Archive for October 9th, 2008

Oct 09

[HAPPY HOUR] Edwin Jackson Is Added To Playoff Roster

Dick Vitale, Edwin Jackson, Eric Hinske, Fernando Perez, James Shields, Joe Maddon, Rocco Baldelli, Troy Percival Cork Gaines 2 Comments »

THE TELLING: There was a lot of discussion as to whether Eric Hinske or Fernando Perez would be left off the roster in the ALCS. We are not sure why it was even a question. Joe Maddon needs Perez on the roster. When Jon Lester starts for the Red Sox, Rocco Baldelli is the Rays right fielder, if he is ready to play the field. If Rocco can’t go, it will be Perez in right field…We would never want Joe Maddon’s responsibility to tell Troy Percival he is not on the ALCS roster. But could you imagine how much worse it would have been if the opponent was Percy’s former ballclub, the Angels?

DEVIL DOGS WEBTOPIA…

  • Edwin Jackson has been added to the ALCS roster as the 11th pitcher. To make room, Eric Hinske was removed. This leaves Fernando Perez on the roster. [The Heater]
  • Sweet. Fancy. Moses. Her Rays asked for it and now a Spa in the Bay Area is delivering. Rayhawks for women. Be sure to catch the end of the video. [Bugs and Cranks]
  • Joe Maddon addressed the media. Among the questions was when Maddon thought the Rays turned the corner this season. He pointed to the Blue Jays series after the all-star break after the Rays had lost 7 in a row and everybody was predicting an end to that “nice story”. [MLB]
  • Here is a transcript of James Shields meeting with the media. [MLB]
  • This may be satire, but at least one member of the Red Sox Nation remembers that the Sox sucked for 86 years and that winning the World Series is not a birthright. [Over The Monster]
  • Several people suggested this for the ALDS. The Rays will have 11 original season-ticket holders throw out the first pitch for game 1 of the ALCS. Dick Vitale will do the honors in game 2…There is a nice symmetry to the number 11. It is the number of wins needed to win the World Series. [Rays Report]
  • If the Rays win the ALCS, the Red Sox writer at Bugs and Cranks will have to cut his hair into a Rayhawk…Game On! [Bugs and Cranks]
  • One computer simulation says the Red Sox have a slight edge in the series, winning 53% of 10,000 simulations. [Fire Brand of the American League]
Oct 09

[WAY TO THINK THAT ONE THROUGH] Rick Reilly Only Wants Red Sox Or Yankees In World Series

Rick Reilly Cork Gaines 5 Comments »

We know we shouldn’t take anything Rick Reilly says too seriously. His legend is still cashing checks that he can’t live up to. But this is not the first time we have heard somebody say the “Rays are bad for baseball.”

From Signal to Noise (via Fanhouse)…

The Four-Letter’s $3 million a year poaching, Rick Reilly, subbed for Tony Kornheiser on PTI yesterday, via satellite from Denver with Michael Wilbon in-studio in D.C., and parroted what I’m fairly sure may be a common impulse among a certain segment of sportswriters regarding the current state of the baseball playoffs: he stated his preference for a Red Sox-Dodgers World Series, proclaiming the Tampa Bay Rays “bad for baseball.”

Often times we hear the same sentiment in the form of “if you could get Bud Selig off the record I bet he is rooting against the Rays.” Even Signal To Noise says an LA-Boston World Series is one “Bud Selig would love to see.”

Signal To Noise points out that a “worst-to-first” story is “not only good for the sport, but also compelling.” However, they agree with Reilly when they consider the business of the sport.

However, if you look at Reilly’s comment in the business sense, it fits. Tampa was 12th out of 14 AL teams in attendance this year, not helped by the reported shittiness of Tropicana Field, and locals are right to ignore a lousy team in a bad park for a while.

This is exactly why the Rays in the World Series is very good for the sport and it is good for the business of baseball.

The Tampa/St. Pete area is still an untapped market. While attendance improved this season and is likely to increase greatly next season, it is still lagging behind many ball clubs. The only way that the Rays and baseball will attract crowds is to give them a team worth supporting.

If the Rays go on to win the World Series, the RAYSHEAD ARMY will grow exponentially. More fans means more tickets sold, more merchandise purchased and more eyes watching on TV. How is that bad for baseball?

Consider another Red Sox World Series. Certainly this would be preferred by FOX, with larger ratings. But there is no benefit to baseball in terms of growth of the sport. Red Sox Nation has already reached saturation*. How many more fans can jump on that bandwagon? Will the Red Sox sell more tickets next season? Will they sell more jerseys and pink hats?

And certainly we cannot ignore the increased TV ratings that would be generated by a Red Sox World Series. The ratings impact how much revenue is generated the next time baseball sells the TV rights. But in the grand scheme of things, we think baseball will find a way to survive. As long as owners are still handing out $100 million contracts to players that will never even sniff the Hall of Fame without an admission ticket, the sport will be just fine.

In the end it is a simple question of what is more important to the health of the sport. A few more million dollars on the next TV contract? Or bringing more fans to the ballparks and more eyes to the TV sets. Anybody that thinks it is the former is just not thinking that one through.

