[jg2977]

Tampa Bay Rays: 4th ALCS berth
1911 1932 1933 1935

Mike Francesa:
“Alright, Dog, first of all… can we just say this right out of the gate? This was not a baseball game. This was a pinball machine. This was a video game. Seventeen to fifteen! You kidding me? You’re the Tampa Bay Rays, you win 108 games, best record in baseball, and you gotta survive this to move on?”
Chris Russo:
“MIKE! MIKE! I’m exhausted just reading the box score! I mean, you score seventeen runs, and I’m still nervous in the ninth inning! This thing was nuts! Every inning — BOOM, BOOM, BOOM! Homers, triples, guys flying all over the place! This was a madhouse!”
Mike:
“And yet — and this matters — the Rays survive. That’s the word. They survive the Red Sox in five, and the 1933 World Series champions are now headed to the ALCS for the fourth time in franchise history. That’s not nothing. That’s a real organization now.”
Russo:
“Yeah but Mike, Boston didn’t go quietly! I mean, look at Matt Croke! FIVE RBIs! A grand slam! Triples! He was a one-man wrecking crew! Petro’s tripling all over the field! Boston scored FIFTEEN runs on the road and still lost!”
Mike:
“Because Tampa’s lineup is relentless. Francia hits three home runs — three! Abrego with another monster day, series MVP, fourteen RBIs in the series, four homers. Hernandez everywhere. Gonzago. Crismond. They just keep coming at you.”
Russo:
“But Mike! Mike! The pitching! Both sides! Nobody could get anybody out! You blink, it’s four runs. You go get a sandwich, it’s six runs! Salemi gives up eight! Boston uses the entire bullpen by the fourth inning! I mean, this is complete chaos!”
Mike:
“And that’s why Tampa deserves credit. Lesser teams panic. Lesser teams fold. The Rays didn’t. Every time Boston punched, Tampa punched back harder. Four in the first. Four in the fourth. Six in the sixth. That’s championship DNA, Dog.”
Russo:
“I’ll give you that — but if you’re Kevin Cash, you’re not sleeping tonight! You give up fifteen runs at home? Against Cleveland or Anaheim? Forget it! You do this next round, you’re going home!”
Mike:
“True. But for today, you tip your cap. Tampa Bay wins the series three games to two, sends Boston home, and reminds the league: they’re still here. And now they wait — Cleveland or Anaheim — doesn’t matter. This team expects to be playing deep into October.”
Russo:
“And Mike… I need a nap. If every playoff game’s gonna be like this, I’m not making it to the World Series!”
Mike:
“Get some rest, Dog. October’s just getting started.”