Subscribe
[THE HANGOVER] The One Where We Discuss The Fun Of Coors Field, Kazmir’s Mechanical Issues And No Renovations To The Trop
Gabe Kapler, Jason Bartlett, Scott Kazmir June 17th. 2009, 7:25am
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: Jason Bartlett. Good to see Bartlett back in the lineup and picking up right where he left off with 2 hits and 2 runs scored…Coors Field. The highest scoring team in baseball plus Coors Field equals a fun game to watch…Bottom of the Order. The Rays 5-8 hitters were a combined 10-18 with 7 RBI and 8 runs scored…Jeff Niemann. Coors Field can be intimidating for any pitcher, especially a youngin’. But Niemann kept his cool and threw strikes, 64 out of 96 pitches. We would have liked just a little more pitch efficiency, but all-in-all he did his job.
THE BAD: Oh BJ. We would be remiss if we did not point out that BJ Upton was picked off first base. Again…Pat the No Glove, No Wheels. There are indications that Joe Maddon will start Pat Burrell in right field tonight. Coors Field has the largest outfield in baseball, so there is no way this ends well. Look for BJ Upton to be playing right-center most of the game.
THE TELLING: The Rays set a team record with 11 extra-base hits…With no DH, Ben Zobrist was still in the 5th spot and Jason Bartlett batted 6th…According to CoolStandings.com the Rays are up to a 46.7% chance of making the playoffs, only slightly behind the Yankees (49.7%). Baseball Prospectus is not as bullish, with the Rays at 27.0% and the Yankees at 77.8%…
SUNBURST PLAYER OF THE GAME: Gabe Kapler. We can’t believe it either, but his triple in the second started the onslaught and his home run in the 3rd effectively ended the game.
DEVIL DOGS WEBTOPIA…
- Head on over and welcome a new Rays blog, The Rays Tank. [The Rays Tank]
- The Rays wives and their families will be hosting a Family Fun Day for military families on June 27. Click the link for information (thanks Jordi). [Quantum Leap Farm]
- The Rays dressed in cowboy gear on their off-day travel to Colorado yesterday. Marc Topkin has the team photo. It is trashtastic. [The Heater] FSFlorida/Sun Sports has some of the individual pics on their Facebook page. [Facebook]
- Scott Kazmir visited Dr. James Andrews recently for a biomechanical analysis of his delivery. Kazmir also had former Mets pitching coach Rick Peterson analyze the delivery…From the same piece we learn that Chad Bradford is about a week from returning, and the Rays new emergency catcher may be Joe Dillon. [St. Pete Times]
- Well, we can scratch the idea of adding a retractable roof to The Trop. The task would cost $471 million and according to the design firm hired by the Rays, the Trop would still only be a “B-, B+ type of baseball facility.” This link does include images of what the Trop would have looked like with a retractable roof. [St. Pete Times]
- Reader Amanda thinks she has discovered the source of Gabe Kapler’s power. He has a Star of David tattoo on his leg. [SI.com]
- The Rays are up to 3rd on Baseball Prospectus’ Power Rankings, behind only the Dodgers and the Red Sox and this was 4 wins ago. [Baseball Prospectus]
- One Red Sox blogger has written an open letter to Joe Maddon, hoping for Tim Wakefield to be selected to the All-Star game. [Boston Red Sox Blog Spot]
Related posts:
Where in the hell did they find chaps that big for Niemann?
Much better (hitting) line up with Bartlett..even the worst player (Kapler)
is hitting the ball!
Pitching picks up just a bit…could be a fun 2nd half of season!
Maybe they can employ some kind of Bizarro Ortiz shift, where they pull the first baseman and play 4 outfielders.
I wouldnt mind seeing Wakefield in the All-Star game. He’s probably the only red sox player outside of Rocco that I like. Great game last night, gonna be a tough team to beat if the hot stay hot and navi and kapler get a good run going.
From the Tropicana Field story:
“Construction would likely force the team to move to a temporary location for some or all of one season.”
The Rays playing at Ray Jay? It won’t happen, but it’s a cool thought.
You know that after they revised Gross’s single & error to a double, we had us a Gabecycle last night, don’t you? And since it was the first in MLB history, I really thought it might find its way onto your blog. I’m disappointed.
I didn’t realize MLB switched that. Gabe cycle FTW! (Of course, I was pissed at Maddon for pulling Kapler when he had a chance for the cycle. There was no reason for it.)
I stopped watching before Abreu came on. Did anyone see him throw? Thoughts?
Here is my thought: he looked totally awkward when the game ended, like he didn’t know who to high five, and even when he did, it was comical–take a look if you have MLB.tv.