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THE GOOD: Say it with us. The Tampa Bay Rays are in the World Series and it starts TONIGHT! It never gets old. We will be mumbling that to our selves all day.
THE BAD: Mrs. Professor scheduled a dentist appointment this morning. Did she not look at the calendar. Buck the heck! The most important day yet in Rays history and we are going to the damn dentist?!?!
THE TELLING: We stopped shaving when the playoffs started. This shite itches like a mofo.
DEVIL DOGS WEBTOPIA…
Can anybody confirm that the Rays played a “Victory!” chant by Johnny Drama of “Entourage” on the jumbotron following the Rays win in game 2 of the ALCS? [Newsday]
More Rays Index “jacked up on caffeine”. We did a “Good/Bad/Telling” for the entire ALCS over at the Hardball Times. [The Hardball Times]
We answered some questions about the Rays yesterday over at Balls, Sticks & Stuff. [Balls, Sticks & Stuff]
Coolest thing we have seen all week? Maybe…Of course we went with “Seven Nation Army”. (Thanks Brian) [More Cowbell]
Sam Donnellon points out that Cole Hamels won game 1 in both the NLDS and NLCS and is as cool as they come. [Philadelphia Inquirer]
Apparently we had some awkward ad placement on this site a couple of days ago…Fairly annoying, but still not as bad as all the ads for “Barry Bonds Ringtones” earlier this year. [Ed. note: We do not control the specific ads on this site. They are generated automatically based on keywords] [The 'Ropolitans]
If you love Jonny Gomes…You will love this post. [Bugs and Cranks]
Jonny Gomes is blogging during the World Series for his hometown paper. [Petaluma Press-Democrat]
One USA Today writer is predicting a Rays sweep…Is it just us, or is this setting up well for the Rays. Most of the “experts” are jumping on the Phillies bandwagon because they want to be the “expert” that predicted the upset. Go ahead. Doubt the Rays. We dare ya. [USA Today]
Like the Rays, the Phillies defense is a strength and could be the key to winning the series. [Philadelphia Inquirer]
Scott Kazmir and Cole Hamel were picked 2 spots apart in the ’02 draft. [Fox Sports]
Rob Neyer says it is hard to find any weak links in the Rays lineup. [ESPN]
…perhaps not enough has been said for management’s decision to move Iwamura from third base to second. Could they have known he’d be as good as he’s been? I do suspect that Marchman overstates Iwamura’s case somewhat, but that’s beside the point. We come back to Epstein’s notion about weak links, and it’s almost impossible to find a weak link in the Rays’ defense. Throw in a pitching staff that ranked second in the American League in ERA and fourth in strikeouts, and Tampa Bay’s 97 wins begin to make sense…You wonder why everyone’s picking the Rays to beat the Phillies? Probably because they don’t have any glaring weaknesses and they play in the Big Boy League.
Brittany Ghiroli has a story about Carl Crawford appearing at a pep rally at a local middle school. [MLB]
The World Series is causing some trash-talking in the Kalas family. [Philadelphia Inquirer]
When are people going to realize, that this isn’t about “bandwagons”. It is about thousands of baseball fans that have been yearning for a team worthy of rooting for. [USA Today]
Yesterday we told you about a site breaking down the cheer squads for each team. Now the highly biased editor at Deadspin gives the edge to the Phillies girls. [Deadspin]
Transcript from Joe Maddon’s press conference yesterday. [MLB]
Happy belated birthday to Gabe Gross who turned 29 yesterday. [MLB]
If the Rays win the World Series, it is going to cost Vegas casinos a lot of money. [Game On!]
It has been 9,276 days since the City of Brotherly Love won a title in one of the 4 major sports. [Philadelphia Inquirer]
This column is a little confusing. Are they saying the Phillies will win the World Series because the Red Sox came back in game 5 and then JD Drew struck out in game 7? [Philadelphia Inquirer]
We know some of you hate the cowbells. But you know who will hate it more? Phillie fans.
Lots o’ Linkety Goodness, so let’s get right to it.
DEVIL DOGS WEBTOPIA…
“Rays Index binging on caffeine” is back. This time we were asked by Deadspin “What the World Series means to us.” [Deadspin]
Game will mark the first time this season that the Phillies played a game on artificial turf. [Beerleaguer]
Marc Topkin is reporting that the Rays will go with the same 25-man roster used in the ALCS. There is some speculation that Shawn Riggans and/or Eric Hinske could be added to the roster. Topkin says neither is likely. Also, as expected, Scott Kazmir will be the game 1 starter. [The Heater]
Evan Longoria was named the AL Rookie of the Year by The Sporting News. [The Heater]
Tim Welke will be the crew chief during the World Series. [MLB]
An in depth statistical look at the World Series by Baseball Prospectus gives the edge to the Rays. (thanks Scot) [Baseball Prospectus]
For all of the detail above, I keep coming back to one point: the Rays are a much better baseball team than the Phillies are. The gap between the leagues is real, and when you adjust for it and other factors—as third-order wins do—you find that the Rays were actually ten games better than the Phillies this season. They’ve also beaten better teams to get to the Series. Compare the rosters, and while the Phillies have their share of frontline talent, perhaps even more than the Rays have, the Rays have almost no dead spots on the roster, and are much stronger towards the bottom of the lineup, the back of the rotation, the bullpen, and the bench…Three of the last four World Series have been AL sweeps. The presence of Hamels makes that result unlikely, but even he won’t be enough. Rays in six.
