THE GOOD: No more Cole Hamels. The Rays are now 3 and a half innings away from sending the series back to the Trop and regaining home field advantage. And with last’s night game being suspended, they know Hamels is done for the series. Hamels only threw 75 pitches and despite the run in the 6th inning, he probably would have been good for at least one more inning…No more Scott Kazmir. While the suspended game cost the Phillies at least one inning from their ace, the Rays were already into their bullpen with Grant Balfour pitching the 5th inning…BJ Upton’s baserunning. We think it is safe to say that Upton’s trip around the bases in the 6th inning is enough to erase the 724 base running gaffes committed during the regular season. After reaching on an infield single, it was imperative that Upton get into scoring position with 2 outs. Despite 4 pickoff attempts, a tricky lefty on the mound and the River Jordan standing between he and second base, Upton got a great jump and stole second base easily. But Upton saved his best baserunning for last. When Carlos Pena drove a single into left-center, Upton first had to traverse the mud between second and third. The toughest part was then rounding third, crossing into the soaked grass while turning at near-full speed. You could see the strain on Upton’s face just to stay up-right as he raced home, slid past the catcher and slapped home plate. If the Rays go on to win the World Series, it is not hyperbole to wonder if that will go down as the biggest baserunning play in World Series history, on par with Dave Roberts’ stolen base in the ’04 ALCS.

THE BAD: Scott Kazmir. 103 pitches in 4 innings. 6 walks. Of course, maybe we should label that “Good” considering Kazmir gave up 4 hits, 6 walks and hit a batter in 4 innings and somehow only allowed 2 runs…Baserunning gaffes. In the first inning, Carl Crawford hit a line drive that Jimmy Rollins dropped. Crawford had stopped running. Otherwise he would have beat the throw to first. In the 5th inning, Rocco Baldelli led off the inning with a pop up that was dropped by Rollins. Baldelli could have easily made it to second base and yet was standing on first when the play ended. That was followed by Jason Bartlett grounding into a double play.

THE TELLING: Joe Maddon stated after the game that Grant Balfour would be his pitcher to start the 6th inning. Balfour only threw 9 pitches last night and would not have been available to pitch tonight had Maddon used somebody else to start the 6th inning. The other option would have been to go with David Price who is a starting pitcher and would be used to the typical pregame routine. Of course, with Cole Hammels due to lead off the bottom of the 6th, it is possible that Maddon is starting with Balfour to force the Phillies to use one of their left-handed pinch-hitters and then will substitute David Price without Balfour throwing a pitch…This wouldn’t have happened in The Trop…Joe Maddon moved Carl Crawford up to the 2-spot in the lineup shifting BJ Upton, Carlos Pena and Evan Longoria down a spot. Maddon said he wanted to tweak the lineup but didn’t want to do anything too drastic…The Rays had already checked out of their hotel and had to bus 30 miles to Wilmington, Delaware to find a place to stay.

DEVIL DOGS WEBTOPIA…

• Bud Selig insists that he informed both teams prior to the game that a World Series game would not be shortened, only suspended no matter what the score. However, players in both clubhouses were unaware of the rule change and Rays players insisted they thought they were in their final at bat in the 6th inning. [Yahoo! Sports]
• Joe Posnanski says baseball should have never let the game start, saying they used “reasons that defied every bit of logic and sports-sense imaginable.” [Kansas City Star]
• Rob Neyer wonders why the game wasn’t suspended after the 5th inning with the score 2-1 Phillies. Some Phillies fans are a little upset to say the least. [ESPN]
• Jayson Stark says that no matter what happened before and what happens next, this series will always be remembered for the rain. [ESPN]
• Gary Shelton says the Rays are not dead yet and if the Rays go on to win the World Series, they should add some infield mud to the trophy case. [St. Pete Times]
• Joe Maddon said that he does not buy Joe Blanton’s explanation that it was just dirt on his cap. [St. Pete Times]
• John Schlegel points out that rain delays and postponements are nothing new in the World Series. [MLB]
• A Top 10 list of reasons last night’s game was suspended. [Big League Stew]

No live blog…but let’s throw this up as a place to throw out some random thoughts, grumblings and bad jokes.

Come on boys! Let’s win this one for Papa Joe’s granddaughter…Game on!

