Archive for July 7th, 2006

Jul 07

Devil Rays vs. New York Yankees Tidbits

Uncategorized Cork Gaines 14 Comments »
  • The Devil Rays are 38-48, 14.5 games behind the Red Devils and a half game behind the Orioles. The Spankees are 48-35, 3 games behind Boston and 2 games in front of Toronto. The Bronx Roiders lead the season series 4-1.
  • New York is coming off a series split against Cleveland in which they lost the first two games es by a combined score of 24-3 and then won the next two games by a combined score of 21-7. The Devil Rays just took 3 of 4 from the Red Sox, but failed to become just the 5th last place team in Major League history to sweep a 4 game series from a first place team.
  • This season the Yankees remind us of a teenager spending their first paycheck. They have all this money and it is more than they have ever had. Three days later, they looked at their account and all the money is gone and they have nothing to show for it. The Yankees have a $200 million payroll and in the past three days they have had the following players appear in their starting lineup…And Phillips, Melky Cabrera, Kevin Reese, Miguel Cairo, Aaron Guile, and Devil Ray castoff Nick Green. Inflation…$200 million just doesn’t go as far as it used to. On top of that, Jonny Damon may miss this series and be out until after the all-star break with an abdominal strain.
  • Shouldn’t there be more Yankees fans jumping into the East River? It has been argued that YanksBlog, Replacement Level Yankees Weblog and Bronx Banter are the top three Yankee blogs. After reading the most recent posts from all three, we feel like we read the same site three times. All three have posts since yesterday and all three are just recaps of last nights game. We can get that from Sportscenter. Maybe we just caught them before they had their cappucinos. We expected a bit more panic…The Yankees are in serious danger of missing the playoffs for the first time in 11 years. We guess this is just the mentality of the Yankees fans. They assume that George Steinbrenner will go out and trade for Barry Zito or Dontrelle Willis or Albert Pujols and the team will surge into the playoffs, again. There are problems with that assumption this year.
    1. The Red Sox are the real deal. They will be there all year and are just as likely as the Yankees to pick up a player before the trade deadline.
    2. Last season the Yankees picked up Aaron Small and Shawn Chacon in midseason trades. Chacon went 7-3 and Small went 10-0. Where are the Yankees going to find another pair like that this year? The number of available pitchers this season appears to be small and if the Yankees do pick up somebody, are they going to go 10-0 like Small did?
    3. Finally and most importantly the Red Sox and Yankees are probably fighting for one spot this season. New York is 7 games behind the White Sox and 8 games behind Detroit in the wild card and only 2 games in front of the hottest team in baseball, the Minnesota Twins who recently won 19 of 20.
  • Please note below. The Devil Rays will avoid the Yankees top two pitchers in this series, Mike Mussina and Randy Johnson.
  • In the last 25 games the Rays are batting .282. Prior to those 25 games, the team had a major league worst .240 average.
  • Shawn Chacon is listed as the probable starter for Sunday’s contest, but Bronx Banter reports that Kris Wilson will make the start in place of Chacon. [Bronx Banter]

Friday, 7:15 et
New York Jaret Wright, RHP (4-5, 4.61)
Devil Rays Jae Seo, RHP (2-5, 5.59)

Saturday, 7:15 et
New York Chien-Ming Wang, RHP (8-4, 4.21)
Devil Rays Scott Kazmir, LHP (10-5, 3.29)

Sunday, 1:15 et
New York Shawn Chacon, RHP (4-3, 6.71)
Devil Rays Casey Fossum, LHP (3-3, 4.84)

Jul 07

A Look At The Future: News And Notes From The Farm

Uncategorized Cork Gaines No Comments »

