Rays draw crowds on the road

At 9 a.m. more than 150 people stood in line outside Bright House Field in Clearwater to buy standing-room only tickets for this afternoon's game between the Rays and the Phillies.

Some waited as long as an hour.

Today marks the Rays second trip to the Tampa Bay area this spring. They played in Tampa on Thursday, drawing a sell-out crowd for the Yankees home opener.

OK, the Yankees always sell-out in Tampa, but there were a lot of Rays fans in that crowd. Even the Yankee fans stood and cheered the Rays when they were introduced before the game.

The Phillies are expecting their biggest home crowd of the spring, but I guess it should be noted that they opened against the Blue Jays and today is Saturday.

Still, maybe there is something to this separation between Tampa Bay and the Rays this spring.