Apr 11
One year ago on Rays Index we put together a graphic honoring all of the Tampa Bay professional franchises and their championships.
A Shout-Out To All The Tampa Bay Franchises [Rays Index]
Archive for April 11th, 2009
Apr 11
This gameday open thread will have two parts and it is all user-generated…
- Up until first pitch, use the comments section to predict who you think will be the Sunburst Player of the Game. (be sure to use a valid email address while leaving the comment). The commenter that correctly predicts who we will name the Sunburst Player of the Game the most times prior to the all-star game, will win two tickets to a second-half game. [Click here for rules]
- Once the game starts the GBT open thread will be your thoughts during the game of what you think are The Good, The Bad and/or The Telling moments of the game.
Apr 11
Apr 11
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.
Apr 11
Apr 11
[THE HANGOVER] The One Where We Discuss Dirtbag’s Hot Bat, The Ghost Of Baserunning Past And A More Comfortable Giraffe
Andy Sonnanstine, Evan Longoria, Gabe Kapler, Jeff Niemann, Jonny Gomes 7 Comments »
Time to bring back the GBT – The Good, The Bad and The Telling sandwich, where The Bad is nice and lean and the The Telling is ripe.
click above image for boxscore
THE GOOD: Dirtbag! Evan Longoria homered twice and is absolutely locked in right now. that is 4 home runs on the season already. What is his over/under right now? 40?…Benny Boo Boo’s D. Nice dive-’em-out, throw-’em-out by Ben Zobrist in the second inning to get Andy Sonnanstine out of a lead off double situation…Lance Cormier. This is exactly why the Rays need Cormier in the bullpen. Down 5-1 early, Cormier came in and pitched 2.1 shutout innings to keep the Rays in the game as they whittled away at the lead. They came up short yesterday *cough* Kapler *cough* but Cormier is going to help the Rays win a few this season…The Not-So-Fat Catcher. Dioner Navarro ended his mini-skid with his first home run. Mark our words. When this season is over, Navarro will have a line of .310-18-70, or not.
THE BAD: Ghost of Baserunning Past. For a team that stresses fundamentals as much as the Rays, it is amazing how many gaffes they make on the basepaths. First it was Carl Crawford getting thrown out in the first trying to stretch a double into a triple, which of course happened 3 pitches before Evan Longoria’s first home run. And then it was Gabe Kapler who, we don’t even know what he was doing. He was thrown out lollygagging around third base on Ben Zobrist’s infield single to end the rally in the 4th. Of course, the Rays lost by 1…The Duke. Andy Sonnanstine is what he is, and if we have said it once, we have said it many times, when Sonny is hittable, he is very hittable. He just doesn’t have the natural stuff to get guys out when he isn’t on top of his game…Offensive Offense. A good team cannot be held to one run by Lurch. Mark Hendrickson is capable of a good start, but the Rays are too good for it to happen to them. And 7 strikeouts with no walks in the final 3 innings. Yikes.
THE TELLING: The loss ended a 12-game winning streak over the O’s…We would be interested to see a split of Andy Sonnanstine’s stats in weather under 50°. For a pitcher that relies so much on feel, we have a feeling the numbers are not very good.
SUNBURST PLAYER OF THE GAME: Evan Longoria. This one is a no brainer. If he keeps this up, we are renaming the award after him. “The Dirtbag Award.” Or we will just say the player of the game not named Evan Longoria.
DEVIL DOGS WEBTOPIA…
- Can anybody explain this audio clip? And is it telling that we found this on the same night that Gabe Kapler got caught staring at his own biceps while running the bases? And should we be disturbed that this clip is actually part 2 and there is another one out there? [WEEI]
- The Rays Party has a fun little guide to all the Tampa Bay Rays blogs. The number of blogs is growing. That is a good sign, as the number of blogs is likely proportional to the number of fans. [The Rays Party]
- Jeff Niemann says he is not as nervous this season and Joe Maddon added that the Giraffe looks more comfortable this year (Maddon did not call Niemann a giraffe, although it would be pretty funny if he did). In the same piece, Marc Topkin says BJ Upton is still scheduled to join the Rays on Monday for their home opener. [St. Pete Times]
- MLB Trade Rumors reviews the Rays off-season moves. [MLB Trade Rumors]
- Rays of Light has the update on Jonny Gomes’ whereabouts. [Rays of Light]
Apr 11
Durham vs Norfolk (ppd. rain).
Montgomery vs West Tenn (susp. rain).
Ft. Myers 7, Charlotte 1.BJ Upton made his second rehab start, leading off as the DH. He went 1-3 with a single a walk. He struck out once and was caught stealing twice. He is 2-5 in the stolen base department in the first 2 games…Jesse Darcy gave up 4 runs in 5 innings on 9 hits and a walk.
Bowling Green @ Hickory (ppd. rain).
Notes from Down on the Farm…
- So yes, it rained everywhere but Florida. Go figure.
- Much anticipated showdown between the top two prospects in baseball, David Price and Matt Weiters was postponed, but Matt Eddy of Baseball America spoke with both before the game. [Baseball America]
- The Biscuits were losing 7-1 in the 4th when the game was called. The game will be concluded tonight and followed by a 7-inning contest. [Biscuit Crumbs]