  • Here is one blogger’s grades for the top prospects in the Devil Rays’ farm system. Must have given Delmon Young bonus points for bat throwing skills. [Minor League Ball].
  • Josh Hamilton. On Monday night we trekked over to Keyspan Park in Brooklyn, NY for Josh Hamilton’s first game in a professional uniform since the 2003 spring training. Josh wore #18 and played…the bench. Apparently our crack research staff missed the part that said Josh would be in uniform but that he would not play until Tuesday night when the Hudson Valley Renegades return to their home ballpark. A couple of quick observations. We immediately noticed that Hamilton looked bigger and in fact he says that he is up to 230 pounds. Take it from us. He is rock solid and appears to be in great shape. He also looked genuinely happy to back in baseball. He could be seen joking and talking to his teammates throughout the game and even interacting with children behind the dugout. Welcome back Josh…It was our pleasure just to see you in a uniform. Tuesday night marked Josh’s official return to the baseball field as he was in the lineup for the Renegades. In Hudson Valley’s 7-2 loss to the Brooklyn Cyclones, Hamilton batted 3rd as the team’s DH. In his first at bat in the bottom of the 1st, Josh flied out to left field following a standing ovation from the home crowd. In his second at bat Hamilton hit a double between the left fielder and the center fielder, for his first hit in four years. He would later come around to score the team’s first run. He finished the game 1-3. Last night Hamilton was not in the lineup. Wednesday night, Hamilton was not in the lineup. Thursday night Hamilton went 0-2 with a walk and an RBI ground out.
  • Evan Longoria. Longoria appeared to be struggling a bit since his promotion to the Visalia Oaks. He was 5-20 (.250) in his first 5 games with 2 doubles and 3 RBI. Then last night Longoria hit his first two home runs with his new team. He went 2-4 with 3 RBI. We are starting to get giddy. This interview is a little stale, but here is a one-on-one session with Longoria after he had started his professional career.
  • Delmon Young. Well…Delmon may not yet have matured since his suspension, but he sure knows how to take his frustration out on a baseball. In his first 15 games back from a 50-game suspension, Young is batting .418 (23-55) with 8 runs scored and 17 RBI. He has also hit 5 doubles and his first 2 home runs of the season. He is now hitting .370 on the season in 36 games. If Young had enough at bats he would be leading the International League in hitting by 20 points. Maybe we will see Delmon in the Trop this fall after all.
  • B. J. Upton. Melvin has his average up to .274 and continues to lead the IL in stolen bases with 35. He has 6 home runs and 35 RBI.
  • Elijah Dukes. Dukes was back in the lineup after a 15 game suspension for fighting with a teammate. By the way…that teammate (Ryan Knox) was given a 3 game suspension and ordered to perform community service…as an outfielder for the AA Montgomery Biscuits. Dukes is 3-14 in his four games back and is now hitting .290.
  • Juan Salas. You didn’t think we could do a minor league report without mentioning our favorite minor leaguer did you? That would be silly. In 9 appearances with the Bulls, Salas has pitched 12.2 innings and given up 6 hits and 4 walks with 15 strikeouts and he STILL HAS NOT SURRENDERED AN EARNED RUN IN 2006. Mr. Friedman…please…please call him up…pretty please?
  • Seth McClung. McClung has had mixed results since his demotion to the Durham and his new role as closer-in-training. In 4 appearances he has pitched 8 innings an given up 78hits, 1 walk and 3 runs. He has struck out 13.
  • Doug Waechter. Waechter hasn’t been so good. In 4 starts he is 1-3 with a 6.93 ERA.
Jul 07

Easy Big Papi!

Uncategorized Cork Gaines No Comments »


Boston 12, Devil Rays 5. Heading into this series with Boston, if we were told we would win three of four from the division-leading Red Devils, we would have gladly signed for that and been ecstatic. Still, we found ourselves pacing around the room at 6-5 in the top of the 9th and then banging our heads against the wall as soon as David Ortiz began to unleash his thunderstick. We must admit…if one player is going to destroy our hopes with a grand slam in the 9th inning, we were glad it was Big Papi. Is there a more lovable player in baseball? And quite frankly it is starting to get to the point where we expect Big Papi to hit a home run every time he comes to the plate in the 9th inning of a close game. With the loss, the Rays missed an opportunity to climb out of the cellar in the AL East. Tampa remains a half game behind Baltimore.

