From time to time we are going to take a look at the 2010 attendance and see how this season stacks up against last year and whether the Rays can reach their goal of being average (in attendance).
Notes on the attendance follow the graph…
Notes on the 2010 attendance…
In 2009, the Rays averaged 23,148 per game and drew 1.87 million fans. That was the most since their inaugural season of 1998 when they drew 2.5 million.
While the Rays have not stated any attendance goals this season, last year it was league average. So far in 2010, MLB is averaging 28,623 fans per game. That is down 5.6% from last year’s average of 30,324. However, this year’s average should go up once students are out of school and the weather is more consistent.
This year the Rays are averaging 22,915, 21st in baseball, and are on pace for 1.86 million.
After 27 home games last year, the Rays were averaging 23,287. So far this year. the Rays attendance is down 1.6% from the same point last last year.
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: Carl Crawford. CC was 4-5 and stole a base. It was the fourth 4-hit game of the season for Crawford. He is now hitting .321 with a .376 OBP. Both would be career-highs…Ben Zobrist. Zorilla hit his 4th home run in the last 11 games and is hitting .356/.405/.525 in May…Evan Longoria. Dirtbag stole his 10th base and is now on pace to go 30-30 this year. He is also 26-28 for his career in stolen bases. One of the times he was caught was a pick-off.
THE BAD: James Shields. As Shields’ changeup goes, so goes the Rays when he starts. He threw his changeup 23 times yesterday and did not get a single swinging strike. In fact, he only had 5 swinging strikes on the day. Compare that to his last start versus the Red Sox in which he worked 8 innings and allowed 2 runs on 4 hits. In that game he had 4 swinging strikes on the changeup. The difference? Yesterday he was throwing the pitch a little slower (81.5 vs 82.6 mph) and as a result, the pitch had less vertical break (3.3 vs 4.6 inches). Or compare that to his May 15th start versus the Mariners in which he struck out 10. In that game, Shields had 9 swinging strikes on the changeup. His velocity (82.6) and vertical break (4.9) again showed where that pitch should be and where it wasn’t yesterday.
THE TELLING: Jason Bartlett was out of the lineup with a sore hamstring. He is not expected to play today either and is considered day-to-day…Willy Aybar made just his third start at DH versus a right-hander…As we mentioned previously, the Rays will wear a white cap today with the “TB” in stars and stripes.
WHERE THEY STAND: The Rays are 34-17, 3.5 games in front of the Yankees in the East and 4.5 games ahead of the Blue Jays in the Wild Card. After 51 games in 2008, the Rays were 31-20.
THE JUNKYARD DOGS WEBTOPIA…
Matt Joyce has 8 games remaining on his rehab assignment and the Rays say he will play those games in Charlotte. After that is still undecided. [St. Pete Times]
Joe Maddon on the Rays version of the safety squeeze: “We’ve stumbled onto a few things with it…They are [Don Zimmer's] ideas presented to us, and we’ve been able to morph it a little bit”…As we said previously, it is more aggressive than a traditional safety squeeze but it is not a full-fledged suicide squeeze. [St. Pete Times]
James Shields talks about his poor outing (video). [The Heater]
James Shields was not very happy Jayson Nix was “pimping the home run” that he hit off Shields. [Chicago Breaking Sports]
John Romano says sending Dioner Navarro to triple-A might be the “slap in the face he needs,” and calls it “a matter of doing what’s best for the organization.” [St. Pete Times]
DOWN ON THE FARM…
Check out “The Rundown” from Rays Prospects for boxscores and more detailed recaps. [Rays Prospects]
DURHAM: 7 more shutout innings for Jeremy Hellickson who improved to 8-2 with a 2.49 ERA. He struck out 7 and walked none, improving his season totals to 67 and 12. That’s a 5.6 strikeout-to-walk ratio (3.0 is good)…Elliot Johnson hit a pair of home runs and had three hits…Chris Richard and Jose Lobaton also homered.
MONTGOMERY: (postponed)
CHARLOTTE: In game 1, Shane Dyer allowed 2 unearned runs in 6 innings with 5 strikeouts and no walks. He is now 2-1 with a 1.50 ERA in 3 starts since his promotion…In game 2, Nick Barnese allowed 3 runs (1 earned) in 5 innings. He struck out 7 and walked 4…Tim Beckham was 1-6 with a walk and 3 strikeouts in the double-header…Matt Joyce was 3-3 with a walk in the night-cap. He is 11-29 (.379) during his rehab stint with 5 doubles and 2 home runs.
BOWLING GREEN: Jason McEachern threw 6 shutout innings with 5 Ks and 4 walks…Chris Murrill was 2-4 with his 19th stolen base. He is hitting .322.
Three years ago on Rays Index we told you a disturbing tale in which the St. Pete Times wrote a story about Elijah Dukes threatening to kill his wife and kids and then decided that nobody should see the story at the Trop.
