Aug 20
I will make an appearance on Sports Talk Soup tonight at 10:30pm ET. You can listen live by going to their website.
Archive for August 20th, 2009
Aug 20
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]
Check Marc Topkin’s blog for the starting lineups.
Leaderboard after the jump…
Aug 20
Joe Maddon will be one of four members of the 2009 Lafayette College Hall of Fame class.
The Lafayette Maroon Club has announced the four members of its 2009 Hall of Fame Class. Football and baseball player Bob Howard ’61, baseball standout Joe Maddon ’76, soccer player and benefactor Dr. Wilbur Oaks ’51 and track and field athlete Noreen Chamberlain Wagner ’88 will be inducted at the annual Maroon Club Hall of Fame dinner on Friday, Nov. 20 at the College’s Marquis Hall.
We are just excited because it gives us another excuse to run these pics of Joe Maddon again, from his days at Lafayette.
Two more are after the jump…
Aug 20
[THE HANGOVER] The One Where We Discuss Golden Gloves, Slump-Busters And Another WAG
Jeff Niemann, Wade Davis 9 Comments »
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: What Slump? As we pointed out last week, Pat Burrell is just being Pat Burrell since the all-star break. He hit his 8th home run of the second half. And Ben Zobrist, a player some think could be back on the bench when Aki Iwamura returns, hit a 432-foot shot, the 8th longest at The Trop this season. Meanwhile, BJ Upton homered for the second straight game…Golden Gloves. Niemann who was great most of the night ran into a little trouble in the 5th, loading the bases with no outs. A line drive by Cesar Izturis was knocked down by a diving Jason Bartlett, who immediately jumped to his feet and nailed Matt Wieters at home for the force. Two pitches later, Brian Roberts grounded into a 6-4-3 to end the inning. And in the 7th with the Rays holding a 2-0 lead, Carl Crawford made a great catch up against the wall to end the inning and rob Felix Pie of an RBI…Jeff Niemann. No, he is not the Rays best pitcher, but right now, we have more confidence when The Giraffe takes the mound than any other starter.
THE BAD: Headlines. Check the title on THIS PAGE. What does that even mean? “Three homers more than Niemann needs.” Huh? The Rays only won 3-1. Didn’t Niemann need two of the home runs?
THE TELLING: The Red Sox won again, but the Rangers blew another late-game lead against the Twins. The Rays still trail the Red Sox by 3, but are now within 2 of the Rangers, who they face starting tomorrow.
SUNBURST PLAYER OF THE GAME: Jeff Niemann
DEVIL DOGS WEBTOPIA…
- We have a new entry for the Rays WAGs community project: Meet Katelyn Casey, the fiance of Wade Davis and a former Hudson Valley Renegade “Marlboro Girl.” Does that make her one of those annoying people that hands out empty zippos at bars on the weekends? Actually, she is from Marlboro, NY. Who knew those girls get their own title? [Times Herald-Record]
Aug 20
Charlotte 8, Durham 1. Andy Sonnanstine got pounded for 5 runs in 6 innings on 9 hits and 2 walks…Desmond Jennings went 3-4 with a double, triple and 2 stolen bases…Jon Weber had the only RBI.
Birmingham 3, Montgomery 1 (gm 1). Rayner Oliveros allowed 3 runs in 6 innings…Jose Lobaton was 0-3 and Cody Cipriano went 1-2.
Birmingham 7, Montgomery 1 (gm 2). Mike Wlodarczyk gave up just 1 unearned run in 3 innings…Cody Cipriano went 1-2 with a double.
St. Lucie 12, Charlotte 2. Jake McGee had his best start since returning from Tommy John surgery, throwing 3 shutout innings, striking out 4. He walked 2 and gave up 2 hits…Mike McCormick went 0-3.
Greensboro 7, Bowling Green 4. Chris Andujar allowed 2 runs in 5 innings, striking out 5 and walking just 1…Tim Beckham had a double and 2 walks…Keyong Kang, hit 2 home runs, hit 4th and 5th of the year.
Mahoning Valley 4, Hudson Valley 3.
Princeton. (no games scheduled)
Notes from Down on the Farm…
- Darin Downs is out of the Intensive Care Unit and is walking around and talking…Downs was hit in the head by a linedrive and suffered a fractured skull. [Biscuit Crumbs]
- Three members of the short-season Hudson Valley Renegades participated in the New York-Penn League All-Star game. Catcher Mark Thomas came in the game in the 5th and grounded out in his only at bat. Alexander Colome pitched the 2nd inning, facing the minimum three batters, walking one. Tyler Bortnick started at shortstop and played the first 6 innings, going 0-3 with a pair of ground outs and a line out. [MiLB]
