Here is Joe Maddon with a Zim Bear on his shoulder, which seems oddly appropriate. We just aren’t sure if that is the Devil-shoulder or the Angel-shoulder.
On a side-note, what do you think Zim would have said if you told him in 1954 as a rookie for the Brooklyn Dodgers that he would someday have a Teddy Bear with his face and a Tampa Bay Rays jersey on it? Crazy…
Clearwater brain injury attorney Matt Dolman of Dolman Law Group
Clearwater brain injury attorney Matt Dolman shares some of his in-depth knowledge of brain imaging studies in an excellent blog entry on MyTraumaticBrainInjury.com. Click here to learn about PET scans, SPECT scans, Diffusion Tensor Imaging (DTI) and Susceptibility Weighted Imaging (SWI).
Joe loves to learn about this fascinating aspect of medicine, whether it’s car accident brain injuries or ones on the football field.
Dolman Law Group is a Pinellas County and Manatee County personal injury law firm that routinely handles claims and litigates cases involving closed head injuries as a result of an automobile accident. Dolman Law Group actively litigates auto accident and motorcycle accident related cases in Pinellas County, Hillsborough County, Sarasota County, Manatee County and Pasco County. From its Clearwater office, Dolman Law Group is easily accessible to injury victims in St. Petersburg, Tampa, Palm Harbor, Dunedin, Safety Harbor, New Port Richey, Pinellas Park, Largo and Kenneth City. Their satellite office in Bradenton is easily accessible to all consumers located in both Manatee and Sarasota County.
Joe Maddon had a pretty cool comment that we think shows just how mature this Rays roster is even though they are very young…
“For a young guy to come into this camp with bad work habits, I promise you they will be rectified within the day, and not by me or any of the coaches. The ‘inter-policemanship,’ if that’s a phrase, among the players is so good. A young guy can’t get away with anything right now and it’s outstanding.”
Many fans like to point to the importance of veteran players like Cliff Floyd or Johnny Damon. And to a certain extent you like to have a player or two around that has been through the battles. But now that the Rays have been in the playoffs three out of the last four years, several of the Rays youngins have the experience to assume the rolls of veteran leaders.
We don’t know if the Rays are going to win it all this year. But be sure you stop every once in a while and take it all in. This is a special group. And we have a feeling they are going to do special things.
THE JUNKYARD DOGS WEBTOPIA…
The MLB Network today announced that they will also carry the broadcast of five Rays games that are scheduled to air on the opponent’s network, but not on Sun Sports. Of the Rays 32 spring training games, 11 will now be available on TV.
Here is the full schedule of spring TV games…
Yesterday, the internet nearly broke when we got our first glimpse at the Zim Bear, a teddy bear with the face of Don Zimmer. Well, it turns out the idea wasn’t completely original. A reader this morning informed us that the Seattle Mariners once had a similar promotion. So we did some research, and sure enough, below is the Edgar Martinez bear the M’s gave away in 2004.
And if you are curious, we are guessing that the Zim Bear will also have sponsors on the feet by the time it is handed out on June 29.
Back in 2010 we learned that Reid Brignac was dating Playmate Lauren Anderson but that they may have broken up. And then last week a reader tipped us off that the two were back together and expecting a baby.
We let it go at the time because the info was only on Facebook and not for public consumption. But now comes word via The Big Lead that the two have a public baby registry. So yeah, it’s official. And yes, between Briggy and Evan Longoria, the wives and girlfriends box at The Trop this summer is going to look like the Playboy Mansion.
Former Rays outfielder Elijah Dukes was arrested early this morning on several charges including possession of marijuana, driving with a suspended license, and attempting to destroy evidence.
According to the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office, Dukes was arrested at 1:00 this morning in Tampa and is being held on $5,000 bond.
Of course, Dukes has a long history of arrests including a pair of arrests last year for driving with a suspended license.But his most famous incident came in 2007 when he threatened to kill his wife and kids while a member of the Devil Rays.
The last time we heard about Dukes doing something other than being arrested was when he released a homemade video in an attempt to launch a rap career as “Fly Eli.”
Here is Dukes’ mugshot…
Matt Moore is on the cover of this month’s Baseball America (right). If you missed it yesterday, Moore was the unanimous choice as top prospect in our annual Top Prospects Meta-analysis.
THE JUNKYARD DOGS WEBTOPIA…
Earlier today we got a sneak peek at the Rays’ 2012 promotional schedule. One of the items we were looking forward to was the Don Zimmer “Zim Bear.” Well, here it is. You guys decide: cute or scary? Also, the Evan Longoria walk-off figurine is below…
In one of many strange moments last year, Joe Maddon had pinch-hitter Sam Fuld stay in a game and warm up on the mound to allow Cesar Ramos more time in the bullpen to get ready. The Associated Press now says Major League Baseball has adopted a new rule that the AP believes was created to stop situations like this.
According to the AP, the new rule, which they are calling the “Maddon Rule,” will…
“…prohibit a manager from sending his current pitcher out to warm up with no intention of having him pitch because a relief pitcher is not ready to enter the game.”
But we are not sure if this new rule has anything to do with the Sam Fuld incident as the AP tries to paint.
At the time we wondered if Maddon’s move was illegal. After all, there is already a rule that states a pitcher must face one batter unless he is injured. And the umpires claimed they were told that Fuld was hurt and that was why he never faced a batter.
But how is the new rule going to keep somebody from warming up and faking an injury? It can’t. And it won’t. The umpires are not doctors and they can’t risk forcing an injured player to pitch.
No, the rule was not aimed at stopping Maddon’s trickery. Re-read the wording above. Fuld wasn’t a “current pitcher.” He was a pinch hitter. This rule appears to be aimed at something far more common.
Often, managers will simply have the [Read More...]