St. Pete Times Reports The News, But They Don’t Want You To Read It [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: BJ Upton. He returned from his 2-day hiatus and promptly hit a triple and it was even better seeing him pull the ball to left-center. He also walked. Sometimes a player needs an emotional spark. Let’s hope that was the case with Bossman…Joaquin Benoit. Another scoreless inning for Benoit who has now pitched 10 innings and allowed no runs and just 2 hits and 2 walks. He has struck out 15.
THE BAD: John Jaso. If Dyn-O-Mite is demoted next week, we can look at last night’s game as Exhibit A when we ask “why?” Jaso has indeed improved defensively, but that was the only direction he could have gone and he still isn’t that good. His mechanics behind the plate are too mechanical. He never looks comfortable. And last night he had 2 more passed balls. First there was the one on strike three that allowed the leadoff hitter in the 9th to reach base. Then there was the one that put the runner in scoring position. A runner that could have been doubled-up on the next batter’s groundball but was instead moved to third. A runner that would then score on a single, turning a reasonable 1-run lead with the heart of the Rays order due up, into an insurmountable 2-run lead. Jaso is a good hitter and he is an OBP machine. But catcher is a defense-first position and right now Jaso is only the Rays third best catcher…David Price. Price will learn that most important batter in any inning is the leadoff batter. Last night in the 4th he walked the leadoff batter. That was followed immediately by a 2-run home run that put the White Sox in front. In the 5th the leadoff hitter took care of things himself with a solo home run. He would also walk the leadoff hitter in the 1st who promptly stole second to get into scoring position. Outside of those 4 batters, Price allowed just 2 hits and 2 walks in 7 innings.
THE TELLING: Ben Zobrist was moved to the leadoff spot and Jason Bartlett and his .298 wOBA were dropped to 9th…Carl Crawford and Joe Maddon were (as expected) fined but not suspended for their ejections earlier this week…Kelly Shoppach will begin his rehab assignment Monday for Durham and will be reevaluated in a week.
WHERE THEY STAND: The Rays are 33-16 and lead the Yankees by 3.5 in the East and the Blue Jays by 5.5 in the Wild Card. After 49 games in 2008, the Rays were 29-20.
THE JUNKYARD DOGS WEBTOPIA…
We had some technical difficulties yesterday and “The Hangover” didn’t go up until last night. Here it is if you want to check out yesterday’s links. [Rays Index]
The Rays are now Chicago Blackhawks fans, or more precisely, anti-Flyers fans and will wear Blackhawks jerseys for their upcoming roadtrip to Toronto (thanks Ro). [USA Today]
Jeremy Hellickson shows up at #2 on Baseball America’s weekly prospect “Hot Sheet.” Tim Beckham comes in at #10. [Baseball America]
TAUNTR is also behind the movement to get Pat Burrell elected to the 2010 All-Star game. [TAUNTR]
Ken Rosenthal says that Pat Burrell’s deal with the San Francisco Giants would have no promise of playing time and could allow him to opt-out within 2 weeks. [Twitter]
7 members of the Charlotte Stone Crabs and their manager have been named to the FSL All-Star team. [St. Pete Times]
DOWN ON THE FARM…
Check out “The Rundown” from Rays Prospects for boxscores and more detailed recaps. [Rays Prospects]
DURHAM: Richard de los Santos gave up 2 runs in 6.1 innings…Angel Chavez hit a 3-run home run, his 5th home run of the year…Desmond Jennings was 0-4 with 2 Ks and Fernando Perez stole his 15th base.
MONTGOMERY: Jake McGee pitched 7 shutout innings, striking out 11 and walking 1. He allowed just 5 hits and picked up his first win in almost 2 years…Matt Sweeney went 1-4 with an RBI.
CHARLOTTE: Matt Moore struck out 11 and walked just 1 in 6 innings, but gave up 5 runs in 6 innings and his ERA is now 6.52 and he dropped to 0-6…Tim Beckham was 0-4 with a strikeout and Matt Joyce went 1-3 with a double and 2 Ks.
BOWLING GREEN: Alex Colome struck out 7 but walked 4 and gave up 3 unearned runs in 5 innings…Brett Nommensen had 3 hits including his 8th double…Ty Morrison stole his 17th base.
A while back we suggested that BJ Upton’s newfound love of going to the opposite field would cause pitchers to start pitching him inside. And that would allow Bossman to do what he does best, unleash his quick wrists and super-duper fast bat. Well, Steve Slowinski shows that BJ isn’t turning on that inside fastball the way he did in years past. [DRays Bay]
Meanwhile, Fangraphs suggests that Carlos Pena has gotten too far away from his tendency to pull the ball. [Fangraphs]
A Clearwater 4th grader got to take Ben Zobrist to school. [10 Connects]
We thinks the Astros miss Gerry Hunsicker. [Crawfish Boxes]
Here is an article by Paul White of USA Today about the Rays young starting pitchers. [USA Today]
DOWN ON THE FARM…
Check out “The Rundown” from Rays Prospects for boxscores and more detailed recaps. [Rays Prospects]
DURHAM: Aneury Rodriguez held Rochester to 1 unearned run in 5.2 innings. He struck out 4 and walked 2…Desmond Jennings was 0-2 with a pair of walks and Fernando Perez stole his 14th base.
