This was a huge series down at Dumpicana Field, and due to various work efforts I was stuck listening to a good portion of it on the radio on XM. So instead of getting Joe and Dave, I got to hear Andy and Dave on the Rays radio station and learned quite a bit about the game of baseball. I’ve always considered myself to be a pretty intelligent fan, but I clearly had some gaping holes in my baseball knowledge.

For example, did you know that Joe Maddon invented baseball? Did you know that Carl Crawford was the first player to ever steal a base? Or that Carlos Pena was the first player to ever think “I wonder what would happen if I hit the ball OVER the fence”? Did you know that Matt Garza has NEVER lost a big game? That James Shields cured cancer? That Dan Wheeler is a better closer than Mariano Rivera?

In between their ballwashing of the Tampa Bay organization, I did learn a few real tidbits from the Tampa announcers. That Lester was dominant…again. That Paps had the best save of his Sox uniform in the first game, and he owes Jacoby a bottle of some really good Scotch for his sliding catch in the 8th. That Beckett still looks like crap. But most importantly, that the Sox took two of three against the Rays and pushed them to six games back in the Wild Card. And potentially the best news: that barring anything really strange, the Sox are done with Dumpicana Field for the season!