Archive for the 'Out of our comfort zone' Category

Jan 03

Jordi is Afghanistan-bound until 2013

Fans do silly things, Jordi Scrubbings, Nice little offseason, Out of our comfort zone, Sometimes cold isn't that cold, Stupid ideas, They asked us to do what?, Where we're going Jordi Scrubbings 7 Comments »

Here is the latest from our correspondent Jordi Scrubbings. And let me be the first to say, we’ll miss you, be safe, hurry back, and Godspeed…

Dear fellow Rays fans,

I am very sad to say that I won’t be joining you at Tropicana Field this season. I recently got a job working with the military and am going to Afghanistan in late January or early February.

For sure, a year is a long time to be gone. I’ll definitely miss going to see the Rays, watching them on TV, or listening to them on the radio. I’ve averaged going to 20 games a season for the last few years and now I’ll have to wait until 2013 to see live baseball again. For a year there will be no Longoria homers, no Price strikeouts, or no seeing BJ race into the gap for a flyball. There will be no Maddon ejections, no Jennings electricity, or no Shields mastery. No Raymond, no promo videos featuring Network and Rocky 2, and no getting dinner at the Boars Head Spaghetti Bar on the fourth floor.

Most importantly of all, however, and probably what I will miss the most, is the inability to be with other fans for a year. There will be no seeing the friends I go to games with, no seeing the friends I’ve made at the ballpark, and no chatting with other fans through twitter. There will be no meeting new people at Fergs, in the parking lot, or in the stands. No frolicking about with a three-foot afro on my head.

Way back in 1998 when Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa were chasing Roger Maris’s single-season home run record, I was deployed to Bosnia. News of who homered when was a common conversation between baseball fans and even non-baseball fans as it was THE news story and news stories of home are great ways to pass the time. I’m sure following the Rays will serve the same purpose. Two weeks after I leave, by the time I get acquainted to my new environment, pitchers and catchers will be reporting. Two months after I arrive, the season will start and following baseball will carry me through the summer and into the fall.

Bart Giamatti once wrote that the end of the baseball season “leaves you to face the fall alone” and “when you need it most, it stops”. In 2012, however, I will use baseball to Read the rest of this entry »

Sep 20

Jordi Talks Rays With a Red Sox Fan

Blog O War, Boston Red Sox, Exagerated headline, Fans do silly things, Feed your mind, Jordi Scrubbings, Other teams envious of Rays payroll, Out of our comfort zone, Things that make us giddy Jordi Scrubbings 1 Comment »

Jordi Scrubbings is back with a special announcement…

Since I started writing here last year I have noticed something: people actually take me for somewhat of a Rays expert. Ha ha, the joke is on them.

Seriously though, in all honesty, it is always very humbling when someone contacts me to get my opinion on the Rays. It has happened on twitter and now, for the first time, it happened on a podcast.

A few months ago, I started a correspondence with California-based Red Sox fan and comedian, filmmaker, and television producer Paul Francis Sullivan. Being that I consider myself a writer/blogger/comic, I look up to Sully and the things he has done. But anyway, Sully and I started following each other on twitter and reading each others’ blogs – it was all very e-migo-ish and blog-bro-tastic of us.

Yesterday, while watching the Red Sox-Orioles game, I received a message from Sully asking me if I would interested in being interviewed for his podcast. Of course, I said yes. So after a few minor technical difficulties (no podcast I ever done goes 100% smooth), Sully and I connected and talked. And talked. And talked.

We talked for almost an hour about the Rays, the Red Sox, my soft spot for Tim Wakefield (we went to the same high school), the brilliance of Joe Maddon, baseball managers and the Hall of Fame, the 2008 Rays, relief pitching, and this year’s playoffs.

So please check out Sully’s podcast featuring me. We come on at the 60:00 mark. Thanks.

Mike Lortz (aka Jordi Scrubbings) Joins the Sully Show

And a big thanks goes out to Sully for the invite. It was fun talking with a Red Sox fan. They are an interesting breed.

Sep 01

Fields of Solace

Attendance, Fans do silly things, Feed your mind, FML, Gettin Lucky, It Gets Better, It was the devil all along, Karma is a bitch, Movie metaphors, Out of our comfort zone Jordi Scrubbings 15 Comments »

Our correspondent Jordi Scrubbings is back with his latest take on all things Rays…

This year has been one of the toughest I have ever faced. I’ve been laid off twice, gotten in a car accident, had several emotional disputes (you can call them fights) with a member of the opposite sex, and was even in the hospital for a few days. 2011 has not been easy.

But baseball, the Rays, and Tropicana Field have been there for me through it all.

I know that sounds very James Earl Jones-ish of me. Remember his classic scene in Field of Dreams where he says that the one constant through the annuals of America has been baseball? While that might not be 100% true for America – I doubt baseball was there for Washington, Franklin, and Adams – it is definitely true for me. When I walk into Tropicana Field, I forget everything going on in my life. The only thing happening is baseball. From the first pitch to the last.

Baseball is the perfect remedy for a disrupted mind.

By it’s very nature baseball has a calming effect. It has a way of slowly swallowing you into the story of the game. It builds at a leisurely pace, as rarely is a game decided in the first inning. As the game progress, every move, every at-bat, and every pitch becomes increasingly more important and as the game spins its tale, the outside world increasingly loses relevance.

