Before Randy Arozarena went off to his new team, he wanted to be sure he milked in every last moment with not only his old team but also, the fans of his old team.
Arozarena was traded from the Tampa Bay Rays to the Seattle Mariners on Thursday. But nearly a full 24 hours later, as the Rays were hosting the Cincinnati Reds on Friday night, Arozarena was one of the people in the crowd at Tropicana Field.
Dewayne Staats and Brian Anderson, calling the game for the Rays on Bally Sports Sun, took note of the unusual occurrence.
“That’s Randy,” Anderson said. “Randy Arozarena with the family in the stan — OK, that’s weird. You know, seeing Zach Eflin in an Orioles uniform was weird. This is next-level weird.”
The Bally Sports Sun broadcast finds Randy Arozarena and his family in the seats as fans to cheer on the Rays in Tampa Bay.
Arozarena was traded to the Mariners last night. ⚾️❤️pic.twitter.com/lTdol27ta5
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) July 27, 2024
“I’ve never seen that,” Stats said. “You know, collectively, we’ve been around the game a few months. I’ve never seen anything like that.”
“Usually, Seattle’s like, ‘You’re on your way, right?'” Anderson added.
“I’ve never seen anything like that.” – Bally Sports Sun’s Dewayne Staats on Randy Arozarena hanging around in the stands to cheer on his now-former teampic.twitter.com/aKFWSHIpDZ
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) July 27, 2024
Eventually, Arozarena made his exit. And as he left Tropicana Field, greeting several fans at Tropicana Field on his way out.
“How cool is that?” Anderson said.
“I’m not sure I’ve ever seen that before like that,” reiterated Staats.
Anderson then emphasized what it can be like when players are traded.
“You can imagine what his emotions were when he found out. There wasn’t a lot of — the rumors weren’t swirling. We were stuck on the plane. We got off the plane and there’s the news. It was very surreal.”
Randy Arozarena shook the hands of Rays fans before he left (to go join his new team, probably). ⚾️❤️pic.twitter.com/IAhZNh6htD
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) July 27, 2024
As cool as the moment was for Arozarena and Tampa’s fans, one natural question does arise. What did his new team — the Mariners — think of him taking his sweet time to join them? Fortunately for the Mariners, they are on the road, taking on the Chicago White Sox. So, the trip isn’t quite as long as it would be if they were home. More fortunately for the Mariners, they were doing just fine without Arozarena on Friday.
“Well that’s an eighth dagger early and unfortunately there’s no do-overs in this game.”
Steve Stone offers some blunt (and accurate) commentary on Drew Thorpe and the White Sox falling down 8-0. pic.twitter.com/9Wcw7LCYU7
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) July 27, 2024
[Photo Credit: Bally Sports Sun]
About Michael Dixon
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