THE GOOD: The Rays have been here before. July 18. Rays enter second-half losers of 7 straight. A loss out of the break and the season is over. The Rays win. September 9. Rays have lost 4 in a row including series opener in Boston. Lead in the AL East is down to half-game. Experts say one more (inevitable) loss and season is over. Rays win. September 16. Rays have lost 3 in a row and lead is down to percentage points. Experts say one more (inevitable) loss and the dream run is over. Rays win. Game 7 of the ALCS. The Rays have lost 2 in a row to the Sox and one more (inevitable) loss and the Rays go home. Rays win. It is now game 5 of the World Series. One more loss and the season is over. Of course, one more win and the Rays suddenly have home-field advantage in the World Series again…This must be killing the Red Sox and their Pink Hat Nation. They had to play the Rays while the Phillies somehow get the Devil Rays.

THE BAD: We don’t know this team. Nothing is working in Philly. If it is just the Phillies playing well, then we tip our cap. But if it is because the Rays are playing tight then we would like to tip our foot up their asses…Andy Sonnanstine. Whether it be the 12-day layoff or the nerves of pitching in the World Series or a combination of both, Sonnanstine was not being Sonnnanstine. Of his first 14 pitches, 10 were balls. His 3 walks matched a career-high at any level. Of course the 6 hits in 4 innings is nothing new. We have always said, when Sonny is good, he can be very good. But when he is bad, he is very hittable. For Sonnanstine, he has to be near-perfect to get by with only a mid-80s fastball. Last night he was not…Edwin Jackson. Really? The pitcher? Jackson should be ashamed and embarrassed. And if he ever pitches in a Rays uniform again it will be too soon. The pitcher? *banging head on desk*…Joe Maddon. And why is Edwin Jackson in the game at all. Shit on top of shit is just more shit…The offense. 3 of the Rays 5 hits came from the 9-spot in the lineup…Carlos Pena and Evan Longoria. 0-29 with 15 Ks. Longoria is back to guessing. In the 6th inning he swung at a first-pitch breaking ball that was 6 inches outside. Instead of looking for pitches to attack, he has made up his mind to swing at anything and hope for the best…The Defense. 10 errors in last 8 games…Phillies leadoff hitters. On base 16 times in the first 3 games and they were on 4 more times last night.

THE TELLING: Cliff Floyd was removed from the World Series roster due to an injured shoulder and replaced by Eric Hinske…Ben Zobrist, or “The Good Christian” as Mrs. Professor likes to call him, got the start in right field over Gabe Gross, “The Shitty Christian” (The “Good” and “Shitty” of course refer to how she feels about their play, not their particular religious beliefs)…According to CoolStandings.com the Rays have a 13.5% chance of winning the World Series. According to the national media it is a 0.0% chance…After hearing the “Rocky” theme 36 thousand times last night, we are burning all of our “Rocky” DVDs today. Of course, we probably should have burned “5″ a while ago.

DEVIL DOGS WEBTOPIA…

• Why is “lack of experience” suddenly a problem for the Rays? It wasn’t a problem when they were playing in Chicago or Boston? And exactly how many current Phillies were on the 1980 and 1993 World Series teams? [USA Today]
  
• Joe Maddon spoke with the home plate umpire after the second inning about what he believed was pine tar on the cap of Joe Blanton. [MLB]
• John Romano says that the behavior of Phillies fans towards Rays family members and employees has been more suitable for a prison yard than a major league baseball game, going so far as to pour beer on a 9-year old boy…Stay classy Philadelphia. [St. Pete Times]
• Phillies fans were even throwing mustard packs at Joe Maddon’s granddaughter…Strange. We expect better from Phi…Never mind. [LA Times]
• You can tell from Evan Longoria’s quotes that he has no idea what he is doing right now. [Boston Herald]
• Jerry Crasnick takes a closer look at the struggles of Carlos Pena and Evan Longoria. [ESPN]
• Ken Rosenthal says the Rays hitters have lost command of the strike zone. [Fox Sports]
• Joe Smith takes a look at the rare errors committed by Akinoria Iwamura. [St. Pete Times]
• Gary Shelton says that even this is a lot to overcome for the Rays. [St. Pete Times]
• Who doesn’t know what “WPA” is? Duh. Clearly the reason the Rays are losing the World Series is because they suck at wireless security. [DRays Bay]
• The Hardball Times takes a look at how both managers mismanaged game 3. [The Hardball Times]
• Just in case we didn’t make it clear enough how awful Edwin Jackson was last night. [Sully Baseball]
• Joey Johnston takes a look at how the Rays bullpen handles hostile fans and each other. [Tampa Tribune]

