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The Tampa Bay Rays have been accused of some serious misconduct by a pair of New York based sports radio hosts. Of course, the hosts have no evidence behind the allegations.
Instead, the accusations appear to come from a place of insecurity with their beloved Big Apple teams struggling.
Evan Roberts and Craig Carton of WFAN spewed the unfounded criticisms to listeners on Monday afternoon. They then uploaded the claims in a post on social media as they attempted to spread the misinformation to an even larger crowd.
Those attempts worked, I guess.
The radio show’s Twitter account posted the clip along with a caption that read, “Is something fishy going on with the Tampa Bay Rays?”
Is something fishy going on with the Tampa Bay Rays? @EvanRobertsWFAN shares his suspicion… 🧐 pic.twitter.com/SNy0kWl6WV
— WFAN Sports Radio (@WFAN660) May 8, 2023
“Tampa’s playing stupid ball right now,” Carton began.
“Yeah, there’s something suspicious about that,” Roberts followed.
Carton then said, “They’re cheating, I think,” to which Roberts agreed.
“I didn’t say it… but I am very skeptical with what I saw this weekend.”
And by this weekend, he means the Rays taking two of three games from the Yankees, all of which were decided by one run.
The two hosts then go on to bash the players on the roster, saying that they’re “outperforming their baseball cards.”
“Sometimes, you don’t need evidence. Sometimes, you just have to say, ‘What I’m watching doesn’t make any sense.'”
What he’s watching is the Rays dominate a competitive AL East while New York’s superstars struggle. The Yankees currently sit in the cellar of the division while the Mets are below .500 despite those two teams owning baseball’s most expensive payrolls.
And it’s not as if Tampa Bay has suddenly come from nowhere to rule the MLB. They’ve made the playoffs four straight seasons, including making a World Series appearance in 2020.
They’ve also won the AL East two of the last three years.
Fans in the comments section were quick to respond to the sour grapes.
— Jordan Moore (@iJordanMoore) May 8, 2023
are these guys for real? like for real employed? like they draw a pay check weekly?
— Joshua Kimmel (@joshkimmelOUS) May 8, 2023
The Rays are just good, get over it.
— Branton Griffin (@BrantonGriffin) May 9, 2023
The Rays currently hold the best record in baseball at 29-7, but it’s doubtful that any of the success has been due to cheating.