Rays unveil questionable 2022 Wild Card banner on Opening Day

Don’t call it a banner day.

The Tampa Bay Rays unveiled a banner on Opening Day at Tropicana Field on Thursday – commemorating their 2022 Wild Card appearance.

The Rays’ playoff run last season lasted all of two games, both of which were losses to the Cleveland Guardians in which they failed to score a run.

It joins the pantheon of dubious banners raised to the sports rafters.

The NFL’s Indianapolis Colts famously raised a banner lauding their status as a “2014 AFC Finalist” following their 45-7 loss to the Patriots in the AFC title game, continuing their history of “finalist” banners.

In 2018, the NHL’s Nashville Predators celebrated their status as the Presidents’ Trophy winners the previous season with three banners – one for finishing as the league’s top regular season team, another for winning the Central Division crown, and one to mark their status as “Regular Season Western Conference Champions,” which is not a thing.

The WNBA’s Washington Mystics celebrated being the league’s “attendance champions” in back-to-back seasons with banners for 2002 and 2003.

As for the Rays, the sellout crowd of 20,025 at Tropicana Field was at least treated to a 4-0 win over the Tigers, relying heavily on their pitching and defense.

“A very Rays-like win,” manager Kevin Cash said. “We’ll sign up for those types of wins a lot.”

Helping matters was outfielder Manuel Margot’s diving catch on a ball lined toward the right field line in the seventh inning to preserve a 3-0 lead.

“I knew I had to do something, whether it was just to trap it or make a play,” Margot said through an interpreter, “because the game was close at that point.”