If you have been hanging around these parts for a while, you know that the model for this site is to tell you what the Rays have done, what they are doing and try to project what they will do based on what we have learned. Unlike most team blogs, we do not very often tell you what the Tampa Bay Rays should do. We prefer to live under the premise that the people that run the Rays are smarter than we are, and know many, many more things that even the most learned fan will never know.
However, for the next 12 days we will step away from the standard, and we present to you 12 “presents” the Tampa Bay Rays should give to their fans. Looking back at last year’s 12 Days of Raysmas, we see that the Rays didn’t come through on very many of our wishes, and the result was a somewhat disappointing season. Let’s hope that changes in 2010.
On the ninth day of Raysmas, the Tampa Bay Rays gave to us, NINE No-Hit Innings…
This one has become an annual tradition during the 12 Days of Raysmas and we are going to keep going to the well until somebody throws a no-hitter for the Rays.
Matt Garza came close in April when he retired the first 18 Red Sox that he faced (and James Shields took a no-no into the 8th against KC in August – thanks Rytor). But for the 12th straight year the Rays failed to throw a no-hitter. Of course there was the Mark Buerhle incident that we shall not speak of.
Interestingly, the Rays now have a rotation featuring four pitchers (James Shields, Matt Garza, David Price, Wade Davis) that wouldn’t surprise us if they did throw a no-no. We still have our money on Garza. When he is on and when he is not throwing a temper tantrum on the mound, his stuff is as good as anybody in baseball.
Any no-hitter not thrown against your favorite team is a great thing to witness. But we really would love to know what it is like to watch the Rays throw a no-hitter.
