As the playoffs get under way, Tampa Tribune Rays beat writer Marc Lancaster answers your questions about the Tampa Bay Rays. Please send us your questions for the next session by clicking here.
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Q: Do you really need to use cowbells to get your team going?  The sound hurts your ears and the cowbells may be used as weapons.  Can’t the fans just cheer and clap?
—George Andrade, Fort Myers
A: The weapons factor, I hadn’t considered – and don’t hold us responsible for that idea, anyone. On the other hand, yes, I agree with you, George. Clapping and yelling would be perfectly sufficient as noisemakers go. But you’ve gotta have a trademark, I suppose, and the Rays have gone that route. Joe Maddon, incidentally, says he’s a fan of the cowbells.
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Q: I lived in Tampa, (MacDill AFB), when the Tampa Bay area was begging MLB for a franchise during expansion and am thrilled they are doing so great this year finally but am disappointed with area support over the years. I get down each March for Spring Training games and try to get down during the summer to go to a game or 2 at the Trop, yes it is old but I love the venue as a whole. However, the thing that has puzzled me the most is what do “COW BELLS” have to do with the team or the area? Not the most hard-hitting sports question but this has bugged me for some time and no one I talk to at the games seems to know.
—Tony Fresco, Denver, Pa.
A: To answer your question directly, Tony, cowbells have absolutely nothing to do with the team or the area. But they have become a part of the Rays’ game-day atmosphere thanks to owner Stu Sternberg, a huge fan of the Saturday Night Live “More Cowbell” skit from a few years back.
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Q: What is the necklace around the neck of almost every pitcher?  It appears to be hand woven and some of them wear a couple of them. Thanks.
—Terry Meadows, Parrish
A: I believe you’re talking about these necklaces, worn by several Rays players. Nothing hand-woven about them, and I can’t speak to how helpful they might be, but they are pretty popular around the game.
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Q: What does 9 = 8 mean?
—Ray Sheehan, Winter Haven
A: This question has become increasingly common as Joe Maddon’s slogan has received more attention late in the season. The short version is, nine players playing hard for nine innings would make the Rays one of eight teams in the postseason at the end of the year. The corollary is Maddon wanted the Rays to pick up nine more wins because of their defense, nine more wins because of their offense and nine more wins because of their pitching – a 27-win improvement that would get them to 93 and, he hoped, the playoffs. It worked.
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Q: Will any other TV stations show MLB playoffs? How do they decide which games to show?
—Fred Park, Dunedin
A: All MLB playoff games will be shown on either TBS or Fox.
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Q: the american league playoffs are being shown on tbs, for those of us who do not have cable, will one of the local tv stations be carring the rays playoff games? if not, i think it is not fair, for those of us who don’t have cable
—Richard, Valrico
A: Sorry, Richard – TBS is it for the first round. As I recall, there used to be an over-the-air option for markets in the playoffs, but that isn’t the case anymore.