3 Walk-Off Wins in 3 Days? Are You Kidding ME????

True story.

Saw it with my own eyes...

Even I was starting to doubt my Team a little, but this is exactly what this team and it's fans needed... Much appreciation to the Rays for making sure I get my money's worth with the ticket price...

I don't have tix for tomorrow yet, but my broom is ready in the event anybody has an extra...

That is all.

Batter up!

Go Rays!

troll out.

Mom & Me & DJ KITTY!!!

Not much time, but I wanted to get at least one photo from my hot date on Saturday night posted... It was a GREAT time with GREAT company and a GREAT outcome...

I was a lucky man to have such a fine game watching companion and we were pretty lucky to see the Rays LONE win on this homestand...

My Rays are on the other coast tonight and for a while... Tonight's matchup is King Felix vs. Cesar Ramos - GOOD LUCK!!! Stranger things have happened...

Hope the Mom's had FANTASTIC weekends and were appropriately spoiled...
Hope the fellas treated their wives and mothers like royalty this weekend...
Go Rays! Batter up!
troll out.

My Mom is the Ray's New Clean-Up Hitter!!!

I just got home from Tropicana Field where the Tampa Bay Rays stomped the Indians from Cleveland to a score of 7-1.

The Rays haven't had much luck at home lately. It's been more than 2 weeks (I think) since their last home victory. The only major thing that changed between tonight every other home game this year was the presence of my Mom. They needed a victory badly and I knew she would be the key to getting them back on track and she delivered!

I had mentioned that Mom and I had taken a little break in-between ball games - we hadn't been out to the ball park together since 1986 when her and I teamed up to cheer the New York Mets all the way to the World Series.

Tonight wasn't the World Series - just a regular, early in the season, non-division game featuring a battle between number 5 starters who probably won't have spots in their rotations come September, but my date for the night made it one of the best games ever!!!

Mom and I had a BLAST!! She hasn't been watching much baseball, but it all came back to her quickly and she had a smile on her face from the moment we walked in the door and we got our DJ Kitty plush hats!

We took plenty of pics, but they were all on Mom's camera - I will get them from her shortly and post them up - for now I did snap a pic of the DJ Kitty hat to share. I wore my DJ Kitty hat all game long as many fans did. My Mom is not a hat person, but she was wearing a Rays cap and didn't wanna cover it up. She had to work today, as well as tomorrow, which is why we couldn't celebrate Mother's Day at the ball park on Sunday... Anyway, when she got home from work today there was a brandy new Rays cap waiting on the kitchen counter for her!

This was a last minute plan - I had invited her late last night and today while she was working my Dad bought her a Rays cap as a surprise. AWESOME!!! I had probably could have given her on the 16 different Rays hats that I have accumulated over the years, but I thought it was great that My Dad did that for her...

Everything about tonight worked out perfectly. We decided to do this late last night and today I was able to find FANTASTIC seats behind home plate at a decent price and she was able to work her regular schedule at work and still get out in time for the game. I was able to mow my lawn and get my "chores" done around the house prior to picking her up.

We got there quickly without hitting any traffic and we were able park in my regular spot for only 5 bucks!!! It is generally $10 on the weekend - sometimes 15. The spot is about a half mile walk from the Trop. Perfect to stretch you out a little before sitting for 3 hours and its in the ideal spot to circumvent traffic and get right on the highway post game. Mom starts work at 5 AM, so I was a little worried about having her out too late, but the game was fairly quick and the parking slot worked - we avoided the traffic and I had her home safe by eleven o'clock.

On the ride home we talked about the game - Mom knows the game well - AND we agreed that we need to do this frequently... I wish we'd done this sooner, but I am so glad we did it tonight!
I truly am a lucky man. This spring my Dad and I were able to go out to a spring training game together and tonight I got to take my Mom out to see my favorite team. AWESOME!
Speaking of awesome - that is what the Rays were tonight!!!

With Erik Bedard on the hill I wasn't too confident - I even warned my Mom that the game could get out of hand quickly and we might see a lot of calls to the bullpen. Well, Bedard made me eat my words. He walked himself into trouble a bit, but worked out of it. He pitched 6 full innings of shut out ball, allowing just 1 hit and striking out 4 Indians. Juan Carlos Oviedo was his relief and he threw 2 shutout innings holding Cleveland hitless. The Rays were pitching like the '95 Braves - over the first 8 innings at least... Even though it wasn't a save situation - the bullpen had been overworked and Grant Balfour needed to get some work in...

