We have heard lots of stories about people wearing Rayshead T-shirts at both home games and road games, and we have even heard stories of these fans being on TV. But none were displayed so prominently as this one in the second row during Tuesday night’s game.
That is Scott and his Rayshead “Dirtbag” T-shirt. By the way, Evan Longoria homered in that game. Coincidence? We think not.
If you want your own Rayshead T-shirt, go here.
Rob Neyer discusses the case of Ben Zobrist as the American League Most Valuable Player.
Just off the top: Zobrist leads the American League in FanGraphs’ Runs Above Replacement (51.5) but he’s just 20th in Baseball Prospectus’ Wins Above Replacement (4.1).
Why the difference? Maybe one of our favorite lines of all time (emphasis ours)…
Why the big difference? Simple: According to FanGraphs, Zorilla has been phenomenally good at second base, and excellent too in the outfield; according to BP, he’s been just an average fielder this season. And just when you thought the pinheads had figured out defense …
Of course, then Neyer goes in the opposite direction and deducts points from Zorilla’s candidacy for not scoring enough or driving in enough.
As a practical matter, Zobrist isn’t in the top 10 in the AL in runs scored or RBI. That’s why he’s not going to draw a great deal of support from the voters.
Of course, those are the two categories that Zobrist has the least control over.
In the end, Neyer says that he is “not convinced that Zobrist is the most valuable player in the American League.” And we have to agree. Heck, he might not even be the Most Valuable Ray. If the Rays were in first in the AL East by a couple of games, we might have a different story.
Zorilla’s MVP chances [ESPN]
Three years ago on Rays Index we heard a crazy story about BJ Upton giving the Durham PA announcer the riot act for refusing to play Upton’s walk-up music. Apparently Upton called the pressbox during the game. One problem. The Bulls manager was in the pressbox at the time after being ejected.
Those Crazy Kids Just Can’t Keep Their Mouths Shut [Rays Index]
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: Playing the Game the Right Way. On Monday, Evan Longoria was hit by a pitch. Last night in the 3rd inning, Joba Chamberlain sailed a ball at Evan’s head. It missed. In the 5th inning Matt Garza plunked Mark Teixeira. No bench-clearing brawl. No yelling from the dugouts. And that was the end of it…Evan Longoria. Dirtbag homered for the 5th time in 16 games. Of course it was in the 9th inning with the score 6-0, but at least somebody did something.
THE BAD: Big Mouth. Sticking up for your players is great, but keep your damn mouth shut. Everybody knows Matt Garza hit Mark Teixeira on purpose. Garza doesn’t need to spout off about it after the game. Because now it is going to cost him his next start because the league will have no choice but to suspend him. JUST. SHUT. UP!…Pat Burrell. Pat the Rally Killer left 2 more runners on base and went 0-4 with 3 strikeouts. And yes, we are now officially picking on Burrell. Sue us. He deserves it…Uniting Yankees Fans. For a while now, Yankees fans have been divided into two camps. Those that think Joba Chamberlain is a starting pitcher. And those that think he should be Mo Rivera’s set-up guy and closer-in-waiting. Last night he was both a starter and an 8th inning guy. Way to go Rays. Way to make him work. This was a guy that entered the game giving up about 1.4 baserunners per inning and the Rays could only muster 5 in 8 innings. If that had been a good pitcher, they might have been perfected again.
THE TELLING: PECOTA now says the Rays playoff chances are 11.4% and falling.
SUNBURST PLAYER OF THE GAME: Evan Longoria
DEVIL DOGS WEBTOPIA…
Durham @ Scranton/WB. (ppd. rain)
Montgomery 5, Huntsville 1 (gm 1). Heath Rollins evened his record at 9-9 after holding Huntsville to 1 run in 5 innings on 7 hits and no walks. He struck out 3…Desmond Jennings went 0-3 and Cody Cipriano was 0-2 with a walk.
Montgomery 10, Huntsville 0 (gm 2). Aneury Rodriguez may have figured something out. He pitched a 7-inning complete game shutout, allowing just 4 hits and 2 walks. He did hit a batter. It is the third straight start in which he has not allowed a run and his scoreless innings streak is not 19. In his last 3 starts, Rodriguez has given up just 6 hits and 6 walks in 19.2 innings…Desmond Jennings was 1-4 with a double and an RBI and Matt Spring hit his 6th home run.
Tampa 7, Charlotte 0. Alex Cobb gave up 4 runs in 5.2 innings…Shawn O’Malley went 0-3 with a walk.
Bowling Green 10, Lake County 4. Nick Barnese gave up just 1 run on 2 hits and a walk in 6 innings. He struck out 3 and now has a 2.30 ERA…Tim Beckham was 1-5 with a double and 3 strikeouts…Jake Jefferies hit his 7th home run and went 2-5.
Hudson Valley 2, Aberdeen 0 (7).
Princeton 7, Bluefield 6 (11).
Notes from Down on the Farm…
