Archive for April 30th, 2007

Apr 30

The Hangover: The Jeckyl And Hyde Of Baseball

Akinori Iwamura, BJ Upton, Buster Olney, Carlos Pena, Casey Fossum, Greg Norton, James Shields, Joe Maddon, Josh Hancock, Scott Kazmir, Ty Wigginton No Comments »


You may have noticed a slight change in format. We run three daily features around these parts. Of course, by daily, we mean if we don’t drink too much the night before and are able to get our buts out of bed in a reasonable manner. Well, we are going to mix things up a little. On days that we run “The AL East Roundup” and/or “Down on the Farm”, those will be posted before “The Hangover” which we should be able to get up all weekdays and most weekends.

Devil Rays 5, A’s 3.
We promise that next time we take off for on a drunken weekend binge, we will leave you with something better to look at on the front page than Mel Allen’s mug…One trait of young teams is extreme ups and downs and this is not lost on the 2007 Tampa Bay Devil Rays. After taking 2 straight from the Yankees in impressive fashion, they followed it up by looking like a AAA team in 2 losses to the Angels. Somehow they bounced back to take 2 of 3 from the A’s. Scott Kazmir got off to a shaky start by giving up 2 solo home runs in the first. He settled down and did what he had to do. He kept an ugly loss (on Saturday) from turning into a losing streak, handing the ball to the bullpen in the 8th inning with a lead. Rocco Baldelli, who was a game-time decision as to whether or not he could return to the lineup, made the start and provided a no-doubt home run in 5th inning. BJ Upton was moved up from his normal 9-spot in the lineup, to the 6-hole and made Papa Joe Maddon look like a genius by driving in 3 with his 5th home run of the year. Elijah Dukes hit his first home run since the first 2 games of the season against the Yankees.

  • Josh Hancock, who died in a car accident, was a friend of Casey Fossum.
  • Rocco Baldelli started at DH, but is still not 100%.
  • Jorge Cantu received his first career start as a first baseman. He went 0-4.
  • Yesterday Shawn Camp relieved Scott Kazmir in the 8th inning. He struggled and Brian Stokes had to come in for the final two outs of the frame. With Camp’s recent success and a couple of shaky outings by Stokes, Joe Maddon will be day-to-day with Camps and Stokes on who gets the ball in the 7th and who gets it in the 8th.
  • Buster Olney lists James Shields as one of his “payers on the rise”, citing an already impressive change-up that keeps getting better.
  • Carlos Pena has been a pleasant surprise for the Rays early in the season. There is no word yet what the Rays will do when Greg Norton is ready to return to the team. Norton is expected to begin a rehab assignment in the next few days. Pena only made the opening day roster after Norton was injured in the last week of spring training. The likely scenario would be one in which the Rays send Cantu back to Durham, keeping Pena and Norton. Then the team would be able to wait until Akinori Iwamura returns before making a decision on Pena.
  • Joe Maddon is worried about how often the Rays fall behind early in a game. A team can have all the talent in the world, but it does no good if they do not show up to the park mentally prepared to play everyday.
  • RealGM Baseball is taking a look at all 30 GMs in baseball. In their review of Andrew Friedman, they call the hiring of Joe Maddon, his “signature move”. Signing Akinori Iwamura, and not trading BJ Upton must have been a close second and third.
  • James Shields is the Rays most consistent pitcher right now, but he does have a penchant for giving up home runs.
  • Here is a very detailed account of Ty Wigginton delivering his second child in the closet of their home. All we can say is “wow”.
  • A look back at the Devil Rays 1997 expansion draft.
Apr 30

AL East Roundup: Red Sox ManRam The Yankees

Derek Jeter, Don Mattingly, Gary Thorne, George Steinbrenner, Jaret Wright, Joe Torre, Yogi Berra No Comments »


AL EAST W L GB L10 STK E#
Boston Red Sox 16 8 - 7-3 W1 –
Toronto Blue Jays 12 12 4.0 4-6 W1 135
Baltimore Orioles 12 13 4.5 4-6 L1 134
Tampa Bay Devil Rays 11 14 5.5 5-5 W1 133
New York Yankees 9 14 6.5 2-8 L1 133
Red Sox 7, Yankees 4. How are the Rays ever supposed to pick up ground on the Sox, if Boston keeps getting to play weak teams like the Yankees? The Sox went all Big Papi and ManRam on the Yankees. Both David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez hit home runs for Boston. Ramirez had the decisive blow, a 2-run shot in the 8th that put the Sox up 7-3. After losing 5 of 6 to the Red Sox in a little over a week (and 2 of 2 to the Rays), the Yankees have fallen 6.5 games behind the Sox and once again sit alone in last place of the AL East, a game behiiiiinnnnnd the TAMPA BAY DEVIL RAYS.

