The Yankees’ AL East rivals were the source of some serious trolling during Opening Day on Thursday.
Before opening the 2023 season in Tampa, the Rays unveiled a banner that read, “American League 2022 Wild Card,” signifying the team’s season in which they finished with an 86-76 record, good for third place in the AL East, and were swept out of the Wild Card Series by the Guardians, who went on to fall to the Yanks in the ALDS.
The flag hangs alongside banners signifying the team’s American League pennant in 2020, and its AL East title in 2021. But the reach of honoring a season in which they were the last team to get into the playoffs, where they failed to win a single game, was universally laughed at throughout MLB Twitter.
The Rays have become a legitimate rival for the Bombers, who lost to Tampa in game five of the 2020 ALDS, a season in which Aroldis Chapman was grilled for throwing a pitch near the head of Michael Brosseau, to which Rays manager Kevin Cash famously said he boasted a “stable” of arms that could throw some serious heat, seemingly hinting that they were more than capable of retaliating.
The Rays went on to win their season opener 4-0 over the Tigers.
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