Archive for July 8th, 2010

Jul 08

Your Postgame Shot Of Joe

Uncategorized Joe Rays Fan 8 Comments »

Joe’s completely forgotten about hell June. This is way too much fun.

The crappy Indians rolled into the FruitDome tonight, and Wade Davis looked like a legitimate fifth starter on a contender, Carl Crawford channeled Dave Kingman, and John Jaso danced on the basepaths like Vince Coleman.

Rays 5, Indians 2. Six in a row.

Leave it to Crawford to throw a big bucket of cold water on the fire in his postgame interview. “You know, we still behind [the Yankees],” Crawford said.

Yeah, yeah, C.C., Joe’s not getting down off his high so fast.

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Jul 08

RaysIndex On ESPN 1040

Rays Index Radio, Uncategorized Joe Rays Fan 6 Comments »

More RaysIndex on the radio is always a good thing.

Now you can count on it.

The Professor, Cork Gaines, the creator, curator and overall guru on these here pages, will join The Fabulous Sports Babe Show on ESPN 1040 AM about 12:40 p.m. every Thursday. So set your calendars.

The Babe is a hardcore Rays fan and a RaysIndex reader — she even likes Joe – and she never pulls punches. There’s a mountain of Rays fun to cover. So don’t forget to tune in.

Those stuck behind a computer can listen via the station’s website.

Jul 08

Stark: Rays Looking To Upgrade Offense; Upton Not Likely To Be Traded (Yet)

Adam Dunn, BJ Upton, Cliff Lee, Jeremy Hellickson, Josh Willingham Cork Gaines 29 Comments »

Earlier this week we heard that the Rays might be interested in trading for Cliff Lee. Now we learn from Jayson Stark that the Rays have inquired about a couple of hitters…

Despite an eruption of rumors linking them to Cliff Lee, the Rays are spending almost all of their time shopping for bats these days. Two names sources say they’ve inquired about: Josh Willingham and Adam Dunn, reports ESPN.com’s Jayson Stark.

Clubs that have spoken with the Rays say they’re not even focused on adding offense at any particular position…their focus is to “just get a bat,” said an official of one club, “and make the pieces fit later.”

Certainly Lee would be a big boost to the Rays rotation, but it does make more sense that the Rays first priority would be to add a bat. In fact, if Lee doesn’t work out, we can’t imagine there is even a plan B for the rotation that does not include the name “Jeremy Hellickson.” Read the rest of this entry »

Jul 08

[THE HANGOVER] The One Where We Discuss King David’s All-Star Start Bid, Garza’s Unexpected Appearance And Sweep Caroline

Alex Torres, David Price, Gabe Kapler, Matt Garza Cork Gaines 7 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: David Price. If there was ever a night that JoeMa needed his starter to work into the 8th inning, it was last night. And King David delivered with one of his 2 or 3 best starts of the season, striking out 10 and walking just 1. And in doing so, he made a strong case to start the all-star game. At 12-4 with a 2.42 ERA, he has the lowest ERA of any 10-game winner. And his 3.61 FIP betters CC Sabathia (3.79) and is comparable to Clay Buchholz (3.47)…Matt Garza. It is not often you will see Garza listed in “The Good” on the same day as David Price. But with Rafael Soriano and Joaquin Benoit desperately needing a night off, Joe Maddon did the unthinkable once again. He turned to Matt Garza in the 9th inning who picked up his first career save…Ben Zobrist. Joe Maddon may have found his leadoff hitter. Zorilla had 2 more walks and another stolen base. In the last 10 games, he has 15 walks and 7 steals.

THE BAD: Tim Wakefield. Of the many downsides to playing in the AL East, is having to face a knuckleballer 3-4 times a season. There is always the fear that players will have their swings messed up for a few games afterwards.

THE TELLING: This was the Rays first sweep at home this season, and they have won 5 in a row…The Rays are now 8-4 versus the Red Sox and 22-10 against the AL East….Matt Garza’s save was just his 3rd relief appearance as a pro and 1st since joining the Rays…Evan Longoria hit his first HR in 19 games…The Rays are 9-6 since Stuart Sternberg made his announcement seeking a new stadium. They were 6-9 in the 15 games prior to that. Whatever that is worth.

WHERE THEY STAND: The Rays are 51-33, 2 games behind the Yankees and 2.5 games in front of the Red Sox in the Wild Card. After 84 games in 2008, the Rays were 52-32.

THE JUNKYARD DOGS WEBTOPIA…

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