May 30
We are always curious about the music that players choose to have played as they are walking to the plate for an at bat. The songs are like tattoos. For some they have a special meaning, while for others it is just something they really like.
We attended a Round Rock Express (Astros AAA affiliate) game recently and one of the players would come to the plate while The Mighty, Mighty Bosstones’ “Knock on Wood” would play over the speakers. We found this ironic as baseball players are some of the most superstitious people in the world.
Well, with so little playing time this season, we hadn’t noticed Jonny Gomes’ selection before last night. When he comes to the plate, we get a few seconds of rock instrumental and a bit of a wail from the lead singer, but we don’t get any lyrics. We thought the song sounded familiar, but we couldn’t place the tune without the lyrics.
By his third at bat, it finally hit us. We remembered a Buckcherry concert we had been to recently in NYC…
HERE IS JONNY GOMES’ SONG that he comes to bat with (Very NSFW).
Now we know why they don’t include any of the lyrics at the Trop.
That’s right…Jonny’s a Crazy Bitch, he fu…wait..what did he say? Nevermind.
May 30
THE GOOD:
Jason Bartlett stole 3 bases, including 3rd base twice…
BJ Upton threw a runner out at third base on the fly…
THE BAD: The Golden Sombrero for Jonny Gomes…Edwin Jackson being Edwin. After 27 pitches in the 2nd inning we knew it was going to be a long night…Rays batters had 11 strikeouts and only 2 walks…Carlos Pena and Evan Longoria combined for 9 runners left on base…Aki Iwamura just missed tying the game in the 5th when a drive down the leftfield line was foul by less than a foot. Jason Bartlett would end up stranded at 3rd.
THE TELLING: In the 6th inning, they zoomed in on Jason Hammel as he scurried to get loose quickly. You can just read the expression on his face, “God, I hate this shit”…Jonny Gomes got the start in right field against the left-handed pitcher, while Willy Aybar got the start at DH.
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]
- Was Troy Percival cursed by The Sporting News? [Babes Love Baseball]
- Troy Percival’s injury is not serious, but not surprisingly, he is being given a 2-week break in the form of a trip to the DL to make sure he is 100% when he returns. Willy Aybar was called up to take Percival’s spot on the roster. After the game, Ben Zobrist was demoted and replaced by Grant Balfour…As we have said before, demoting Zobrist is certainly only a temporary move, until a better solution presents itself. We can’t imagine that Joe Maddon wants to go too deep into the season with Evan Longoria as his backup shortstop. Or maybe he likes having 1 shortstop on the roster and 4 guys that can play right field. [The Heater]
- Joe Maddon will go with closer-by-committe for the next two weeks…Of course, let’s hope he was just being kind when he included Gary Glover’s name in that group. [Tampa Tribune]
- Richard Justice says what we have been screaming for a long time. Be patient. The fans in the Tampa-St. Pete area deserve the benefit of the doubt and it is way too early to be screaming about low attendance. And a big part of this is that baseball owes Florida because they used the state for so long. Many teams used the state of Florida as a bargaining chip in their quest to get public funding for their own stadiums. [The Sporting News]
- Rocco Baldelli got some hacks in an extended spring training game as a DH. He went 1-5. [The Heater]
- There is a new blog in the area and with their first post, they take a look at the Rays why the best is yet to come. [The Emerging Voice on Sports and More]
- Gary Thorne says that Don Zimmer and his experience are a very valuable piece for the young Rays roster. [USA Today]
May 30
Durham 10, Norfolk 7. Jon Weber tied the game with a 2-out single in the top of the 9th, and the Dan Johnson put the Bulls ahead for good with a 3-run home run, 2 batters later. Johnson finished 3-6. Weber was 5-6 with 2 RBI…Ben Hendrickson started and gave up 6 runs in 4 innings…Justin Ruggiano was 3-5 and Reid Brignac did not play.
Chattanooga 4, Montgomery 2. James Houser struck out 5 in 5 shutout innings. He was touched for 2 hits and 3 walks…Rhyne Hughes was 3-4 while Gabby Martinez and Chris Nowak were each 1-4 with an RBI.
Vero Beach 6, St. Lucie 4. Joey Callender tied the game with a 2-run single in the 9th with no outs. Garrett Groce put the D-Rays up with a 1-out RBI single and Neil Walton would stretch the lead to 2 with a ground ball to short…Heath Rollins allowed only a single unearned run in 7 innings. He gave up 3 hits and no walks. He struck out 4, but picked up the no-decision…Ryan Reid pitched the final 5 outs allowing only 1 hit and no walks. He struck out 3 and now has 45 strikeouts to 3 walks on the season.
Greenville 7, Columbus 5 (10). Glenn Gibson started and gave up 4 runs in 5.2 innings…Shawn O’Malley had 2 of the Catfish’ 3 hits. 4 of Columbus’ 5 runs were unearned.
NOTES FROM DOWN ON THE FARM…
- Seven members of the Vero Beach Devil Rays have been voted to the FSL All-Star game, including Jeremy Hellickson, Heath Rollins and Ryan Reid. [MiLB]
- With 1 week until the draft, nothing has changed as far as the Rays are concerned. According to RJ Harrison the Rays are still considering 5 players for the top pick…Let’s hope this is a negotiating tactic, because there is little reason to not have narrowed their choice down to at least 2 or 3 at this point. Nobody is drafting ahead of the Rays so there is no need to play games. But certainly they have a plethora of scouting reports on all 5 kids and have in their mind 1 or 2 that are at least a head better than the rest. [Rays Report]
- MiLB interviews the GM of the Vero Beach Devil Rays in their weekly profiles on minor league clubs. [MiLB]
