So What's the Story?

It has been a while. Let's try and recollect the events, shall we?

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1908 - Draftsman, architect, and owner of the Brooklyn Dodgers , Charles Ebbets begins buying up parcels of land in a garbage dump called Pigtown in Brooklyn, New York.

1912 - Construction begins at this location on Ebbets Field, home to the Brooklyn Dodgers for forty-three years.

1957 - At the end of the season, then Dodgers owner Walter O' Malley follows through on his threat to move the team to Los Angeles. He demanded a new stadium for Brooklyn, because Ebbets field's seating capacity was too small. He is both despised and seen as a visionary for this business-based move.

February 23, 1960 - A home without a family, Ebbets field is demolished.

Sometime in the 1980s - It is decided somewhere in Tampa Bay, Florida that the city will begin to try and acquire a major league baseball team. Proposals for a new stadium begin in 1983.

March 9, 1995 - Tampa Bay is awarded a major league baseball team. A stadium that completed construction in 1990 and was originally named the Florida Suncoast Dome would be their home park. Previously home to such events as arena football and hockey, it would have to undergo some renovations to be baseball-friendly. Chief architect Stan Meredith and his group would have to add all the bells and whistles that the newer parks had, (shopping, restaurants) but they also chose to seek historical inspiration in its design. There would be a large rotunda entrance that was a near exact replica of that of Ebbets Field in Brooklyn. The old barn's influence would not stop there.

Ray's owner Vince Naimoli wanted the newly named Tropicana Field's outfield to be uniquely asymmetrical, much like that of Ebbets field. Meradith understood this. "As a student of the game, you want your outfield fence to play like no other. You want your guys to play the outfield wall like a fiddle,'' Meradith said in 1998. "And then the other guys have a disadvantage. The outfield wall will obviously be to the advantage of the Devil Rays.'' The dimensions in right field would be a mere 322 feet, and like the former home of dem bums, it would be uniquely different in left. That part of the outfield's dimensions would drop to 315 feet.

December 8, 2010 - The man with the longest serving tenure as a Tampa Bay Ray, Carl Crawford signs a seven year, $142-million contract with the Boston Red Sox. His numbers for the upcoming season would drop significantly.

September 3, 2011 - Pennant and wild card races for the big leagues are non-existent. The Boston Red Sox have a nine game lead on the next closest team, the Tampa Bay Rays. The Atlanta Braves would have an eight and a half game lead by the 6th of the month.

September 28, 2011 - Through a combination of improbable runs and unprecedented collapses, there are a pair of tied teams in both leagues for the final wild card spot. The events would play out in four games on the last day of the regular season.

The St. Louis Cardinals were one of the teams that went on an improbable run. They took care of their last game, disposing of the Astros by a 8-0 score. The Braves, who fell in to the latter category of disintegration, took a 3-2 lead in to the 9th. If they could hang on to win their game, a one game playoff for the wild card would be played with the Cards.

The Boston Red Sox were playing the team that would finish last in theirs, the toughest division in professional sports. The Orioles squandered an early lead and the Sox had a one run lead going in to the seventh. The sky opened up and a lengthy rain delay began.

Meanwhile, at Tropicana Field in Tampa Bay, the New York Yankees took a 7-0 lead to the bottom of the eighth. In this inning, through a series of odd pitch choices, smart hits, and a big three run shot from the Rays' Evan Longoria, the Rays would pull to within one.

Carl Crawford would watch this game unfold with his Red Sox teammates in their clubhouse as the rain continued to fall in Baltimore. He would also see Atlanta's debacle reach its apex. The Braves gave up a run in the 9th to the Phillies, and would later lose in extras. It was decided. The Philadelphia squad would play the victorious Cardinals in their NLDS.

Tampa would be down to their last out in the bottom of the ninth. Rays' manager Joe Maddon called on an unlikely source in pinch-hitter Dan Johnson. Johnson was a .108 hitter, appearing in only thirty games up to that point in the season. Down to their last strike, Johnson hit a ball to deep right. Barely fair, it cleared the 322 foot part of the park by a few feet. Tie game.

The downpour stopped in Maryland. Similarly, the Red Sox took a one run lead in to the bottom of the ninth, eventually to two outs with nobody on. A ground rule double from the O's Nolan Reimold would tie the game. Next up was Robert Andino. He got a hold of a ball that drove out to shallow left field. Carl Crawford would have to chase it to make a play. Carl attempted to trap the ball, but dropped it. Reimold would come around to score, winning the game for the Baltimore Orioles.

The Rays and Yankees had fought their way in to the twelfth inning. Slowly but surely, starting with the Rays dugout, word of the Orioles victory made its way to Florida. When the final score appeared on the Trop's out-of-town scoreboard, the stadium was even more abuzz than it had already been. Evan Longoria, a player making $2,000,000 for the 2011 season, came to the plate once more with no one on base. He connected with a low, hard drive, this time to left field. It would clear the lowest 315 foot part of the outfield by an even smaller measurement than Johnson's homer in the ninth. The Tampa Rays won the game and the final wild card spot in 2011 big league baseball, at their home park of Tropicana Field.

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As you can see, some things have happened since I last posted. I will try and find more in this ongoing exploration that I assure you was only set aside, not abandoned. I hope you will stick around for this journey that lives for nights like that of September 28th, 2011. These were just a few of the stories that came to fruition on this night, but I know there will be others to further our discussion.

Glad to be back.