WASHINGTON -- Blake Snell knows what it's like to perform before small crowds in a national-publicity vacuum -- just like David Price, James Shields and all the other successful pitchers who preceded him in Tampa Bay. Rays superfan Dick Vitale has some amazing lung power and enthusiasm, but he can only do so much on Twitter to champion his beloved team and its individual achievements.
So it was no great surprise when Snell failed to crack the top five in recent player balloting and fell short of making the American League All-Star team on selection Sunday.