[THE HANGOVER] Barring Last-Second Appeal By Hank Steinbrenner, Rays Open Playoffs Today
AJ Pierzynski, Carl Crawford, Carlos Pena, Carlos Quentin, Joe Maddon, Stuart Sternberg October 2nd. 2008, 9:24am
Click on above images to be taken to full standings, boxscores or schedule…
We wrote an ALDS preview for the fine folks over at The Hardball Times. As usual, we like to call these guest spots “Rays Index on amphetamines” as they tend to be a little longer than what you would normally find here. It is also a bit more biased than you might expect. Oh well. [The Hardball Times]
And this will either be the coolest thing you will see today…or the most disturbing. [Bugs and Cranks]
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]
- Quick reminder: We will bring you a Rays Index Live Blog-A-Baloo this afternoon for Game 1 of the ALDS
- Carl Crawford will bat 5th today, but Joe Maddon did not rule out a return to the 2-hole later in the series. [Tampa Tribune]
- When the teams travel to Chicago, the Rays can expect the dirt around home plate to be very wet as it was for the one-game playoff against the Twins…We suspect that will carry over to the base paths as well. [Chicago Sun-Times]
- The White Sox “Ain’t S#!t” compared to the Rays. [Bugs and Cranks]
- Stuart Sternberg spoke with WFAN’s Mike Francessa yesterday. Here is a link to the audio. [WFAN]
- Carlos Quentin will not play in the ALDS against the Rays. [USA Today]
- Not sure we want to see a lot of these, but maybe 20 or 30 right behind the White Sox dugout would be nice. [The Heater]
- Carlos Pena will be blogging during the postseason. [MLBlogs]
- Not sure where we have seen this before? [St. Pete Times]
- A Chicago Tribune reporter asked several Rays if there was any bad blood stemming from the incident in Chicago during the season in which AJ Pierzynski duped an umpire into a game-changing call. The Rays downplayed any blame for Piehead. [Chicago Tribune]
- 3 of 5 Chicago Sun-Times writers pick the Sox to win the series…The Sun-Times is the White Sox paper. [Chicago Sun-Times]
- One writer wants to set the national media straight about the Tampa Bay Rays. [Fielder's Choice Baseball Card Blog]
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What, you think that Hardball Times article was biased? nawwww
In the St Pete Times post about the making of the Rays… how on earth is there no mention of the Young – Garza/Bartlett trade not mentioned? Do they get paid over there?
Prof – read your review in Hardball Times. A definitely “go Rays” analysis. That said, this series should be feared – only 3 wins are required and the Sox will be pitching 2 lefties in the first 3 games. A split by the ChiSox in TB would be considered a big plus for them.
With the BoSox winning, that does not help overall and with the Cubs losing, the Red Sox have become the favorites. If the Rays move past the White Sox and defeat the Red Sox, then you hit it on the head – this team deserves the pennant.
most important games in a 5-game set are games 1 and 3. Rays have a huge advantage today. Even if the rays lose tomorrow, series will likely come down to Garza and Dank on Sunday a scary proposition.
So what the Rays need is a split in games 2 and 3.Can they win 1 of those? If the answer is yes, then the Rays win the series.
Dirtbag fan, look again. The deal for Garza/Bartlett is mentioned twice. The first time is on page 5x at the top where there is a list of important decisions in building the team. It is in the center of the top of the page. The second mention is at the bottom of page 7x, the headline you mention on the making of the Rays, where there is a picture and identification of the deal.
rr- oops!