“So let me be honest, the Tampa Bay Rays are not interesting, nor are they charismatic in any way."
While those are not necessarily fighting words, ESPN Pardon The Interruption host Tony Kornheiser found himself in the crosshairs of Tampa Bay Rays fans, and quite possibly, the entire Tampa Bay region, by uttering that statement a few weeks ago on that show.
Whether you can say the Rays have found motivation from that comment is a tough thing to determine, even though the Rays have gone 15-4 since Kornheiser said what he said on August 11th. Since then, the Rays have put a good deal of space between themselves and the second-place New York Yankees, who were themselves riding a 13-game winning streak during that time, only to see it crash, with the Bronx Bombers having lost their last four. The Rays are eight games up on the Yankees in the AL East and if things keep going as they have been, the Rays could clinch the division by the middle of the month.
And oh yeah, they are tied with the San Francisco Giants for the best record in the major leagues!
That leads us to today, and you could say it's a marketing ploy, as the Rays are pushing the T-shirt you see in the tweet below, or, perhaps it IS motivation, as Brandon Lowe's Cheshire Cat grin leaves you asking yourself if perhaps the team is being prodded by the lack of respect. ESPN's Buster Olney became one of the few national voices to praise the Rays in recent days, perhaps saving some face for the network.
But no matter how you look at it, the tweet below by the Rays' marketing department is one of sheer brilliance.
COVER PHOTO: Tampa Bay Rays