THE GOOD: Three games in Philly. Rays only have to win one. Winning two would be gravy but again, not necessary. The Rays now have 2 chances to get that one win in Philly…Bars in NYC are open until 4:00. And even then, 4:00am is more of a suggestion than a rule. With game 3 not ending until 2:00, it was nice and much needed to get out for a bit…Defense. Over he course of 5 outs in the 2nd and 3rd, the Rays made 4 incredible plays to keep the game close. A snag on a hot shot by Carlos Pena and a nice play up the middle by Jason Bartlett started the 2nd and then an inning later it was the Fat Catcher with a perfect throw to second to nail Jimmy Rollins who was 47-50 prior to this game followed by BJ Upton making one of his trademark “gliding” over-the-shoulder catches…JP Howell. Typical JP. Howell came in after a leadoff walk with the score tied in the 8th. He strikes out Chase Utley, picks Jayson Werth off second and gets Ryan Howard looking. He has been the Rays best and most consistent reliever all year and nothing has changed in the playoffs.

THE BAD: Dioner Navarro’s golden brain fart. Ya gotta win that game. After being down 4-1 late, the Rays battled back to tie the game in the 8th. At that point you gotta find a way to win the game. And yet, in the top of the 9th the Rays go down 1-2-3 with an easy strike out, and two weak ground outs. And the bottom of the 9th? Don’t get us started. Absolutely awful. We don’t care how quickly that ball bounces back to Navarro on the wild pitch. He is not getting the runner at second if he tries a thousand times. So why take a chance on throwing one into the outfield when Navi doesn’t even get a chance to get his body into throwing position? You can’t let a runner go from first to third with no outs. What happens after that means nothing. The Rays lost the game on Navarro’s brain fart…Getting beat by Carlos Ruiz. We don’t mind the Chase Utley and Ryan Howard home runs. Great hitters. Tip your cap. But how does Matt Garza let a guy that hit 4 home runs in the regular season beat him for a home run in the World Series. You can’t get beat by Ruiz. It just can’t happen…Leadoff hitters. Phillies hitters leading off an inning were on base 10 times in the first 2 games. Last night it was worse. Batters that led off an inning were on base 6 times. 3 of those runners scored…The wind. With the Rays trailing 2-1 in the 6th, Evan Longoria hit a ball to left field that would have been 50 feet past the fence on a normal day, but last night, the ball stayed in the park…The Rays 1 extra base hit in the first two games was doubled in game 3. In other words, the Rays bats are quickly becoming the “Blackout of ’08″.

THE TELLING: Carl Crawford reached on a bunt single in the 7th. It was his first bunt attempt of any kind in 2008. He would later score. The Rays now have 22 stolen bases this postseason, 2 more than the previous record.

ONE MORE BAD: Can we stop with the umpiring bitch-fest please? After game 1 we noted that the Phillies caught some “breaks” in their win. Missed calls happen. It is part of the game. Did the umpire miss the call on Carl Crawford? Sure did. Was it a horrible call? Not even close. CC is out by about 6 inches. On TV in super-duper-HD-slow-mo-mo the distance looked bigger than the gap between John Kruk’s ears. But in reality it was a bang-bang play in which the umpire got caught in a bad spot.

DEVIL DOGS WEBTOPIA…

• The Phillies were more than a little upset when the backups were not introduced prior to game 1. It should be noted that the Rays backups were not introduced either and did not have issue. This is a decision made by the TV network and backups have not been introduced since 2004. [ESPN]
• A season ticket holder since 1998 stands to win a lot of money if the Rays win the World Series. [The Big Lead]
• We find it just a little strange that a story on the disappearance of “The Heckler” is found in the Wall Street Journal…Is this where our economy is right now? [Wall Street Journal]

THE GOOD: Tough lefty? Carl Crawford is 9-19 (.474) in his career against Jamie Moyer. Carlos Pena is 10-20 (.500) with 3 doubles and 2 home runs. Matt Stairs (1-10) is the only Phillie that has ever faced Matt Garza, but is unlikely to face him tonight.

