Tampa Bay Rays Regular Season Home Opener Now Sold Out!

It's great to see so much excitement around the Rays 2009 season. In fact, I was looking into some extra tickets to the home opener today (using my season ticket password) and it is [UPDATED] sold out before tickets go on sale to the general public tomorrow! It'll be a great way to start 2009 for the Rays (with a sellout). Does it really get much better than hoisting the American League Champion banner in front of the half-billion dollar Yankees? Of course, you can still get tickets to the home opener by purchasing a season ticket packages. For example, half season (weekend plan) Lower Box seats are available in Section 121 and 122. Or, if you are feeling adventurous, Full Season Tickets are available in 103, Row J (Home Plate Club) or Lower Box seats in Sections 107-Wheel Chair, 118-Row EE, 120-X or 122-L. Those are some pretty good seats still available!!!

StubHub now has 1500+ tickets available (so it appears as though there are some entrepreneurs in the Tampa Bay area) from $27 (upper deck) to $1,500+ (home plate club). I'm not sure why anyone would pay $1,500 when that would buy you half of the season in the Lower Box.

Some great seats are still available for the Tuesday and Wednesday Yankee games, but the good seats are likely to sell pretty quickly once the sale is opened to the public. Wouldn't it be great to start the season off with 3 sellouts? Come on, Rays Fans, let's pack the Trop!!!

Let's pack the TROP and show the Yankees we aren't messing around this year!!!

Lovin' the DOME! Rain Expected Tonight and Saturday in Philly

First of all, I don't have much to say about last night's game. Their Ace pitched like an Ace and Kazmir made 1 big mistake. That was the ballgame. Their best (by far) pitcher beat our (currently) 3rd best pitcher. I do like the way the Rays match up over the next 3 games and give the starting pitching edge to our boys. I also recall being shut out in Game 1 of the ALCS only to see our boys put on an offensive display in games 2, 3, 4 and 5. So, for those of you that are all worried about the Rays, chill out. This team is the most resilient team in MLB, we have VERY STRONG starting pitching and our bats will come alive.

Secondly, for all the hating Fox did on the Trop last night, they are thanking their lucky stars for the Dome (image above is what the weather might look like come Saturday - it's not actual radar). With an 80% chance of rain tonight and a 90% chance of rain on Saturday night in Philly, how messed up would the TV schedule be with 2 rainouts? If you are a Rays fan planning to travel to Philly for the game, you should read this article as it gives you some good detail on what happens if Saturday is a rainout.

RAYS WIN THE AMERICAN LEAGUE! We're Going to the World Series!!!

Can you believe the Tampa Bay Rays are going to the World Series? It's truly a dream come true. I have a few things I'd like to write about, time permitting, so stay tuned. In the mean time, I promised pictures from Game 6 and 7, so here they are (starting with Game 7 since it was so exciting).

ALCS Game 7 - the loudest sporting event I've ever been to!

ALCS Game 6 - much less exciting, but still a lot of fun.

GO RAYS!!!!

Rays Remove the Tarps for Game 6 & 7 of the ALCS!

Well, sometimes all you need to do is make enough noise. Despite repeated comments from the Rays that they were not going to remove the tarps, the St. Pete Times is reporting that the Rays have decided to remove the tarps for Game 6 and 7 of the ALCS (if these games are necessary). This is great for the fans and also the players. I think these guys realized that filling the seats with Rays fans will be a big lift for this team IF these games are played.

I like to think that we helped get this done for the fans (with our online petition to remove the tarps, but I doubt our 111 signatures made the difference - but, hey, maybe it did).

Now, let's just hope they don't need to play these games (i.e. they clinch in Boston)!

Go Rays!

WOW - Rays win Game 2 9 runs to 8 (9=8?)... Game 1 & 2 Pictures Posted

I just got home from the game and, WOW, what a game. Check back tomorrow for some pics from both Game 1 and 2 of the ALCS. My son and I had the time of our lives last night. Once again, his rally cap came thru for the Rays (it was missing in Game 1 as he was not able to come to that one with me). He put his rally cap on literally one pitch before Longo went yard last night. He was very excited as you might imagine.

Lastly, can I please get an apology from all of you that thought BJ Upton should be run out of Tampa Bay? What a difference maker he has proven to be in the ALDS and ALCS (so far).

UPDATE: As promised, below are pictures from the ALCS Game 1 and 2 (October 10, 2008 and October 11, 2008). Feel free to share these with all your friends and family. Go Rays!

American League Chamionship Series Game 1 - Tampa Bay Rays vs. Boston Red Sox (October 10, 2008)

American League Chamionship Series Game 2 - Tampa Bay Rays vs. Boston Red Sox (October 11, 2008)

ALCS Umpiring Crew is Set: What do you know about these guys?

MLB just announced that Tim McClelland will be the crew chief for the ALCS and he will be joined by Derryl Cousins, Brian Gorman, Brian O'Nora, Alfonso Marquez and Sam Holbrook.

I would love to hear your thoughts on these guys as well as any stories as it relates to any Rays games they worked over the years.

Here are some useful links if you want to learn about these guys:

Tim McClelland
Known to be a shoebox umpire. Could this be an edge for Game #1 when TM is behind the plate? Shields = 40BB in 215 IP vs. Matsuzaka = 94BB in 167 IP.

Derryl Cousins
Kazmir blows up at Cousins, Maddon ejected (Story HERE)

Brian Gorman

Brian O'Nora

Alfonso Marquez

Sam Holbrook

RAYS WIN ALDS, Advance to ALCS!!! Petition to Remove the Tarps!

Wow, what an exciting series. BJ Upton came alive and Cliff Floyd hit a key RBI double to close out the 5-game series against the Chicago White Sox.

What can you say about this team? It always seems to be a different guy. Game 1 was the Shields/Longoria show. Game 2 it was Kazmir battling through a tough start and Aki launching a HR that proved to be the difference. Game 4 was Sonny pitching a gem and BJ Upton coming alive and Cliff Floyd making himself known.

I honestly feel like this team is starting to get things going at the right time. They are healthy (except for Percy, of course) and they believe. Is it just me or does this team believe that it belongs in the hunt? I'm looking forward to the ALCS and will post lots of pictures from those games as well. Stay tuned to 9=8.com as we might have more giveaways on here as well.

On another note, there has been a lot of talk on other blogs about how badly the ALCS ticket sales went (i.e. people that did not get tickets are unhappy). Someone suggested we start a petition to have the Rays remove the Tarps in the upper deck. So, I figured, why not? Here is the petition. If you want to see that Tarps removed for the ALCS, sign it and tell your Rays fan friends!

Credit Picture: [James Borchuck, Times]