MONTGOMERY: Jeremy Hall tossed 8 shutout innings on 3 hits and 2 walks. He struck out 5…Nevin Ashley had 3 singles and is now hitting .352 in 25 games.
CHARLOTTE: Tim Beckham got back to his hitting ways with a single and a double in 4 at bats…Matt Joyce had one hit, but it was a grand slam.
BOWLING GREEN: Kyle Lobstein gave up 4 runs in 4 innings and dropped to 1-3 with a 5.91 ERA on the year…Dustin Biell had 3 hits including 2 doubles.
Earlier this week, former big league pitcher Jose Limadied unexpectedly of a heart attack at age 37. Lima was from Santiago, Dominican Republic, as is Rays relief pitcher Joaquin Benoit. And on Tuesday night, Benoit paid his respects to Lima with a message on his cap (thanks Brian)…
It may be difficult to read from that screengrab, but it says “RIP JL.”
Lima wasn’t the best pitcher ever. And he certainly ruffled a few feathers in his day. But he was a colorful figure in a sport that is noticeably devoid of them nowadays.
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: Strong Starts. This is why the Rays strong start was so important. Every team goes through spells like this. But with a such a strong start, the Rays can afford a lull and still have the best record in baseball.
THE BAD: Adrian Beltre. Beltre had Matt Garza’s number, to the tune of two home runs that staked the Red Sox to an early 4-1 lead that nobody in their right mind thought the Rays would overcome.
THE TELLING: BJ Upton was given the night off and may not return to the lineup until Friday. It came after Joe Maddon’s ejection in which he said he had a chance to see the look on Upton’s face in HD and not liking what he saw.
WHERE THEY STAND: The Rays are 32-15, 3.5 games ahead of the Yankees in the East and 5.5 games ahead of the Red Sox in the Wild Card. After 47 games in 2008, the Rays were 27-20.
THE JUNKYARD DOGS WEBTOPIA…
Some asked why we did not comment on the Evan Longoria picture story…The reason is, we are not going to support a Boston website with a link when there is zero reason to believe it is true. If we posted a picture of a naked hobbit and claimed it was Dustin Pedroia, we’d like to think nobody would link to us.
Marc Topkin reports that no suspensions are expected for Carl Crawford or Joe Maddon for their roles in Tuesday’s arguments/ejections. [The Heater]
Bucs first-round pick Gerald McCoy got hounded last night at the Rays game. [JoeBucsFan]
Heath Rollins has been demoted to double-A. It has been a rough week for Rollins. [Biscuit Crumbs]
Martin Fennelly thinks it would be a good time for Carlos Pena and BJ Upton to start hitting…We like to picture ‘Los and Bossman reading this column and thinking to themselves “Well, now that Martin Fennelly says it is ok, I guess I’ll start getting basehits. Whew.” [Tampa Tribune]
Tiffany Simons of NBCSports interviewed Evan Longoria about a number of topics. [HardballTalk]
Andy Sonnanstine spoke with Roger Mooney about the transition to the bullpen (video). [Tampa Tribune]
Dock of the Rays has some video of Jeremy Hellickson pitching. [Dock of the Rays]
This is behind the insider wall, but John Perrotto takes a closer look (statistically) at the Rays starting pitchers. [ESPN]
DOWN ON THE FARM…
Check out “The Rundown” from Rays Prospects for boxscores and more detailed recaps. [Rays Prospects]
DURHAM: (no game scheduled)
MONTGOMERY: David Newmann allowed just 1 unearned run in 6.1 innings. He struck out 5 and walked none…Matt Sweeney was 0-4.
CHARLOTTE: Joe Cruz struck out 8 and walked none, but got pounded for 7 runs on 10 hits in 5 innings…Tim Beckham was 0-4 to end his 6-game hitting streak. He also committed his 9th error…Matt Joyce played right field and was 1-4 with a double.
BOWLING GREEN: Wilking Rodriguez struck out 8 and walked just 1 in 6 innings. He held South Bend to 1 run.
Below you will see three polls that ask about your confidence in the Tampa Bay Rays. We will present these same polls most Tuesdays. The results will be presented in graphical form on Thursday, and will be displayed permanently in the sidebar. The goal of the Confidence Graph is to get a feeling of how Rays fans feel about the team and the franchise and track how that level of confidence changes through time.
The GBT – The Good, The Bad and The Telling sandwich, where The Bad is nice and lean and the The Telling is ripe.
The GBT – The Good, The Bad and The Telling sandwich, where The Bad is nice and lean and the The Telling is ripe.
The GBT – The Good, The Bad and The Telling sandwich, where The Bad is nice and lean and the The Telling is ripe.
The GBT – The Good, The Bad and The Telling sandwich, where The Bad is nice and lean and the The Telling is ripe.