*The part-time ecologist in us kinda wants Red Sox Nation to grow past what we call “carrying capacity”. Because when that happens chaos breaks out, starvation ensues, they start eating their young and destroying crops. And we all know what happens then. The hunters come.

Pushing The Narratives [Signal To Noise]
Are The Rays Bad For Baseball [Fanhouse]

Oct 09

[RI CONFIDENCE GRAPH] The Rays Index Confidence Graph: Week 28

Confidence graph Cork Gaines No Comments »

The Rays Confidence Graph will appear every Wednesday and is a look at how much confidence Rays fans have in the Tampa Bay Rays. The graph is designed to give us a look at how our emotional bias as Rays fans fluctuates through time. The “confidence” in the team is an inexact measure of how fans feel about the team’s current strength as well as how much confidence fans have in the franchise for the next 3-4 years. Notes on this weeks agida-level can be found after the graph..

Notes on the RI Confidence Graph…

  • The most common response for “Confidence in 2008 Rays” was 10 with 71.3%.
  • The most common response for “Confidence in future of franchise” was 10 with 68.1%.
Oct 09

[THE HANGOVER] 2008 Tampa Bay Rays: Well Thought Out, Well Planned And Perfectly Executed

Andy Sonnanstine, BJ Upton, Daisuke Matsuzaka, JP Howell, James Shields, Joe Maddon, Terry Francona Cork Gaines 3 Comments »



Click on above images to be taken to full standings, box scores or schedule…

This piece by John Romano goes above the fold today. A must read…Joe Maddon is a manager that is not big on team meetings, but there were three this season that set the tone for the 2008 Rays. The “genius” label is tossed around in sports as loosely as a teen girl tosses around the label “best friend”. In both cases, the overuse takes away from the significance. In the case of Maddon, we will just call him a brilliant tactician. He doesn’t push buttons often, but when he does, you can be sure the move is well thought out, well planned and perfectly executed. Come to think of it. That pretty much describes everything about the 2008 Tampa Bay Rays. [St. Pete Times]

DEVIL DOGS WEBTOPIA…

  • In case you missed it yesterday afternoon, we ran a bunch of “Webtopia” links in the evening “Happy Hour” feature. [Rays Index]
  • Joe Maddon said the goal will be to inflate Daisuke Matsuzaka’s pitch count. Maddon also said that it is not out of the question to go back to James Shields in game 4 if needed…That does not seem likely considering how well Andy Sonnanstine pitched against the Red Sox in September. [Boston Globe]
  • The Biz of Baseball has some quotes from Joe Maddon from the yesterday’s team workout. [The Biz of Baseball]
  • Manny Stiles breaks down the ALCS position-by-position and gives the Rays a slight edge. As usual, Stiles is short and too the point…Who are we kidding. This piece is over 5,200 words. To give you perspective, the average column in one of the local papers is usually under 1,000 words. [armchair gm]
  • Marc Lancaster spoke with JP Howell. By our count Howell said “man” seven times during the interview. And he sure loves his PB&J and Doritos, man. [Tampa Tribune]
  • Bob Ryan of the Boston Globe sure picked a funny time to rip the Rays because of their attendance, considering the playoff games all sold out in less than an hour. And that is without a sizable season ticket holder base. [Boston Globe]
  • Sox and Pinstripes wants less cowbell in the ALCS…Because you know, cowbells are a million times more annoying than some drunken bandwagon Red Sox “fan” wearing a pink hat and screaming every obscenity in the book and doing their best job to pick a fight. [Sox and Pinstripes]
  • Adam Kilgore of the Boston Globe sure wants there to be bad blood in this series. Terry Francona and several players were asked about the potential for something to happen in the ALCS and they all sound as if they are not even considering it, which is smart considering what is on the line. But not satisfied with those responses, Kilgore finally gets a couple to give weak “I guess it could happen” responses. One thing we have learned from some reporters. If you ask questions long enough eventually you will get the answers you need for a story, even if the story is a stretch. [Boston Globe]
  • Sox and Dawgs takes a look back at all 18 games between the Rays and Red Sox this season. [Sox and Dawgs]
  • Joe Maddon says it is too easy to put a Cinderella label on the Rays. He says that it is no fluke that the Rays are in the position they are in. BJ Upton says the biggest difference is just believing they can win every time they take the field. [MLB]
  • Pete Williams of The New York Times writes that the success of Tampa Bay sports franchises are no longer overshadowed by the Yankees. [New York Times]
  • Tito Francona An AL scout offers his thoughts on each player in the Rays lineup. [Boston Herald]
  • Hacks with Haggs breaks down various odds for the ALCS. The Red Sox are the favorite to win the World Series at 7/4 and the Rays are second at 5/2. The best odds of a Ray to win the ALCS MVP is BJ Upton at 7/1. There are 5 Red Sox with better odds to win the MVP. [Hacks with Haggs]
  • Ticket prices for the ALCS are going sky high and the fear is that those tickets are more likely to be scooped up by Red Sox fans wearing pink hats. [Bradenton Herald]