A solid piece on ESPN.com looking at how the Rays were built for success. [ESPN]
The Phillies are putting all their hopes on rubber duckies…OK, may be not all. [The Fightins]
David Chalk makes a guest appearance at Walkoff Walk and in his usual unbiased manor, predicts a Rays win. [Walkoff Walk]
Some tales of “wretchedness” from the Rays fanbase. [Deadspin]
Big League Stew has a cool video of fans at Raymond James Stadium gathered around TVs watching the final inning of the ALCS game 7. [Big League Stew]
A Rockies fan will be rooting for the Rays for selfish reasons…The odd thing is we used the exact same logic last season when we were rooting for the Rockies. [Bugs and Cranks]
Yet another Red Sox blogger throws their support behind the Phillies…We wouldn’t want it any other way. [Sully Baseball]
In a classic example of “Like Team, Like Fan”, one fan tries to run onto the field at Fenway and fails miserably (video). [Home Run Derby]
Big League Stew ranks the Mohawks found in the Rays’ clubhouse. [Big League Stew]
Home Run Derby breaks down the Rays and Phillies cheer squads. [Home Run Derby]
31.5 reasons to watch the World Series…Our favorite is #31.5. [ESPN]
Below you will see two polls that ask about your confidence in the Tampa Bay Rays. We will present these same polls every Tuesday. The results will be presented in graphical form on Thursday, 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.
Raysiverse events of the past week that could impact confidence levels…
Just the links this morning. We should have more later.
DEVIL DOGS WEBTOPIA…
Just in case you missed all the links in our “Happy Hour” edition yesterday afternoon, here is the link. [Rays Index]
Joe Maddon still hasn’t announced the rotation for the World Series, but look for Scott Kazmir to get the game 1 start followed by James Shields and Matt Garza. [MLB]
Charlie Manuel first tough decision in picking a DH for game 1, which could affect the postseason roster. [Beerleaguer]
The RAYSHEAD Army is growing and we couldn’t be more proud. [Newsday]
ALCS game 7 was the most watched baseball game ever to be shown on a cable network. [Awful Announcing]
Bob Ryan of the Boston Globe tries desperately to find a silver lining for Red Sox fans. Ryan wants Red Sox fans to realize that the team overcame a lot just to get to game 7 of the ALCS…That is all fine and dandy, but that means nothing right now. it might mean something in a few months, but not now. The truth is, the Red Sox were in game 7 and they lost. End of story. It doesn’t matter how they got there. The Red Sox had one shot at glory and flushed it down the toilet. [Boston Globe]
Sox and Pinstripes takes a fairly even-handed look back at the ALCS. [Sox and Pinstripes]
The Hardball Times looks at why the Rays beat the Red Sox. [The Hardball Times]
Cliff Corcoran of SI.com takes a look at 4 things we learned about the Rays in the ALCS. [SI.com]
Marc Lancaster says there is a sense in Philadelphia that the Phillies caught a break when the Red Sox lost. [Tampa Tribune]
John Romano puts the Rays season in a historical context. [St. Pete Times]
One Red Sox writer lost a bet on the ALCS and is now sporting a beautiful Rayhawk. [Bugs and Cranks]
Gary Shelton says it had to be the Phillies. It is only fitting that the Rays go for their first World Series title against a team from Philadelphia. [St. Pete Times]
Last week one Red Sox site tried to compare the Red Sox to Rocky. That one was lost on us. This week David Chalk compares members of the Phillies to characters from Rocky movies. This one makes more sense. [Bugs and Cranks]
Mark Gonzales of the Chicago Tribune joins the growing wave of national media that recognizes the Rays are not going to be a one-hit wonder. [Chicago Tribune]
Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel also looks at the future and says Evan Longoria was a big part of the “master plan”. [Orlando Sentinel]
Several members of the Rays chat it up in “The Dugout” after winning the ALCS. [Fanhouse]
SI.com wonders if the economy can have a positive impact on the World Series ratings. [SI.com]
The Boston Herald talks about David Price’s role in the ALCS and preparing for the World Series. [Boston Herald]
One of the writers from Oh, It’s THOSE Girls guest posts at Bugs and Cranks on the struggle of rooting for two of her former Twinkies, Jason Bartlett and Matt Garza…Speaking of which. Not sure where we first heard this, but shouldn’t Garza’s sports psychologist have been named the ALCS MVP? Maybe he/she deserves a playoff share? [Bugs and Cranks]
Another article trying to convince baseball fans that Phillies and Rays is a good series including “The Greatest Team Turnaround Story in the History of Modern Sports.” [ESPN]
After losing to Tampa Bay squads twice before in quest for championships, a Phillies fan is hoping the third time is a charm…Or as we like to say, three is a pattern. [Bugs and Cranks]
One Cleveland Indians fan is jumping on the Rays Bandwagon. [Kanka's Sports Page]
The Rays have released Jorge Velandia from the Durham Bulls. Velandia appeared in 14 games for the Devil Rays in 2007. [Baseball America]
Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe says the Red Sox may have gone to the World Series with Manny Ramirez, but that trading him was the right thing to do for the “greater good”…If by “greater good” he means bringing the Pink Hat Nation back down a peg, then we completely agree. [Boston Globe]
