So why do the Tampa Bay Devil Rays call themselves just the “Rays” and not the “Devils” as New Jersey’s hockey team does? Dopey and pandering. Who else would a real athlete fear to face more than the Prince of Darkness. Apparently one knuckleballer with his game on:
With Tim Wakefield’s security blanket on the shelf for the first time in more than 15 months, it appeared early on at Tropicana Field last night that Kevin Cash’s attempt to act as a substitute would provide no comfort for the Red Sox knuckleballer. Cash, who was called up from Triple-A Pawtucket when Doug Mirabelli landed on the disabled list with a strained calf on Friday, failed to catch five of the first 11 pitches thrown to him in the opening inning.
“After the first inning, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a little rattled with what was going on because I hadn’t done that in the minor leagues,” Cash said. “I didn’t know what was going on.” Everything changed in the second, however, and from that point on, the only ones who got rattled were the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, who again couldn’t touch Wakefield in the Sox’ 6-0 victory.
It was magnificent. At one point a perfectly respectable batter swung and then just stopped a bit past mid-swing when the ball he thought was going to be waist high hit the dirt about two feet in front of the plate. A knuckleball is a beautiful thing. Plus the Yankees lost. Five up again with ten days to September.