Apr 09
Two years ago on Rays Index we were perplexed by the inclusion of southwest Alabama as part of the Rays territorial rights.
SW Alabama Is Rays’ Country! Wait. What? [Rays Index]
Archive for April 9th, 2010
Apr 09
Two years ago on Rays Index we noticed that the use of the new sunburst logo in the FieldTurf at The Trop was not as great in reality as it might have seemed on paper.
BJ Upton Nearly Swallowed Alive By Rays New Sunburst Logo [Rays Index]
Apr 09
The gamaday thread is live over at the Raysheads Forum. Boogidy, Boogidy, Boogidy… [RAYSHEADS]
Apr 09
Durham 5, Norfolk 2. Jeremy Hellickson struck out 6 and walked 1 in 5 innings, allowing 2 runs (1 earned)…Joaquin Benoit struck out 6 in 2 innings of work, giving up 1 hit and a walk…Hank Blalock had 2 singles and a walk…Fernando Perez was 1-5 and was caught stealing.
Mobile 3, Montgomery 2 (10). Alex Torres allowed 1 run in 4 innings, striking out 2 and walking 2…Emeel Salem went 1-3 with 2 walks and a stolen base.
Charlotte 4, Palm Beach 2. Matt Moore worked only 3 innings, allowing 1 run, striking out 4 and walking 1…Matt Sweeney homered and added a double and a walk…Kyeong Kang went 3-3 with a walk.
Fort Wayne 7, Bowling Green 2. Alex Colome struck out 6 and walked 1, but gave up 6 runs in 3 innings…Mark Thomas went 2-4 with a 2-run home run.
Apr 09
[THE HANGOVER] The One Where We Discuss Pitching Depth, Longo’s Streak And Joyce’s Shoulder
Evan Longoria, Jeff Niemann, Matt Joyce 31 Comments »
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: Pitching Depth. The Rays have the one thing all teams covet, starting pitcher depth. It is never good to lose a starting pitcher in the second inning. But is eases the pain when a 27-year old pitcher with 72 career starts (Andy Sonnanstine) can come in and take his place…Pat Burrell. We know that The Bat could hit 4 home runs and a few of you would still be upset if we listed Burrell under “The Good.” Maybe our standards have just been lowered, but he did walk twice last night and was on base 50% of the time. That was, in part, why the Rays gave him a lot of money. He usually is pretty good about getting on base.
THE BAD: Baserunning. Were the Rays guessing on Brian Matusz? Two times would-be basestealers left too soon and were picked off going to second…Cold Bats. At one point from the 4th until the 7th innings, Orioles pitchers retired 9 straight Rays. During that time, the Rays went from leading 2-1 to trailing 5-2…The Bullpen. Mike Ekstrom and Grant Balfour had a rough 6th inning. The two combined to allow 4 runs on 3 hits, a walk, a hit batter and a wild pitch.
THE TELLING: Jeff Niemann is day-to-day after being hit in the shoulder with a come-backer…Despite seeing attendance fall by 50% in day 2, television ratings were actually up about 4%, and that is after setting a record for opening day…Evan Longoria was picked off first base and thrown out trying to steal second. This was the first caught stealing of his career. He was 16-16 and ended up 11 short of Tim Raines’ record of 27 consecutive steals to start a career…Matt Joyce was a DH for Durham last night and is expected to continue in that role for a while until he is able to throw without restraint.
DEVIL DOGS WEBTOPIA…
- Jeff Niemann says the shot off his shoulder was a “best-case scenario” but that about 10 minutes after coming out, he knew Joe Maddon had made the right decision. [St. Pete Times]
- Joe Maddon speaks about the upcoming series with the Yankees. [Tampa Tribune]
- Jeff Passan rebuts Jonah Keri’s rebuttal. You can read my own long-winded response in the comments section (hint: I think they are both right). [JonahKeri.com]
- James Shields speaks about the birth of his daughter (video). [The Heater]
- Could Evan Longoria replace Derek Jeter as the face of baseball? [FanNation]
- Stephen Nohlgren notes that while attendance rose only slightly in 2009, the Rays made a lot more money off of those fans thanks to increases in concession prices. [St. Pete Times]
- The Sarasota Herald-Tribune interviewed Sean Rodriguez about his role with the Rays. [Sarasota Herald-Tribune]
- Stacy Long interviewed Alex Torres about the 2010 season and the responsibility of being an opening day starter. [Montgomery Advertiser]
- Some fans got scammed on opening night and left the game to find their cars had been towed. [St. Pete Times]
- The leader of the ABC group says it is time for the Rays and St. Pete to start talking about a new stadium. [St. Pete Times]
- The Bulls have a new webcam that is focused on the DBAP. [DurhamBulls]
- Jeremiah Wood interviewed Mike Ekstrom for his college newspaper. [PointLoma]