THE BAD: Having to explain to people that we will be late to a Halloween party because of the World Series even though they promise to have the game on. Don’t care. We need to focus. This is too important.

THE TELLING: Forecast is now saying that the rain should have already passed by game time, with rain up until about 6pm and only 20% chance of rain during the game. You can get hourly updates here…The Rays were 6-3 in NL ballparks this season.

DEVIL DOGS WEBTOPIA…

• The Delaware News-Journal (Phillies country) compares the long-suffering fans of the Rays and Phillies and what this World Series means to each. The story includes some quotes from some Rays fans including some bloke named Cork Gaines. Wonder where they found that guy? [Delaware News-Journal]
• Peter Gammons compares the Rays and Phillies bullpens. Joe Maddon says the key to building a bullpen without a top-notch closer is to find 4-5 guys that are not afraid of pitching in the 9th inning and 4-5 guys that are capable of coming into a game, finishing an inning and then going back out to at least start the next inning. Interestingly, Maddon says he can see Jake McGee filling those needs once he comes back from Tommy John surgery. [ESPN]

Price obviously is going into the Tampa Bay rotation next season, but look for the Rays to take a big, hard-throwing lefty like Jake McGee — who is coming off Tommy John surgery — to try that role. Maddon says McGee throws harder than Price, and he sees McGee being used in important roles out of the pen once he learns how to pitch, sit and pitch again.

• Ahhh Phillies Fans. [Big League Stew-Video]
• Joe Maddon admits that the game is more difficult to manage without a DH. Bill Chastain also mentions that while Andy Sonnanstine and Scott Kazmir can handle a bat well, Matt Garza is a very poor hitter. [MLB]
• Paul White of USA Today says the ballpark is not nearly as important as the pitching matchups and the Rays have the advantage. [USA Today]
• The Rays relievers are going to have to deal with a raucous crowd near the bullpen. [LA Times]
• Ronald Blum takes a look at the Rays bullpen and notes that unlike most teams, the Rays’ relievers do not have defined roles. [SI.com]
• Not a single Tampa Bay Ray was named to the Sporting News’ American League All-Star team. [Halos Happenings]
• Carlos Pena calls Akinori Iwamura “one of the best players we’ve ever seen.” High praise indeed. [Chicago Tribune]
• Piper Castillo takes a look at what is on Fernando Perez’ nightstand. [St. Pete Times]
• Dueling Couches is none too happy that the media are talking about David Price so much. We are assuming they were just as hard on the media with Joba Chamberlain last year and Francisco Rodriguez back in 2002. Because apparently it is not impressive to record the final 4 outs of an ALCS game 7 win against the Red Sox and then record the final 7 outs of a World Series win. All after having started the year in single-A. [Dueling Couches]
• Despite solid game 1 numbers, game 2 received the second-lowest ratings ever for a World Series game. [Awful Announcing]
• Bob Verdi of the Chicago Tribune says this World Series is worth watching and that nobody need feel sorry for the fat cats running the television industry. [Chicago Tribune]
• A tour of Joe Maddon’s office…Love the quote of about the wine and Joey Gathright. [VIDEO]
• Some pics of game 2 from a fan in the seats. [The Serious Tip]
• The success of the Rays has even boosted the local cigar industry. [Cigar Review]

Earlier today we discussed how a rainout in game 3 will leave the Rays and Phillies scrambling for a starter in a potential game 7. Now we want to hear your opinion…

• Some curious photos from game 2. The “Blue Man” Grandma is either very disturbing or very cool. [Side Salad]
• Tom Verducci of SI.com says Ryan Howard has been neutralized late in games by left-handers and the numbers suggest it has been that way all season, hitting .139 in the 7th inning or later. Verducci also has a quote from David Price in which the rookie says that now that he has his first World Series game under his belt he will “be better next time”. Scary considering he wasn’t really that bad in his first appearance. [SI.com]
• Tracy Ringolsby of Fox Sports thinks the Rays are getting lucky considering they chose not to send two top prospects to the Rockies for Brian Fuentes. Ringolsby feels that the emergence of David Price in the absence of Troy Percival is the equivalent of “the magic coach they have been riding” which could turn into a pumpkin. [Fox Sports]

Sponsors are like a great baseball team. A great baseball team can make you dizzy, like you’ve been drinking Jack and Coke all morning. They can make you feel high full of the single greatest commodity known to man – promise. Promise of a better day. Promise of a greater hope. Promise of a new tomorrow. This particular aura can be found in the gait of a great baseball team. In their smile, in their soul, the way they make every rotten little thing about life seem like it’s going to be okay.

