Every man gotta right to decide his own destiny.
~ Bob Marley
One hundred sixty one match-ups.
Six months.
Countless hours.
Myriad cheers.
Numerous bouts of profanity.
Several washes of the lucky Rays jersey.
And it all comes down to this.
One afternoon.
Two games.
Rays. Yankees.
Everything on the line.
The Tampa Bay Rays and the New York Yankees are tied for the lead in the AL East. Knotted up. All even. On the last day of the regular season. Aaron Sorkin couldn’t have written a more dramatic script than this.
Here’s the good part: the Rays *knock on wood* control their own destiny in this little scenario. A Rays win against the Kansas City Royals assures there will be the raising of another AL East champ banner at the Trop next spring. A Yankees loss to the Red Sox gets the same result. For the Bronx Bombers to come out on top, they have to win AND the Rays must lose.
Whew.
It’s going to be an exciting afternoon for our Tampa Bay sporting community. Thank goodness the Bucs have a bye week. No local distractions on an NFL Sunday. Today, it's all about the baseball.
And as I cheer my best for the Rays, I’ll also be humming a chorus or two (on my kazoo!) of “Sweet Caroline” to bring some favorable mojo to that other game. That’s about the extent of my ability to cheer for the BoSox. Every little bit helps, right?
Bats, don’t fail us now.
Let’s go, Rays.