Archive for April 16th, 2009

Apr 16

RAYSHEADS UNITE! New Items In The Rays Index Store

Rays Index Store Cork Gaines No Comments »

Some may think it is ok to debate the merits of handing out rings to the champions of the American League. however, one thing we are certain of…Two banners is completely acceptable. So we have added new t-shirts to the Rays Index Store.

Besides, this seemed like an excellent way for The Rayshead Army to remind the Yankees and Red Sox exactly who is chasing whom this season.

Click on any image to be taken directly to that item in the Rays Index Store…

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Apr 16

The GBT Open Thread: Rays vs White Sox

GBT, Sunburst of the Game Cork Gaines 25 Comments »

GBT

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. Runners-up get their choice of a t-shirt. [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 16

The Ridunculously Premature Playoff Picture: Week 2

Playoffs? Cork Gaines 5 Comments »

In our quest to prove that there are no more original ideas, we blatantly borrow this feature from The Shutdown Corner, and one of our two or three favorite writers, The Mighty MJD. If you are a football fan and are not reading The Shutdown Corner, we must ask why you hate freedom.

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The team in each league with the best record will face the Wild Card winner (shaded) in the first round unless both teams are from the same division. In that case, the Wild Card team will face the division champ with the second best record.

AL Divisional Champs: White Sox, Rays, Mariners

AL Wild Card: Yankees

NL Divisional Champs: Cardinals, Phillies, Dodgers

NL Wild Card: Marlins

Notes on the premature playoffication picture…

  • AL East…The Red Sox just do not look like the same team without Manny Ramirez and Daisuke Matsuzaka just went on the DL. We are starting to wonder if this is just going to be one of those seasons. The Rays took two of three from the Red Sox and have fewer question marks than the Yankees so they get the early nod in the best division. A 5-4 start is pretty good for the Yankees considering all 9 were on the road and they are without Alex Rodriguez.
  • AL Central…We are one of the few that actually think the Central will be a very good division this year, but we are not ready to start believing in the Royals. Detroit is not going to win anything as long as their #2 starter is named Edwin Jackson and you can almost put a “done” next to the Indians. And until Joe Mauer comes back we are not believers in the Twinkies. That leaves the White Sox who appear to have picked up right where they left off.
  • AL West…Last year everybody believed in the M’s and they were oh so bad. This year nobody believes in the M’s. Besides, the Angels were not as good as their record last season, the A’s don’t impress us and the Rangers are still short on pitching, but they are getting closer.
  • NL East…We can still see four different teams winning this, but until the Phillies can convince us they are not for real, they are the team to beat. The Mets are just waiting to implode. Can Atlanta play this well all season? Derek Lowe is too old to anchor a staff. On the other hand, the Marlins are the real deal and will be in this all season if they stay healthy and will be the Wild Card.
  • NL Central…It will come down to the end, but we only see one team coming from the Central and the Cards just look like they have that MoJo.
  • NL West…The Dodgers are the this year’s Angels and will look very good in a very bad division. The other teams in the West will all be below .500 at the all-star break.
Apr 16

The Rays Index Confidence Graph

Confidence graph Cork Gaines 1 Comment »

The Rays Confidence Graph will appear every Thursday 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 week’s agida-level can be found after the graph..

Notes on the RI Confidence Graph…

  • The most common response for “Confidence in 2009 Rays” was 9 with 50.0%.
  • The most common response for “Confidence in future of franchise” was 10 with 39.7%.
Apr 16

[THE HANGOVER] The One Where We Discuss A Bad Bullpen, Bad Baserunning And Bad Strikezone Command

Carlos Pena, Willy Aybar Cork Gaines 20 Comments »

New York Yankees v Tampa Bay Rays

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: Carlos Pena. El Gato is finding his groove. Yesterday he hit his 4th home run.

THE BAD: The bullpen. In 24 innings spanning 9 games, the relief corps have given up 15 runs (5.63  ERA) and 44 base runners (28 hits, 19 walks, 1 hit batter)…The baserunning. Two more runners thrown out on the basepaths yesterday. Gabe Kapler was thrown out at third on a 5-3-6 double play for the second out. We are all for agressive baserunning, but in that situation with the top of the order due up and only 1 out, Kapler can’t go unless he knows for certain he will make it. And Michel Hernandez was picked off first. We know Andy Pettitte has one of the all-time moves to first, but Hernandez isn’t a threat to run, which means he should still have his left foot on the bag…Defensive positioning. We don’t mind agressive defense either, but there is zero reason why flyballs should be getting over the heads of BJ Upton and Carl Crawford and actually landing on the field of play. That is too shallow, and it happened for the third time this series in the 8th inning that led to the tying run…Strikezone command. The Rays hitters are second in the AL with 78 strike outs and only 10th in walks with  30. Only the Royals have a worse strikeout-to-walk ratio in the AL.

THE TELLING: Andy Sonnanstine was pulled after 5 innings and only 78 pitches…Tonight’s game marks the 10th day out of 13 straight without an off-day. Thanks to the opening day rain out, this upcoming Monday will be the Rays’ first off-day of the season…Willy Aybar started at third base with Evan Longoria absent…All players wore #42 without nameplates in honor of Jackie Robinson…Jason Bartlett was moved up to the sixth spot in the lineup.

SUNBURST PLAYER OF THE GAME: Carlos Pena. Now if we can just get Pat Burrell to warm up a little more, the Rays might not lose for 2 weeks. Of course, Pena, Burrell and Evan Longoria might also have to be used as relief pitchers, but we can work on that.

DEVIL DOGS WEBTOPIA…

  • The Rays honored their two African-American coaches, George Hendrick and Steve Henderson, by having them throw out the first pitch prior to last night’s game. [MLB]
  • Todd Kalas spoke with the Philadelphia Inquirer about his last conversation with his father, Harry Kalas, and the opportunity to work with his dad during the World Series last fall. [Philadelphia Inquirer]
  • Carlos Pena was awarded his 2008 Gold Glove prior to the game. [MLB]
  • The guys over at Big League Stew debate whether or not teams should award rings for a league championship…We are amazed that the rings and the raising of two banners has been such a big topic of conversation. In one thread debating the raising of an AL East banner, several were arguing that is something that is only done in hockey and basketball (which is not true by the way). Why would it be ok to have divisional championship banners in basketball and hockey where divisions mean so little and yet not ok in baseball where winning the division is still a very big deal?  [Big League Stew]
  • In case you missed it in the “Down on the Farm” segment, Jason Isringhausen has finally accepted a minor league assignment to Montgomery and eventually to Durham. [St. Pete Times]
  • Below…Season 2 of “The Defenders of the Game” has commenced. We know you have been counting the hours.