• Gina Whitman, FloridaMoves.com
  
• The Rays Index Store
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Depending on who you talk to, there is either a 70% or a 90% chance of rain during game 3 of the World Series. If game 3 is postponed, all three of the games in Philadelphia will be moved back a day. MLB will then eliminate the off-day between games 5 and 6. The final two games (if necessary) will still be held on their originally scheduled days (Wednesday, Thursday).

The biggest impact of the rainout would be on how the managers will shuffle the rotations. If game 3 is moved to Sunday, the teams could potentially play five games in five days. This means that either the teams will have to use a 5th starter in game 7 or they will have to bring back their game 3 starters on 3-days rest.

For the Rays it would mean a game 7 start for Matt Garza on three days rest or using 5th starter Edwin Jackson as a starter for the first time in the postseason.

The situation is more dire for the Phillies. They would have to choose between bringing 45-year old Jamie Moyer back on three days rest or starting a relief pitcher. The Phillies 5th starter, Kyle Kendrick is not on the postseason roster. [Ed. note: The Phillies could bring Cole Hamels back for game 3 on three days rest and then have him available again for game 7 on three days rest.]

Here is how the Rays rotation sets up without a rainout…

If game 3 is postponed, here is how the rotation sets up if Joe Maddon chooses not to make any changes…

As you can see both Scott Kazmir and James Shields will be on an extra day of rest. But the downside is Garza would only be on three days rest.

If game 3 is postponed, Maddon could choose to move Kazmir and Shields up a day to pitch on normal rest…

This scenario seems more likely if the Rays are trailing 2 games to 1 heading into game 4.

Of course Garza would still be on three days rest. The only other option seems to be starting Jackson in game 7. Jackson has not started a game since September 24. Maddon could also choose to start Garza on short rest and have David Price ready to go in the 4th/5th inning. This could all hinge on how many pitches Garza throws in game 3. If the Rays jump out to an early lead in game 3, Maddon may decide to go to the bullpen a little earlier than normal with an eye towards a potential game 7.

THE GOOD: Stella Got Her Groove Back. We don’t know if the Rays are going to win the World Series but the Rays are clearly the better ball club. This is the team that won 97 games during the regular season. Not the team that hit 37 kazillion thousand home runs in the ACLS. Even though the Rays were once again outplayed and outhit, there was never a moment when we worried about the outcome of this game…James Shields’ changeup. When Shields is on he gets swing-and-misses on the changeup and doesn’t have a lot of called balls out of the zone. In game 6 of the ALCS, Shields through 29 changeups with only 4 swing-and-misses. 15 were balls out of the strike zone. Last night Shields threw 31 changeups with 7 swing-and-misses and only 11 called balls…Domes. It was pouring outside of the Trop during the game…Dan Wheeler looked as good as we have seen him in a long time. His breaking balls were crisp with good movement and he was keeping them down in the zone…A split. The Rays were able to win one at home even though 2 of the big 3 hitters (Carlos Pena, Evan Longoria) were a combined 0-15 with 6 strikeouts…Defense. On 2 occasions the Rays made a non-out defensive play that saved a run. In the 4th with a runner on 2nd, a ground ball to first base is deflected by Carlos Pena. Aki Iwamura dives and keeps the ball in the infield keeping Ryan Howard at third. In the 6th with 2 outs and runner on first, BJ Upton dives for a soft single and stops the ball on a short hop. If the ball gets by Upton, the runner likely scores…Rocco Baldelli. At the plate, Rocco beat out a double-play with 2 on and no outs. His hustle left a runner at third with only 1 out. Joe Maddon answered with a safety squeeze for the Rays 4th run. In the field, the Phillies were again threatening in the 5th with runners on first and second with 1 out. Rocco ended the threat when he doubled Jayson Werth off of first base…We touched on this yesterday, but the DH is a huge advantage for the Rays. The Phillies just don’t have a legit bat to DH. Phillies DHs are now 1-7 with 9 runners left on base and they didn’t even look that good…David Price. Once again, like the Rays, we end with King David who did give up 2 runs (1 earned) but recorded the final 7 outs to close the door. With 2 on in the 7th, Price got Ryan Howard looking to end the inning. Got another big K in the 9th on Chase Utley for the 2nd out and then got Ryan Howard to ground into the shift for the final out.

