Mar 01
We call him The Dirtbag because of how he plays and because he played college ball at Long Beach State whose baseball team has the coolest mascot in sports…The Dirtbags.
The biggest question mark for the Tampa Bay Ray in Spring Training is whether or not Evan Longoria will be named the opening day third baseman. Manager Joe Maddon has repeatedly stated that the decision will be based less on his stats, and more on how the 22-year old handles himself on a day-to-day basis and how well The Dirtbag adjusts to everyday life as a major leaguer. From now until the Rays announce a decision on Longoria’s fate, we will track The Dirtbag’s progress through his numbers, our own observations and quotes from Maddon and Andrew Friedman…
Notes on the Dirtbag-O-Meter…
Yesterday at the plate: 1-2 with an RBI double off the left-center field wall. He also walked.
Quotes: none reported.
Summary: You could just hear the grins of both Joe Maddon and Andrew Friedman after Longoria mashed the double in the Rays spring opener. With all the talk about “will they or won’t they” I would have forgiven Longoria if he opened the spring with a goose egg and an error at third right through the wickets. Now I get a sense very early on that pressure is not something that is going to bother The Dirtbag. Not even a little bit.
Mar 01
This is a little old, but…HOLY SCHNIKEY!
I don’t care if it does look like a Star Wars character. A shark is a shark, especially when it is bigger than you are. And Scott Dohmann kicked some shark ass.
Dohmann, who just started to “dabble” in fishing after a lifetime of hunting small game such as geese and ducks, was using a blue runner his wife caught as bait…Little did he know he would soon have some bigger fish to fry. As the water began to get choppy, Dohmann felt the tug of what turned out to be a 130-pound hammerhead shark.
“My lower back was about to explode,” he said. “Some sharks fight for four or five hours; this was only 45 minutes but it was constantly whipping my butt.
The New Orleans native had the last laugh, bringing in the 61/2-foot shark before holding it in his arms as he would a newly wedded wife to pose for a photo.
Sharks are cousins to the Rays. It’s true. So maybe Dohmann shouldn’t have been killing one of his own. We mean…you don’t see Rex Grossman out hunting Koala Bears do you?
Still…the dude took down a 6 and a half foot shark. Something tells me that if The Dohberman can do that, he can handle the 6th and 7th innings against feeble humans.
A Ray’s shark tale [St. Pete Times]
Mar 01
Tampa Bay Devil Dogs (30 days until opening day)
DRG here again to get you through the weekend…
Just the links for now. I have a few things coming up later.
DEVIL DOGS WEBTOPIA…
- The Rays are at home today against the Jays. One surprise in the lineup as Cliff Floyd will be in right field. The game will be aired on AM 1250. Not sure if that will be blacked out on the internet. [The Heater]
- James Shields will make the start for the Rays. Although it is certainly early and changes could be made, Shields is now on pace to be the opening day starter is Maddon sticks to a spring rotation of 4 days rest for Shields. [MLB]
- Edwin Jackson said his plan for 2008 is to throw strikes and make batters get themselves out. He got off to a good start, striking out two and walking none in his first spring appearance. [Tampa Tribune]
- To hear Joe Maddon speak about Edwin Jackson one would think there really isn’t much of a competition for the rotation, or at the very least Jackson is going to have to fall on his face before he loses the job. [Tampa Bay's 10]
Joe Maddon: “He’s got one of the best arms in the American League, maybe in all of baseball. Velocity on his fastball, consistently 95 plus, he’s got one of the better sliders in the American League right now. Then the pitch nobody talks about is his changeup, he’s got a really good, straight changeup.”
- After finding out his suspension would not carry over into 2008, James Houser picked up the victory in his first games wearing a major league uniform in front of numerous friends and family. [Herald-Tribune]
- Baseball Digest Daily takes a closer look at Dioner Navarro’s 2007 numbers and wonders what we can expect from the catcher in 2008. They are predicting a .770 or .780 OPS. This is lightly higher than most mathematical projections which have Navi between .670 and .720. [Baseball Digest Daily]
- Baseball Crank names Evan Longoria as the third worst name in the minors. [Baseball Crank]
