Archive for July 9th, 2010

Jul 09

Your Postgame Shot Of Joe:

Uncategorized Joe Rays Fan 29 Comments »

Mourn the loss of Cliff Lee? Or mourn the continued decline of James Shields?

Joe’s wearing black tonight.

Shields came into Friday night’s game against Cleveland at the FruitDome and made his now trademark longball mistakes, got unacceptably rattled by a balk call and continued his march toward a five-run ERA.

Andy Sonnanstine returned to his 2009 form, and the Tribe walked out with a 9-3 laugher.

Shuffle away on that rotation, Merlot Joe.

About the only enjoyment Joe can take away from this game is home plate umpire Jim Reynolds failing in his bid to go home early. After opening the strike zone wider than Nolan Ryan’s grin tonight to kill the Rays rally in the seventh, the Tribe followed with a four-run eighth.

Could B.J. Upton throw out a turtle at home plate?

The Rays left 18 runners on base.

There’s always tomorrow.

Jul 09

Cliff Lee Traded To Rangers

BJ Upton, Cliff Lee, Wade Davis Cork Gaines 27 Comments »

[Update] ESPN.com is reporting that Cliff Lee has been traded to the Rangers for Justin Smoak and three others. It is too bad they couldn’t wait a few hours but it is nice to see Lee is not going to the Yankees.

[Update] Joel Sherman is reporting (via Twitter) that talks between the Mariners and Yankees may have reached an impasse. The M’s are concerned about the health of one of the prospects involved and a mystery team has swooped in. It would be surprising to us if that mystery team is the Rays. Read the rest of this entry »

Jul 09

The Professor And Joe On The Radio

Rays Index Radio admin 1 Comment »

Cork will be going on 1010 Sports with JP Peterson to discuss the Rays at about 4:50. You can listen live by going to their website. [1010 Sports] 

A little later on, Joe will make an appearance on 620 WDAE at 5:30. Again, you can listen live by going to their website. [620 WDAE]

Jul 09

Blalock Officially Released

Uncategorized Cork Gaines 3 Comments »

MLB Trade Rumors noticed on the MLB transactions page that Hank Blalock is now officially a free agent after having been DFA’d two weeks ago. So now Hank the Tank will have more time to hit up Bed, Bath and Beyond on Saturdays. Or maybe he will go on to be awesome for another team.

Jul 09

Sponsors Are Like A Great Baseball Team

Sponsors are glorious Cork Gaines No Comments »

Sponsors are like a great baseball team. A great baseball team can make you dizzy, like you’ve been drinking Jack and Coke all morning. They can make you feel high full of the single greatest commodity known to man – promise. Promise of a better day. Promise of a greater hope. Promise of a new tomorrow. This particular aura can be found in the gait of a great baseball team. In their smile, in their soul, the way they make every rotten little thing about life seem like it’s going to be okay.

Won’t you say hello to our sponsors?

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    • Jul 09

    [THE HANGOVER] The One Where We Discuss Big Dub’s Job Security, Dan Wheeler’s Relief And Why We Hate Carl Crawford

    Carl Crawford, Cliff Lee, Dan Johnson, Dan Wheeler, David Price Cork Gaines 18 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: Carl Crawford. Plain and simple. As of July 9, 2010, he is the greatest Tampa Bay Ray that ever lived and one of the best players in baseball. Last night he went 2-4 with 2 long home runs and 4 runs batted in. The Real Superman is now hitting .321/.378/.516 and is on pace for 20 home runs, all of which would be a career highs…Wade Davis. It is easy to think that Big Dub’s job is in a fragile state these days, so he needed a strong performance entering the break. And for the 2nd time in 2 starts, Davis worked at least 7 innings and held the opposition to 2 runs. He is still walking too many batters (4 last night), but he is showing signs that the Rays may not need Jeremy Hellickson after all…Carlos Pena. Joe Maddon saw something he liked in Thursday night’s matchup and had Pena back in the cleanup spot. Pena responded with his first home run in 12 games…Dan Wheeler. Apparently giving Joaquin Benoit and Rafael Soriano another night off, Joe Maddon turned to Dan Wheeler with 1 out in the 8th and the tying run at the plate. Wheeler came through getting the next two batters en route to a 5-out save.

    THE BAD: Carl Crawford. We hate Carl Crawford right now. Before the season, we assumed it would be easy to see him walk away. Not now. Now it is going to suck. But what can the Rays do? Would he be worth $15 million in 2011? Yes. What about 2012? Yes. Heck, he might even be worth $15 million in 2013. But Crawford is going to want a 6 or 7-year deal. Do you want to pay Crawford $15 million in 2014, 2015 and 2016? No. No, you don’t.

    THE TELLING: Dan Wheeler recorded his first save since last September…Ben Zobrist once again led off, going 2-3 and scoring twice. Look for Zorilla to lead off against right-handers for the time being with BJ Upton the likely choice against lefties.

    WHERE THEY STAND: The Rays are 52-33, 2 games behind the Yankees and 3 games ahead of the Red Sox in the Wild Card race. After 85 games in 2008, the Rays were 53-32.

    THE JUNKYARD DOGS WEBTOPIA…