Johnny Damon & Manny Ramirez spark up Tampa Bay Rays’ first workout (fixed headline)
Action picked up in Port Charlotte, recently as fans gathered around the training camp for the Tampa Bay Rays to support their favourite ball stars. Two of those formidable players happen to be Johnny Damon and Manny Ramirez. The two iconic figures in the
Rays’ line up once played for the Boston Red Sox. Now they play under the Rays’ wings.
Fans turned up with signs for their favourite players. One of them read, ‘Manny being Manny’. Manager Joe Maddon took the opportunity to talk
of the gathering coming up to the venue to support the club and players. The skipper joked about Ray Olmedo by inciting that the fans had turned up for the journeyman shortstop.
"There was a lot of energy out there today, and I first thought it was attributable to Ray Olmedo," said manager Joe Maddon. "After seeing all the signs, I knew
they were more interested in Manny and Johnny at that point. It was really good. It was fun. It's fun to go through your drills and have people all over the place. It's almost like watching an NFL practice at that
point. We're not used to that. We love it, so it was kind of fun."
Johnny Damon was at the venue to talk about the strong following that came behind the players
inj the squad.
"[The excitement about the team is] great," Damon said. "They picked the right day to have it on President's Day. There was a lot of excitement."
Damon went on to say that the fans must have been wondering, during the offseason, what the Rays were going to do. With him and Manny Ramirez entering the fray, the race towards the regular season has just gotten interesting for the fans.
Maddon delivered a strong speech to the squad before he jumpstarted workout for the players. The club was called on to pitchers and position players to enter their first workout session, in preparation for the American League challenge in Major League Baseball.
The Rays will hope they can beat the competition in the East Division to enter the playoffs again.
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