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[THE HANGOVER] The One Where We Discuss The Duke Batting Third, Upton Being Thrown At And Izzy’s Promotion
David Price, Jason Bartlett, Jason Isringhausen, Joe Maddon, Pat Burrell May 18th. 2009, 7:08am
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: Michel Hernandez. His at bat in the 4th was close to being an entry in “The Bad.” Bases loaded and no outs, just about any contact will score a run. But instead of looking for a specific pitch to drive on pitch-1, Hernandez flails at a changeup 6 inches off the plate. But he redeemed himself by driving pitch-3 down the lef field line for a bases clearing double…Carl Crawford. His RBI single in the first got the scoring started, and his diving catch ended the game…Jason Bartlett. Another 3-hit game? He is hitting .370? His triple off the top of the wall is a little more indicative of the power Bartlett has…JP Howell…He came on and got a big strikeout to end a rally in the 7th. And then cruised through the 8th with 2 more Ks.
THE BAD: Joe Maddon. Fill out a lineup card often? OK, OK. Maddon was saved by Andy Sonnanstine’s RBI double and the win, but screwing up the lineup card and ending up with a left-handed hitting pitcher batting third against a lefty should never happen…Andy Sonnanstine. So the guy on deck is 4-5 in his career against Sonny with 2 home runs. The Last thing The Duke should do is walk the #8 hitter just before him with 2 outs. Next batter? 3-run home run. The only thing worse than that would be to screw up something easy like a lineup card…Eric Wedge. He had the nerve to argue that Troy Percival should be ejected for hitting a batter in the 9th, after his own guy intentionally threw at BJ Upton twice. On an 0-2 pitch, with the game on the line, not only was there no way Percy’s pitch was intentional, but Wedge should have known that his team had a better shot at coming from behind with Percival on the mound…The Professor. For finding a way to knock Troy Percival even on a day he got a nice relatively easy save…The Umpires. Not all their faults, but a rough game all around. Again, not really their fault, but they are supposed to review the lineup cards. They missed the double off the top of the wall by Cleveland and of course failed to keep the situation with Kerry Wood and BJ upton under control.
THE TELLING: With Pat Burrell going on the DL and Jason Isringhausen being promoted, Joe Maddon will be with only 3 bench players for the time being. And one of those players is the backup catcher and unavailable most nights in case Dioner Navarro is injured during a game. This could become a problem later in the week when the Devil Rays ($15) play in Miami with no DH, which will give Maddon an extra bench player but with the pitchers hitting, he will need more pinch hitters than normal…The Devil Rays ($16) and Indians play another 4-game set next week. Things could get ugly.
SUNBURST PLAYER OF THE GAME: Jason Bartlett.
DEVIL DOGS WEBTOPIA…
- There has been some sentiment from a couple of readers to set up a PayPal account in which they would match all or some of the fine that I will pay to the Tampa Bay Rays Foundation for my continued use of the “Devil Rays” ($17) moniker until the team has a winning record. Before I do this, i would like to gauge the interest. If you would be interested in matching all or some of the fine that I end up paying just leave a “Yes” in the comments or drop me an email. Feel free to use “Anonymous” in the comments. And no matter what you say now, there is absolutely no obligation down the line to do anything. This is just curiosity at this point. Thanks.
- Joe Maddon accepted all the blame for submitting an incorrect lineup card that led to Andy Sonnanstine batting third instead of Evan Longoria. [St. Pete Times]
- Marc Lancaster has some quotes from the umpires on all the shenanigans of yesterday’s game. [Rays Report]
- Pat Burrell has been placed on the 15-day DL. However, the move is retroactive to May 11, so he is eligible to return a week from today. Jason Isringhausen has been promoted from Durham to take The Bat’s place on the roster. [SI.com]
- The Akron Beacon Journal refers to the missed called on Carl Crawford’s catch as a “nightmare.”…what amazed us is that when the umpire ruled a catch, the most surprised person in the house was Crawford. We thought it was pretty obvious he didn’t catch the ball based on his reaction alone. [Akron Beacon Journal]
- Joe Maddon and Jim Hickey met with the starting pitchers prior to yesterday’s game to reassure them that he still has confidence in them as a group. [Rays Report]
- The Triangle Offense has the first-hand account of David Price’s 5 hitless innings. He did throw one spike curve, and it wasn’t pretty. [The Triangle Offense]
- Rays Revolutionary wants to hear some love for Troy Percival…There is a saying. Something about the sun and a dog’s ass. [Rays Revolutionary]
Related posts:
- [THE HANGOVER] The One Where We Discuss A Rotation In Mid-Season Form, The Debut Of Izzy And Upton Giving The Batting Machines A Day Off
- [THE HANGOVER] The One Where We Discuss Bartlett As An All-Star, Izzy As Percy And The Unwritten Rules
- [THE HANGOVER] The One Where We Discuss The Duke, Maddonology And A Little Help From The Vuvuzelas
I thought Joyce was gonna come up with Burrell going on the DL, but I do wanna see Isringhausen on the team. Now what happens when Burrell gets back?
Yes lets pay for the devil Rays
Yes … it’ll also give commentors a chance to pay fines, too, if they wish to invoke the name of the Devil.
Something else for “The Telling”: To a man, everyone said the team really came together last year in spring training when they stood up for themselves against the Yankees and Red Sox with a few bench-clearers. It was great to see things like Maddon giving it back to Martinez, Crawford being the first out of the dugout, and Burrell fighting to get a uni on to joy the fray. Could this be the galvanizing moment that the team has been waiting for? (Yes, you could argue that they shouldn’t need one, but if they need one, this could be it.)
I have heard a couple of people mention that aspect of the bench-clearing. I hope you are right.
And is that true about Burrell? If so, that is amazing
I was visiting family yesterday and only caught the highlights, so I didn’t see it myself. But Martin Fennelley said he did in his column (with an awesome nod to Jonny Gomes).
“Even Rays Pat Burrell, on his way to the DL (stiff neck) and in the clubhouse in a veritable state of undressed, ran onto the field as he pulled up his zipper and yanked on a jersey. It wasn’t even his jersey. In the old days, Jonny Gomes would have come out naked.”
http://www2.tbo.com/content/2009/may/17/sp-another-manic-day-for-rays/sports/
I double-checked Lancaster’s story, and he had it too:
” “I didn’t like how that went down,” said Pat Burrell, who hurriedly threw on some pants and a jersey to join the scrum on the field that followed Wood’s second pitch.”
http://www2.tbo.com/content/2009/may/17/sp-wacky-wild-win/sports/
On my lunch break, I’m gonna check it out on MLB.TV to see if I can see Burrell.
YES ill help