and looks like they have a shot again in 7 years. They are all “Florida Man” and will eat your face on bath salts, as soon as they get the chance. Typical Florida.
*My parents moved in their mid 40’s and are very much alive. My dad will see this and get the joke, and I don’t think my mom knows that I even do this. So, unless my dad shows her, she won’t be able to get offended. Be cool about it Dad.
** We would’ve swept them in 3 games. (Yes, I know it’s a 7 game series)
*** No one ever said this. I’m just being dramatic.
