Archive for August 26th, 2008

Aug 26

[THE RAYSHEAD ARMY] A Seven Nation Army Can’t Hold The Rays Back

Uncategorized Cork Gaines 12 Comments »

As the pennant race heats up, it is time for the Tampa Bay Rays to announce their presence with authority. The Rays need an anthem, and there is no more perfect anthem than “Seven Nation Army” by The White Stripes.

The song is already popular at many European soccer events. Watch the following video and imagine how intimidating the Trop would be with 36,000 fans chanting in unison inside an enclosed dome…

This song also works perfectly with the Rays goal to broaden the appeal of the team outside of the Tampa/St. Pete area. Each of the Seven “Armies” can be representative of different counties/cities that compose the majority of the Rays fan base. There is even a marketing angle here that should entice the team, selling T-shirts and other items identifying which “Army” a fan is a member of.

C’mon Stu, you can make this happen.

Aug 26

[RI CONFIDENCE GRAPH] The Tampa Bay Rays Confidence Survey

Confidence graph Cork Gaines No Comments »

Last week’s Rays Confidence Graph results.

Below you will see two polls that ask about your confidence in the Tampa Bay Rays. Please take a moment to answer each question. We will present these same polls every Monday. The results will be presented in graphical form on Wednesday, and will be displayed permanently in the sidebar. The goal of the Confidence Graph is to get a feeling of how Rays fans feel about the team and the franchise and track how that level of confidence changes through time. Thanks!

Raysiverse events of the past week that could impact confidence levels…

  • The Rays are 79-50, 4.5 games up in the AL East over the Red Sox and 9.5 games ahead of the Yankees…In the past week the Rays went 4-2, winning 2 of 3 at home against the first-place Angels and 2 of 3 on the road against the first-place White Sox.
  • The Rays are 12-4 in Evan Longoria’s absence.
  • The Rays were at the colon-end of two of the most atrocious calls one will ever see on a baseball field. It pains us to say this, but the Rays were Lucky to only lose one of those games.
  • Dan Johnson keeps adding new positions to his repertoire hoping to increase his value for a potential call-up.
  • David Price’s workload is being limited in triple-A. Does this foretell a September call-up?
  • Joe Maddon will no longer keep a strict pitch-count on Scott Kazmir with the hope of easing the young hurler’s mind while toeing the rubber.
  • David Price is one of 5 finalists for Minor League Player of the Year.
  • Joe Maddon may already have AL Manager of the Year locked up.

Aug 26

[DOWN ON THE FARM] King David Has Taken Lead In Player Of Year Voting

David Price Cork Gaines No Comments »

Durham 9, Indianapolis 8 (10). Jonny Gomes beat a 5-man infield shift with a line drive single to left for the walk-off win. Gomes finished 2-4 with 2 RBI…Jeff Niemann started and gave up 4 runs in 6 innings on 5 hits and 3 walks. He struck out 6…Fernando Perez was 1-3 with 3 walks and his 42nd stolen base. He also made a great diving catch in center field. Perez has been on base 13 times in the last 4 games, raising his OBP to .363…John Jaso hit his 5th home run, a 3-run shot in the 7th that gave the Bulls the lead…The Bulls magic number is now 1.

Montgomery @ West Tenn (ppd. rain)

Vero Beach 5, Jupiter 4 (10). Brandon Mann struck out 6 in 6 innings, allowing 3 runs on 7 hits and a walk…Ryan Royster had 2 singles in 5 at bats, driving in 2…Cesar Suarez drove in a pair with 3 singles.

Rome @ Columbus (ppd. rain)

Vermont 8, Hudson Valley 5.

Elizabethton 7, Princeton 3. Tim Beckham was 2-4 with a pair of doubles and an RBI. With only 1 game left in Princeton’s season, Beckham is hitting .243/.297/.345 with 12 doubles, 2 home runs and 5 steals in 46 games.

NOTES FROM DOWN ON THE FARM…

  • Today is final day for the fan voting for the Minor League Player of the Year award. David Price has a slim lead. [USA Today]