Jul 07

Devil Rays vs. New York Yankees Tidbits

Uncategorized Cork Gaines No Comments »
  • The Devil Rays are 38-48, 14.5 games behind the Red Devils and a half game behind the Orioles. The Spankees are 48-35, 3 games behind Boston and 2 games in front of Toronto. The Bronx Roiders lead the season series 4-1.
  • New York is coming off a series split against Cleveland in which they lost the first two games es by a combined score of 24-3 and then won the next two games by a combined score of 21-7. The Devil Rays just took 3 of 4 from the Red Sox, but failed to become just the 5th last place team in Major League history to sweep a 4 game series from a first place team.
  • This season the Yankees remind us of a teenager spending their first paycheck. They have all this money and it is more than they have ever had. Three days later, they looked at their account and all the money is gone and they have nothing to show for it. The Yankees have a $200 million payroll and in the past three days they have had the following players appear in their starting lineup…And Phillips, Melky Cabrera, Kevin Reese, Miguel Cairo, Aaron Guile, and Devil Ray castoff Nick Green. Inflation…$200 million just doesn’t go as far as it used to. On top of that, Jonny Damon may miss this series and be out until after the all-star break with an abdominal strain.
  • Shouldn’t there be more Yankees fans jumping into the East River? It has been argued that YanksBlog, Replacement Level Yankees Weblog and Bronx Banter are the top three Yankee blogs. After reading the most recent posts from all three, we feel like we read the same site three times. All three have posts since yesterday and all three are just recaps of last nights game. We can get that from Sportscenter. Maybe we just caught them before they had their cappucinos. We expected a bit more panic…The Yankees are in serious danger of missing the playoffs for the first time in 11 years. We guess this is just the mentality of the Yankees fans. They assume that George Steinbrenner will go out and trade for Barry Zito or Dontrelle Willis or Albert Pujols and the team will surge into the playoffs, again. There are problems with that assumption this year.
    1. The Red Sox are the real deal. They will be there all year and are just as likely as the Yankees to pick up a player before the trade deadline.
    2. Last season the Yankees picked up Aaron Small and Shawn Chacon in midseason trades. Chacon went 7-3 and Small went 10-0. Where are the Yankees going to find another pair like that this year? The number of available pitchers this season appears to be small and if the Yankees do pick up somebody, are they going to go 10-0 like Small did?
    3. Finally and most importantly the Red Sox and Yankees are probably fighting for one spot this season. New York is 7 games behind the White Sox and 8 games behind Detroit in the wild card and only 2 games in front of the hottest team in baseball, the Minnesota Twins who recently won 19 of 20.
  • Please note below. The Devil Rays will avoid the Yankees top two pitchers in this series, Mike Mussina and Randy Johnson.
  • In the last 25 games the Rays are batting .282. Prior to those 25 games, the team had a major league worst .240 average.
  • Shawn Chacon is listed as the probable starter for Sunday’s contest, but Bronx Banter reports that Kris Wilson will make the start in place of Chacon. [Bronx Banter]

Friday, 7:15 et
New York Jaret Wright, RHP (4-5, 4.61)
Devil Rays Jae Seo, RHP (2-5, 5.59)

Saturday, 7:15 et
New York Chien-Ming Wang, RHP (8-4, 4.21)
Devil Rays Scott Kazmir, LHP (10-5, 3.29)

Sunday, 1:15 et
New York Shawn Chacon, RHP (4-3, 6.71)
Devil Rays Casey Fossum, LHP (3-3, 4.84)

Jul 07

A Look At The Future: News And Notes From The Farm

Uncategorized Cork Gaines No Comments »

