Why, Joe is so giddy over the Rays beating the Chowdahheads tonight, Joe’s pulling his Rays jersey out of his boxers as he types.
So much to like about this game. Where does Joe start? Was it the turn-back-the-clock pitching of James “Big Game” Shields? Was it Carlos Pena’s homer? Was it Carl Crawford’s homer? Was it Pena racking up Victor Martinez at home plate? Was it B.J. Upton chasing down a potential extra-base hit in the left field gap late?
Oh, and Joe almost forgot about Red Sux killer Dan Johnson!
So much to choose from.
At any rate, the Rays have a 6 1/2 game lead on the Chowdahheads after winning two of three, with just over a month left in the season.
Joe hopes all those Chowdahheads who were at the Fruitdome tonight go home crying with their typical being-choked-24/7 voices as they cry for their mommy Bill Simmons and his 6,500-word ramblings of gibberish and high school cheerleader angst.
Joe hopes those SOBs buy some stale Samuel Adams Cranberry Lambic! God, what putrid human beings.
Get the hell out of Florida and put on your Bill Belicheat hoodies. It’s getting cold up in New England… skunks! A long cold winter awaits while you watch the Rays in the playoffs!
Bad calls, stupid mistakes and unaggressive hitting aside, the Rays didn’t beat themselves 3-1 on Friday, the Sox stuck it to them.
Joe hates those kinds of losses. It sucks to have to admit when you just weren’t as good, especially with ace David Price on the mound.
What drove Joe insane is Carlos Pena and B.J. Upton with their bats on their shoulders in the eighth inning down two runs. How exacly was Pena fooled by a fastball into a feeble check swing?
Swing the damn bats.
Sean Rodriguez did his best B.J. Upton impression getting picked off second/caught stealing third with two outs in the fifth inning. And Upton later rounded third like a high school kid and got thrown out at home in what was the game-changer. Though Joe knows the real issue was the Rays’ feeble bats in the face of Jon Lester.
On the upside, Joe was fired up to have Price legitimately throwing inside to David Ortiz. It’s about time, and Joe hopes to see that continue through the series and beyond.
How was that game not sold out? Not even 30K?
Tonight’s not a must-win game in Joe’s eyes, but the Rays can’t get swept. So it’s as good a time as any.
The Rays today announced they signed Brad Hawpe to a minor league deal. The 2009 All-Star with the Rockies will report to single-A Charlotte for a few days until rosters expand on Sept. 1. Technically, a player must be on the 25-man roster on August 31 in order to be eligible for the post-season. But if Hawpe plays well for the Rays, they can add Hawpe to the postseason roster as long as somebody is moved to the 60-day DL. And the Rays, who are masters of the DL-roster spot, should have no problem doing that.
Hawpe hit .255 with 7 home runs and a .343 OBP in 88 games before being waived by the Rockies. Hawpe averaged 25 home runs and a .384 OBP from 2006 to 2009.
In other news, Jayson Stark reports that the White Sox did indeed claim Manny Ramirez off waivers. He says there are “strong indications” the Rays did try to claim Manny. However, the White Sox had the priority claim due to their worse record.
The Rays Confidence Graph is a look at how much confidence Rays fans have in the Tampa Bay Rays. The graph is designed to give us a look at how our emotional bias as Rays fans fluctuates through time. The “confidence” in the team is an inexact measure of how fans feel about the team’s current strength as well as how much confidence fans have in Joe Maddon and the franchise for the next 3-4 years…
Notes on the graph…
Confidence in the 2010 Rays went from 9.2 to 9.0. The most common response was “9″ at 46.4%.
Confidence in the future went from 8.4 to 8.0. The most common response was “8″ at 32.3%.
Confidence in Joe Maddon went from 8.2 to 8.1. The most common response was “9″ at 27.0%.
The Charlotte Stone Crabs just keep cranking out videos. Our only complaint is that they did not get a video into production with Rocco Baldelli. But we’re nitpicking.
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
Here is today’s GBT: Jeff Niemann suuuuucccckkkkked. Nothing else as we are making our last trip to The Trop before October. Unfortunately, my sister will be joining me. She was born in Boston, likes the Red Sox. Even has a tattoo. So if anybody wants to come join us in making fun of her…
THE TELLING: Jeremy Hellickson is scheduled to pitch in relief today for Charlotte…John Jaso played first base for the first time in the big leagues. He had previously played the position in the minors, but not since 2005.
WHERE THEY STAND: The Rays are 78-49, tied with the Yankees for first place in the AL East. Both teams are 5.5 games ahead of the Red Sox (6 in the loss column). After 127 games in 2008, the Rays were 78-49.
THE JUNKYARD DOGS WEBTOPIA…
The Red Sox shuffled their rotation moving Jon Lester back to face the Rays on Friday. [NECN]
Marc Topkin writes about John Jaso’s move to first base and the Red Sox playoff hopes. [St. Pete Times]
The getaway game was as ugly as it gets. Jeff Niemann pitched like Joe thought Wade Davis would have last night, and the Rays were toast in the third inning.
Then, like dangling ice cream in front of a dieting sorority chick, the Rays served up Andy Sonnanstine as dessert to the Angels. The drool was flowing. … If Joe were into wacked out conspiracy theories, he might think Sonnanstine doesn’t mind getting lit up in long relief, as it might only help him get a ticket out of town and a starting job somewhere else.
In a festive mood and now waiting to bury the Sox, Joe’s got to celebrate the almost-got-him play at third base by Willy Aybar. Barehanding a cue-ball shot to third base and nearly throwing out Hideki Matsui? Joe didn’t think he had it in him.
Joe also liked John Jaso going with a pitch in the ninth inning for his third hit, rather than tyring to jack his second home run. That kind of discipline is what the Rays will need when it counts.
Yeah, Joe’s reaching, but that’s what you do in a blowout to end a 4-3 West Coast trip. It’s hard to be annoyed.
And Joe learned something new with the passed ball turned fielder’s choice. Joe still doesn’t get it. Does anyone?
Why, Joe is so giddy over the Rays beating the Chowdahheads tonight, Joe’s pulling his Rays jersey out of his boxers as he types.
The Rays today announced they signed Brad Hawpe to a minor league deal. The 2009 All-Star with the Rockies will report to single-A Charlotte for a few days until rosters expand on Sept. 1. Technically, a player must be on the 25-man roster on August 31 in order to be eligible for the post-season. But if Hawpe plays well for the Rays, they can add Hawpe to the postseason roster as long as somebody is moved to the 60-day DL. And the Rays, who are masters of the DL-roster spot, should have no problem doing that.
The GBT – The Good, The Bad and The Telling sandwich, where The Bad is nice and lean and the The Telling is ripe.