THE BAD: Power outage. The Rays have to be happy to have split the first two games with such an anemic offense. Of course the offense was just good enough most of the season. Still, it is hard to imagine the Rays will win this series without seeing some of the offense that carried the team through the first 2 rounds…Carlos Pena and Evan Longoria are 0-15 with 6 strikeouts in the first 2 games combined…Whether it is luck or execution, the Rays are playing with fire allowing so many runners into scoring position. The Phillies had a runner on 3rd with less than 2 outs 3 straight innings early in the game and failed to score. And overall, the Phillies are 1-28 with runners in scoring position.

THE TELLING: Rocco Baldelli got a rare start in RF against a right-handed pitcher. Joe Maddon went with Rocco as Brett Myers has actually been tougher on lefties this season with an OPS against of .738 (.833 versus LHB). Even more rare was Rocco playing all 9 innings, as he did last night for the first time since May 13, 2007 at Toronto…Why is everybody so convinced the Rays are going to be intimidated by the atmosphere in Philly? It can’t be any tougher than games 3,4,5 of the ALCS at Fenway, in which the Rays won 2…According to CoolStandings.com the chances of the Rays winning the World Series is now 51.0% with the most likely scenario having the Rays win in 7.

DEVIL DOGS WEBTOPIA…

• Big League Stew wonders if Kerwin Danley should recuse himself from the rest of the World Series after his questionable calls in both games 1 and 2. [Big League Stew]
• The Futon Report is not worried about the Phillies, noting that the team is capable of hitting 3 straight home runs at any time and the bullpen is well-rested. [The Futon Report]
• After Phillies fans poo-poo’d Rays fans for complaining about the umpiring in game 1, as they say, the shoe is now on the other foot when it comes to complaining. [Beerleaguer]
• Joe Maddon reacts to being named Manager of the Year as voted on by his fellow managers…Also, the Rays take care of their own. The team is chartering a plane and flying 175 employees up to Philadelphia and providing them with hotels and tickets to 2 of the games. [St. Pete Times]
• Joe Posnanski analyzes Joe Maddon’s managerial style and says there is never anything tentative about the Rays and that they are never cautious or timid, all of which is a reflection of the manager. And while other managers have failed at “changing the culture” of a team, Maddon has succeeded with “imagination” and a “deep belief in [himself]“. [Kansas City Star]
• David Price admitted to being nervous, noting that he usually doesn’t sweat but his hat was soaked…On a side note, it is not unusual to see Price be emotional and yell into his glove while walking back to the dugout, but last night we saw emotion from the rookie on the mound for the first time. No yelling, but you could see some genuine disappointment at times that bordered on anger. It was telling in that he never seemed to lose control of his emotions on the mound, even though he was upset. [St. Pete Times]
• Phil Sheriden of the Philadelphia Inquirer says the Phillies are playing tight and that the lack of offense is not a one-night blip on the radar. Rather the numbers suggest that this is a trend throughout the postseason, as the Phillies are now hitting .158 (18 for 114) in the postseason. [Philadelphia Inquirer]
• Marcus Hayes of the Philadelphia Inquirer says if the Phillies are going to win this series they need Jimmy Rollins on base and scoring, something he has yet to do. [Philadelphia Inquirer]
• He may never be the old Rocco Baldelli but for one night Baldelli was back. [Babes Love Baseball]
• Dear 8 pounds 6 ounces baby Joe Maddon, new born, not even spoken a word yet. [IMAGE] [via SportsByBrooks]
• This one isn’t as good as the one earlier in the week, but still pretty good. [Big League Stew]
• David Price became the fastest player to go from being drafted #1 overall to appearing in the World Series. He shattered the previous record of 5 years. [Baseball Prospectus]
• At least fans in Philadelphia will be able to see one Phillies World Series clinching moment. A local TV station is going to air game 6 of the 1980 World Series…Have fun with that. [Philadelphia Inquirer]
• Tom Jones has a list of reasons to love every member of the Rays roster. [St. Pete Times]
• Transcript from Joe Maddon’s postgame press conference…[MLB]

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 81.8%.
  
• The most common response for “Confidence in future of franchise” was 10 with 73.8%.