Every season every team has their own defining moment. Sadly, I believe that last night's complete and utter collapse may be that defining moment for our beloved Devil Rays. Coming back from a walk-off loss or losing a game in which you led in the 9th is hard enough, but to be given a 10 run head-start and then to subsequently squander such a seemingly insurmountable lead may be close to impossible to recover from.
Last night's loss is the type of loss that sits quietly in every players' subconscious just waiting for its chance to whisper quietly in their ear the next time they find themselves in a clutch situation. Lurking, undetected, biding its time until it can reach back and cause them one second of pause, one instant of self-doubt, one slight hesitation that could cost them another game, and then another...
Last night's loss can be a cancer in every players' mind for the rest of the season. It can be the defining moment that sinks the Tampa Bay ship. A moment that could single-handedly end the possibility that these Devil Rays are going to be able to keep up in the AL East.
Last night's loss coupled with a sudden rash of injuries could leave the Devil Rays with a victim mentality from which they may not recover. They may feel sorry for themselves and mentally pack it in, they may blame circumstances or perhaps each other, they may blame the umps or Joe Maddon, or some sort of hoaxy Lake Erie Curse; adversely, they may feel like fools and spend the rest of the season trying to prove that they're better than that, they may finally realize that no one is going to hand them 90 wins just for showing up at the park, they may band together and decide that its time to start taking this season seriously,they may rise up on the wings of eagles...
Or they just might not care.
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