Bloggin' Through the Playoffs - History was made

Hi folks, this will probably be a somewhat short post tonight (at least in comparison to the last couple of days). As many of you know, I was at the 1st playoff game in Rays history tonight with my son Cade, my buddy Smitty and his son Jacob. The boys got 3 balls in batting practice, here's a pic (my son Cade is on the right, Jacob is on the left):



The game was simply put... Electric. It was the most exciting atmosphere for a sporting event I have ever been to.

Some of my notes from the game:

• From a pitching perspective, Shields looked great tonight. He really only had one inning where he was off and only 1 bad pitch, the 3 run homer he gave up. Balfour was dominant when we needed him. He came in with the bases loaded and struck out 2 in a row. Even when Howell as always looked solid again. Wheeler had us a little scared when he gave up the solo homer to Konerko. The last two outings he's had when trying to close he's given up a couple of homers. His velocity seemed to be down a little on his fastball, 87-88 mph.
  
• Hitting - Longoria, Longoria, Longoria. I know we are a little biased because he plays for our team, but the flair for the dramatic is, well, dramatic! I Tivo'd on my computer the TBS broadcast and just checked out his at-bat. Each time he came up Harold Reynolds was comparing him to Cal Ripken Jr. We can only hope we get to see a fraction of what Cal Ripken Jr. was in Longoria over the next 10 years or so.

Well, my throat is pretty dry, I have a headache, so I am going to turn in.

Rays 1
White Sox 0

Game 2 tomorrow night, see you there!
- Steve