Indians 6, O’s 1. All of the sudden the Orioles have lost 6 of 7 and are back in their familiar position (below .500).

Blue Jays 7, Rangers 3. You don’t hear us make too many predictions around here. One of our biggest pet-peeves is somebody that makes 20 predictions and gloats when they get one or two right. Still we are starting to get a sense that this will be the story of the Blue Jays for the rest of the year. After their win yesterday they are now 12-12. We know this team has talent and they have had injuries, but even when the roster is healthy this looks like a .500 team. We would be surprised if this team finishes more than 2 games above or below .500.

NOTE FROM AROUND THE AL EAST…

  • Not surprising, there are rumblings in the Bronx that Joe Torre’s job security is very thin right now. George Steinbrenner has a history of firing managers early in a season. In 1985, he fired Yogi Berra after a 6-10 start. Of course, Berra wasn’t coming off his 11th straight playoff appearance and did not have 4 championships on his resume. If Steinbrenner was younger, we might think this could happen, but we would be shocked if it happened now. On the other hand, Steinbrenner almost fired Torre last October and he already has a manager-in-waiting on the bench, that goes by the name Don Mattingly.
  • You wont ever hear Derek Jeter publicly defend Alex Rodriguez, but as team captain he is quick to defend Joe Torre.
  • The Orioles activated Jaret Wright before Sunday’s game in order to start against the Indians. He only lasted 3 innings.
  • Orioles broadcaster Gary Thorne was named “Sports Douche of the Week.” A little harsh. We would have gone with Ron Mexico.

Apr 30

Down On The Farm: Big Afternoon For Top Pitching Prospects

Chris Mason, Evan Longoria, Evan Meek, James Houser, Jason Hammel, Reid Brignac, Wade Townsend No Comments »

Durham 2, Charlotte 1. After Chris Richard tied the game with a 1-out single in the bottom of the 9th, Shawn Riggans knocked in the winner with a 2-out single. Mitch Talbot got back on track after 3 straight bad starts. He gave 1 run in 7 innings and did not walk a batter. He struck out 4.

Montgomery 7, Jacksonville 2. This is becoming an old story…Another great start for Chris Mason. This time he went 5.1 innings and gave up only 1 unearned run. He struck out 6 and only walked 1. He is now 3-0 with an ERA of 1.26 in 28.2 innings spanning 5 starts. Reid Brignac hit his 4th home run and drove in 3.

Vero Beach 4, Brevard County 0. Wade Davis struck out 9 in 7 shutout innings, giving up only 2 hits and 2 walks. He lowered his ERA to 2.15 in 29.1 innings. Rhyne Hughes hit his first home run of the year. He is hitting .324.

Columbus 7, Charleston 1. Joshua Butler gave only 1 unearned run in 6 innings to lower his ERA to 1.61. He struck out 5. Ryan Royster and Matt Spring both homered for the Rays.

NOTES FROM DOWN ON THE FARM…

  • Yesterday’s Biscuits game featured two bench-clearing incidents although it appears as if no punches were thrown. Evan Longoria was hit after Reid Brignac homered. In the following inning Chris Mason threw at least one pitch that was a little too close. In all, three players and coaches were ejected.
  • We have been singing the praises of Jason Hammel and now others are starting to take notice. Hammel is back to throwing a slider and his confidence has never been higher…Quite often these decisions are based on a player’s turn in the rotation, but if that were not a factor, Hammel would be the first starting pitcher called up from Durham.
  • Wade Townsend is off to a hot start at low-A Columbus, in his return from Tommy John surgery, and he was just recognized for his performance. The South-Atlantic League named Townsend their pitcher of the week. Both of his starts (prior to his last outing) were wins in which he gave upa combined 2 runs in 11 innings. He is now second in the SAL with 32 strikeouts (8 walks), and has an ERA of 2.25. Very impressive considering he is on a tight leash right now.
  • James Houser was placed on the DL after having his wisdom teeth pulled. That’s a new one. Evan Meek, who went on the DL after being hit in the head with by a line-drive from his own teammate, replaces Houser on the roster.