Victor Zambrano to Throw Our First Pitch of Tampa Bay Rays' 2008 Playoff Run
On July 30, 2004, the Tampa Bay Rays (then Devil Rays) traded pitcher Victor Zambrano to the New York Mets for highly touted pitching prospect Scott Kazmir. Zambrano continued to besmirch the Zambrano name in New York, and is now tumbling around the Minor Leagues. Kazmir has been instrumental in the Rays' shocking ascent to the position of AL East champions in 2008. The Mets are struggling not to repeat their collosal failure of 2007, in which they managed to blow a 7 game lead with 17 games left in the season. Safe to say, the Rays got the better end of that deal. Except they now face a strange predicament: Who to throw out the first pitch of their first ever playoff game? Rays president Matt Silverman said "MLB asked us who it'd be. We realized nobody in the history of the franchise had done anything to be worthy of the honor." Well, the goal of this here petition is for the Rays to have Mr. Zambrano himself throw out the first pitch. Is there a better choice? If one person can be given credit for the Rays' turn of fate, why not Zambrano? Sign this petition if you're a Rays fan, a baseball fan or if you just love irony (or hate the Mets.)
Inspiration for this petition goes to one Mr. AJ Daulerio, of www.deadspin.com.
We, fans of the Tampa Bay Rays and baseball in general, to kindly request that, in the name of the spirit of the game and irony, have one Mr. Victor Zambrano throw out the first pitch of your organization's first playoff game. We request that you do this not for us, but as a way to honor a man who has helped your organization achieve new levels of success. Also, we request that you do it for yourself, since it would certainly put your mind at ease and put an end to the stress you must be feeling under the pressure of choosing someone to throw out the first pitch. Thank you for your time.