He got plenty of work... And made things pretty interesting. If all went smooth he could have preserved the 0ne-hit shutout and it would have been the first staff 1-hitter since early in 2012. He didn't preserve anything and after a couple batters the mood at the Trop changed drastically. After a couple singles, he walked the bases loaded with NO OUTS!

Perhaps Balfour needs that pressure to be effective... He allowed a sac fly to blow the shutout, but get the first out and then he coaxed a ground ball double play to end it and bring the Rays to a 7-1 victory!!!

The offense, which has been somewhere between weak and non-existent this year, was on fire! Seven of the starting nine had base hits, they were 4 for 6 with runners in scoring position and Zobrist, Longo and Wil Myers all had gappers for extra bases.

Our seats were just to the right of home plate, so we were directly behind the Rays on-deck circle. I wore a dark blue Rays jersey tonight - repping my favorite player. When Mom saw a man get out of the dugout to warm up wearing a jersey identical to mine which said "Jennings 8" on the back - she quickly identified that I was a fan of his and she cheered when he stepped to the plate. He delivered a base hit, stole second and scored courtesy of David DeJesus and put the Rays on the board in the third inning. They added a pair of runs in the 4th, 5th and 7th innings while holding the Indians scoreless.

It was a great night for the home team and an AMAZING evening for my Mom and me! I hope she's not tired heading to work by 5AM - I think she had a pretty GREAT night as well.
I hope she will join me for a ball game again, but I am SO glad she did tonight! It was a perfect evening for my Mom and me and I can't stop smiling about it, which is why I am blabbering on and sharing my story with all of you...

As end note - this is all about my MOM, but since I don't have pics of her and I yet, I decided to start the post off with a photo of Dad and I at a spring training game in March - it's all in the family, right?
If you are a rep of the Rays and you want to arrange for my Mom (the good luck charm) to attend ALL of your home games, you can contact me here;).
Thanks for reading my story.
Viva DJ KITTY!!!
Batter up! Go Rays!
HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
troll out.

Doing Something I Haven't Done in 30 Years!

Hey kids!
I don't how it happens, but somehow 2 months have lapsed since my last appearance around here... Not gonna waste yer time with excuses, but I will say I have had a TON of things to say, but haven't been able to make the time to say it.
As y'all know - I am a DIE-HARD TAMPA BAY RAYS FAN... I LOVE my team and will support them through thick and thin. So far this year I have been a lucky fan and I have gone to nearly EVERY home game this year. Working third shift has its advantages in that regard - I often have the chance to check out games on the way to work, but that is another story...
Anyhoo -  my team has issues. There are injuries and mucho bad luck, but beyond that they have played like crap. The starting pitching sucks, the offense is non-existent and on the occasion they are still in a game after the sixth inning - chances are the bull pen will blow it. It is still early in the season and I have tons of faith in my team, but I aint gonna lie - I'm getting nervous. I have gotten quite used to the Rays battling for a playoff spot every year and I am not ready for that run to end...
Switching gears - I am still collecting, I have trades and sweet new cards to post - I am slowly chipping away at 2014 Heritage and will post my have and have not list sometime soon. I have also been working on my "Rays Man Cave". At 22 years old with a family of his own - I have decided it is safe to convert my Son Zadeh's bedroom into my collecting den... I have been saving stadium give aways and collecting baseballs, bats and photos for years now, but everything has always been tucked away in storage, but now it going to be displayed full on!!! I have a little more painting to do, some light construction and some more picture frames to buy, but the cave is getting close to its Grand Opening. I will post photos, perhaps even video when it is done!
So, back to the subject of this post...
I WILL be doing something tonight that I haven't done since 1986.
I have a hot date and I am going to Tropicana Field and sitting in the Home Plate Club, but that isn't the exciting part...
I am going out to a ball game with MY MOM!!!!
We haven't gone out to a game alone together since 1986 when her and spent many weekends at the wonder known as Shea Stadium in Flushing, New York. She took me to many games during the 80's, but we went to many during 1986. We were Mets fans (and I feel comfortable admitting that, now) and I think everyone knows how that year ended for them...
I am looking forward to a night out with my Mom and I hope she can lend herself as a good luck charm to a team that can really, really use it.
Her and I will be sitting in section 106, behind the net, behind home plate and I am SO EXCITED!!! Now would be a great time for them to remember how to win again. Sorry Cleveland...
Batter up!
Go Rays!
troll out.