  • Here is one blogger’s grades for the top prospects in the Devil Rays’ farm system. Must have given Delmon Young bonus points for bat throwing skills. [Minor League Ball].
  • Josh Hamilton. On Monday night we trekked over to Keyspan Park in Brooklyn, NY for Josh Hamilton’s first game in a professional uniform since the 2003 spring training. Josh wore #18 and played…the bench. Apparently our crack research staff missed the part that said Josh would be in uniform but that he would not play until Tuesday night when the Hudson Valley Renegades return to their home ballpark. A couple of quick observations. We immediately noticed that Hamilton looked bigger and in fact he says that he is up to 230 pounds. Take it from us. He is rock solid and appears to be in great shape. He also looked genuinely happy to back in baseball. He could be seen joking and talking to his teammates throughout the game and even interacting with children behind the dugout. Welcome back Josh…It was our pleasure just to see you in a uniform. Tuesday night marked Josh’s official return to the baseball field as he was in the lineup for the Renegades. In Hudson Valley’s 7-2 loss to the Brooklyn Cyclones, Hamilton batted 3rd as the team’s DH. In his first at bat in the bottom of the 1st, Josh flied out to left field following a standing ovation from the home crowd. In his second at bat Hamilton hit a double between the left fielder and the center fielder, for his first hit in four years. He would later come around to score the team’s first run. He finished the game 1-3. Last night Hamilton was not in the lineup. Wednesday night, Hamilton was not in the lineup. Thursday night Hamilton went 0-2 with a walk and an RBI ground out.
  • Evan Longoria. Longoria appeared to be struggling a bit since his promotion to the Visalia Oaks. He was 5-20 (.250) in his first 5 games with 2 doubles and 3 RBI. Then last night Longoria hit his first two home runs with his new team. He went 2-4 with 3 RBI. We are starting to get giddy. This interview is a little stale, but here is a one-on-one session with Longoria after he had started his professional career.
  • Delmon Young. Well…Delmon may not yet have matured since his suspension, but he sure knows how to take his frustration out on a baseball. In his first 15 games back from a 50-game suspension, Young is batting .418 (23-55) with 8 runs scored and 17 RBI. He has also hit 5 doubles and his first 2 home runs of the season. He is now hitting .370 on the season in 36 games. If Young had enough at bats he would be leading the International League in hitting by 20 points. Maybe we will see Delmon in the Trop this fall after all.
  • B. J. Upton. Melvin has his average up to .274 and continues to lead the IL in stolen bases with 35. He has 6 home runs and 35 RBI.
  • Elijah Dukes. Dukes was back in the lineup after a 15 game suspension for fighting with a teammate. By the way…that teammate (Ryan Knox) was given a 3 game suspension and ordered to perform community service…as an outfielder for the AA Montgomery Biscuits. Dukes is 3-14 in his four games back and is now hitting .290.
  • Juan Salas. You didn’t think we could do a minor league report without mentioning our favorite minor leaguer did you? That would be silly. In 9 appearances with the Bulls, Salas has pitched 12.2 innings and given up 6 hits and 4 walks with 15 strikeouts and he STILL HAS NOT SURRENDERED AN EARNED RUN IN 2006. Mr. Friedman…please…please call him up…pretty please?
  • Seth McClung. McClung has had mixed results since his demotion to the Durham and his new role as closer-in-training. In 4 appearances he has pitched 8 innings an given up 78hits, 1 walk and 3 runs. He has struck out 13.
  • Doug Waechter. Waechter hasn’t been so good. In 4 starts he is 1-3 with a 6.93 ERA.
Jul 07

Easy Big Papi!

Uncategorized Cork Gaines No Comments »


Boston 12, Devil Rays 5. Heading into this series with Boston, if we were told we would win three of four from the division-leading Red Devils, we would have gladly signed for that and been ecstatic. Still, we found ourselves pacing around the room at 6-5 in the top of the 9th and then banging our heads against the wall as soon as David Ortiz began to unleash his thunderstick. We must admit…if one player is going to destroy our hopes with a grand slam in the 9th inning, we were glad it was Big Papi. Is there a more lovable player in baseball? And quite frankly it is starting to get to the point where we expect Big Papi to hit a home run every time he comes to the plate in the 9th inning of a close game. With the loss, the Rays missed an opportunity to climb out of the cellar in the AL East. Tampa remains a half game behind Baltimore.