May 22
We hesitate to link to this because it only emphasizes our own inadequacies as “writers”, but that would be an injustice to you.
We will let Will Leitch of Deadspin provide the introduction…
Slate’s Robert Weintraub, like many of us, loves the old purple prose of early 1900s sportswriting, the Grantland Rices, the men who painted epic tales of warriors, grizzled combatants and lardywarks too manly to wear gloves. In an occasional series, Weintraub writes about the week’s best baseball game in the style of the vaunted sportswriters of yesteryear. This week: The Rays’ win last night over the A’s.
The entire piece can be found HERE, but here is an excerpt. We also highly recommend reading the original piece out loud as if you were perched on a chair and several children sit on the floor in front of you.
After a duo of spine-snapping heartbreakers to Middle America’s Team while the nation took a break from toil, the tweeners from Tampa celebrated being on the side that didn’t surrender its colors after an epic struggle. It is a leap of Knievalesque proportions to proffer that these base balling elasmobranches are a threat for Octoberfest, much less make it to the Last Banquet of Fall. Given their persistent ineptitude since inception, however, it is gladdening to witness a potent heartbeat from the downtrodden Sunshine Boys. The Renaissance comes after shedding any Beelzebub overtones from the franchise. Coincidence? More like an exorcism. Getting first choice from the larder has stocked the spread with an epicurean’s delight of prime beef talents—and even more, like David “The Vandy Vapor Trail” Price, await promotion to the First Battalion from the reserve corps on the farm. Optimism Unbound in Tampa—if this keeps up, one will have to acknowledge the presence of another Crack Committee of Base Ball People in the region, one that has no Steinbrennerian affiliation.
If you read nothing else today, please read this. You will be smarter for it and an eloquently written piece on a Rays Win may help us through the doldrums of having to wait almost 50 hours until the next Rays’ contest with the taint of yesterday’s game still very fresh in our minds.
Latina Mary Pickford, First Lady Of The Cagers [Deadspin]
May 22
One year ago on Rays Index we told exactly how bad Shawn Bleepin’ Camp had been for the Rays (It is amazing how similar IRS and IBS are). We always loved writing about Camp, as it gave us a chance to use one of our all-time favorite tags.
We Knew The Bullpen Was Bad, But Geez [Rays Index]
May 22
THE GOOD: If you would have offered us 3-3 on a tough two-city road trip, we would have signed for that. So, despite yesterday’s awful performance, the Rays are still playing well. Being 2 back in the division is more of an indication of how well the Sox are playing right now.
THE BAD: Bizarro Andy Sonnanstine. Duke retired the first 8 batters, but after that, A’s hitters were 9-18 with a walk, 4 doubles and 2 home runs…Jonny Gomes career as an outfielder took a major hit yesterday. There were 2 doubles that hit off the base of the outfield wall that probably should have been cought. He also had trouble fielding a ball on the ground a couple of times and missed at least 1 cutoff man. If Sonny wasn’t so hittable, we would suggest that the outcome would have been different if Carl Crawford had not been given a day off…Offense managed onle 3 hits, and none from the 2-6 hitters.
THE TELLING: The Rays still have a 2 game lead in the Wild Card over Baltimore, which means this is a big series coming up this weekend. The Rays have an opportunity to put some distance between themselves and the O’s and reveal to the rest of the league that Baltimore is a pretender, not a contender.
DEVIL RAYS WEBTOPIA…
- Don’t forget to VOTE for Carl Crawford to start the all-star game. If you haven’t voted yet today, go NOW! [MLB All-Star Voting]
- Tampa Bay Rays’ merchandise sales have risen 70% so far in ’08. Of course a 70% increase of very little is still very little as the Rays still rank 29th in baseball, ahead of only the Toronto Jays. [St. Pete Times]
- Bill Chastain has a few quotes from other teams in the AL East and how they view the ’08 Tampa Bay Rays. [MLB]
- Joe Henderson takes a closer look at the Rays vastly improved defense and tells us something that the rest of baseball has been saying since the middle of April: The Rays turnaround in ’08 is due in large part to the improved fielding. [Tampa Tribune]
- Do the Rays have the best 1-2 starting pitchers in the AL East? Well, the Red Sox would never in a million years trade Josh Beckett and Daisuke Matsuzaka for James Shields and Scott Kazmir. [DRays Bay]
- Rays Digest breaks down the early-season contenders for Rookie of the Year. [Rays Digest]
May 22
Durham 6, Charlotte 2 (gm 1). Chris Mason was knocked out with 2 outs in the 4th inning after allowing 5 hits and 2 walks which led to 2 runs…Juan Salas picked up the win after getting the next 4 outs…Grant Balfour retired the last 5 batters for his 7th save…Reid Brignac was 3-3 with his 14th double and 4th home run…Joel Guzman and Chris Richard added home runs.
Durham 3, Charlotte 1 (gm 1). Jeff NIemann was limited to 58 pitches, but only allowed 1 unearned run in 4 innings, on 4 hits and no walks. He struck out 4…Reid Brignac hit his 2nd home run of the double header, his 5th on the year…Fernando Perez and Dan Johnson added 2 hits apiece…
Montgomery 4, Mobile 1. Jake McGee had his most dominating performance of ’08, striking out 9 in 7 shutout innings. He allowed only 3 hits and 2 walks…Gabby Martinez was 2-3 with a double and 2 RBI.
Vero Beach 10, Tampa 6. Matt Walker picked up his 1st win of the season, holding the Yankees to 3 runs on 5 hits in 5.1 innings…Neal Frontz pitched the final 2 innings for his 8th save….The D-Rays had 17 hits, with 7 players collecting at least 2….JT Hall was 3-5 with a double and his 3rd home run. He drove in 2 and is now hitting .324…Ryan Royster was 2-3 with 2 walks, ad he drove in 2…Willy Aybar played second base and went 2-5.
Columbus 2, Hickory 1. Brian Flores made his 6th start and improved to 4-1 with 6 shutout innings in which he allowed only 1 5th inning single and 2 walks. He struck out 2…. struck out the side in the 9th for his 2nd save…Austin Hinkle struck out the side in the 9th for his 2nd save…Mike McCormick went 2-4 with his 7th double…Greg Sexton had his 15th double and drove in one of the runs.
NOTES FROM DOWN ON THE FARM…