And with the Rays penchant for close, low scoring games, every game carries an intensity that envelops those who want to be swept away.

At worst, the Rays lose and I walk out of Tropicana Field in the same malaise as when I walked in. No baseball loss can compare to real life losses. Even the worst blown save pales in comparison to human tragedy. At least I was out of the house and my mind was occupied on something else, however briefly.

But if they win, if the Rays pull magic out of their hat, win in dramatic fashion, or if I see a piece of baseball history, then I can walk out of Tropicana Field with a smile, awash with the temporary euphoria of victory. Baseball has saved me once again from the drama of reality. It has provided me happiness without the headache of a hangover or the consequences of other chemicals.

It doesn’t matter whether or not I go Read the rest of this entry »

Jun 14

The Florida Rays

Fans do silly things, Feed your mind, Jordi Scrubbings, Like peanut butter and chocolate, Out of our comfort zone, Putting us in our place, Rays Universe, Rotation Battle Royal, Team colors, team name, Things that make us giddy Jordi Scrubbings 9 Comments »

Our correspondent Jordi Scrubbings is back with his latest installment…

I recently arrived at the conclusion that the Rays are the perfect Florida team. They epitomize the state in a way no other professional team does. I think I’ve mentioned before that I am a Florida State grad, and if one postulates the theory that former FSU head coach Bobby Bowden was “Old Florida” – where “daggum it” was a popular phrase and the good ol’ boy system ran rampant – then the Rays are the best team to carry the mantel in the post-Election 2000, post-real estate bust, post-recession “New Florida”.

A few months ago, I explored how difficult it is to win fans in Florida, but there isn’t a reason why fans shouldn’t support the Rays. Looking at the Florida sports landscape, if we cast other sports teams into certain Florida “roles” none are as perfect as the Rays. The Miami Dolphins, for example, are like my grandparents’ house near the Villages. My grandparents have been around forever and they keep muddling along, living day-to-day as old people do. Sure, they might win a bingo tournament and be the talk of the town for a week, but their most recent accomplishments will never compare to their own personal glory days. And like Archie and Edith’s reverence of old Herbert Hoover, Dolphins fans shed tears to the past and sing songs to the memories of Marino, Shula, and their heralded ’72 perfect season.

Staying down south, the Rays baseball brethren, Florida Marlins, are as Florida as an oft-traded beachside timeshare. With their two World Series Championships and several mediocre years, they are the residence that sits frequently empty mired in perpetual disarray, only to be fixed up and flipped to new owners. Yet somehow while the neighbors think they are a blight and the homeowners association has lost all semblance of control, the owners fleeced the city for wads of cash to build an entirely new home.

Admittedly, I don’t know my Bucs and Lightning histories as well as I should. I know the Bucs stunk hideously, were good for a bit, went back to stinking, turned the corner with Dungy, won with Gruden, struggled again for a bit, and have just now found their groove again. But I am not sure how that relates to Florida culture. Really bad, good, bad, good, great, bad, and good. That’s more like a roller coaster at Busch Gardens than a predictive model.

Anyway, let me explain why I think the Rays are more “New Florida” than the aforementioned teams or any other team in the state.

Read the rest of this entry »

Aug 24

[XXIX OLYMPICS] Time For ’72 USA Mens Basketball Team To Collect Silver Medals

Out of our comfort zone Cork Gaines 1 Comment »


We know, we know…Why is a Tampa Bay Rays website writing about an Olympic basketball event that happened 36 years ago? Well, Joe Magrane is doing baseball color commentary and Jeremy Cummings, a Rays farmhand is pitching for the USA baseball team…Not good enough? OK, If you don’t let us rant on other topics from time-to-time, then we will have to go start a generic sports site and nobody wants that…

If you are not familiar with the 1972 Olympic Basketball controversy, then read this Wikipedia recap. In short, the USA team, which had never lost in Olympic competition was leading the Soviet Union with 3 seconds left. After the Soviets missed a buzzer-beater, they were given about 64 more attempts to score until they finally made a basket. Then one of the referees kicked coach Henry Iba in the groin*.

The US team voted unanimously to boycott the medal ceremony and refused to collect their silver medals. To this day, those silver medals have not been claimed and still sit in a vault in Switzerland.

Now, the reason why we have strayed from our comfort zone…

It is time for the 1972 USA Mens Basketball Team to collect their silver medals and auction them off for charity.

With the 2008 mens basketball squad set to go for gold early this morning (or tomorrow, we still haven’t figured out what day it is in China), this would be the perfect backdrop.

These are the 12 most famous silver medals in history and would certainly be worth hundreds of thousands, if not millions of dollars if auctioned off individually. Let the team pick one or several charities. We don’t care. But as long as these medals sit in a vault, they are worth nothing.

Also, as far as we can tell, all 12 members of the basketball team are still alive. This is important as at least one of the players has explicit instructions in his will that his heirs are to never collect the silver medal.

We understand the anger. We have seen the replays and still shake our head every time. But there is a chance for the team to turn this negative into something positive. And really, isn’t this what the Olympic Spirit should be about?

Rays Index will now return to its regularly scheduled shenanigans…

*might not have happened