A hot button issue with most sports fans is potential relocation. Fans invest a lot of their time, money, and energy into a team so when an owner decide to pack up and move away, they rightfully feel outraged. In the case of baseball, there has only been one major relocation in my lifetime and that would be the Washington Nationals moving from Montreal. I think the next relocation should be the Rays leaving Tampa. They have put out a good product for around half a decade with little to no fan support. If the Rays can't draw fans with their playoff seasons, then what will happen when they inevitably have a disappointing season. I think an interesting move would be to Charlotte, NC. In order to stick with the marine-themed nickname, they could even re-christen themselves the Carolina Mudcats. They could stay in the AL East and be a natural inter-league rival of the Braves. While you consider that possibility, let's take a look at the second half of the 2013 Tampa Bay Rays.
My Top 5 Rays Cards
1. Yunel Escobar
2. Chris Gimenez
3. Jeremy Hellickson
4. Shelley Duncan
5. Evan Longoria
Last year the Rays were one of the teams with the least distinguishing photos and this year it got a little better. I absolutely love the Yunel Escobar point at the camera. It has an Uncle Sam type quality to the image. I also can't remember the last time I was pointed at by a card. The Chris Gimenez is very intriguing to me mainly because you usually don't see catchers in that type of slide. It's very unusual to say the least. The Hellickson shows him receiving the Gold Glove Award that he won in 2012. Award cards are always cool. The Shelley Duncan has the great broken bat point-of-impact photo. Great timing by the photographer. Finally we come to the "fake" 70's throwback that the Rays have worn for the last couple of years. Part of me knows I am supposed to hate those uniforms because they are not real throwbacks, but the rest of me says how can I not love the blue over yellow stirrup socks. I guess I will accept the Rays "throwbacks" as a nice bit of creativity by the marketing department. I am also glad Colorado is not doing anything similar.
Coming tomorrow - #5 Minnesota Twins
Thanx for reading.
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