Sep 03
Joe wonders what Joe Maddon had to say to bitter Matt Garza after giving him the hook in the sixth inning after 98 pitches, one run and pretty darn good command.
Is this what the postseason will look like? Or will Maddon give his playoff starters more rope?
Forgive Joe for being assumptive with the playoffs, but there’s no way the Sox are making up seven games with 28 to go.
“It’s not you, Matt. But the computer said to take you out, son. You can’t mess with what’s working. … I love you.”
All in all, a pretty typical Rays win in Baltimore. Bullpen was lights out, a couple of bats stepped up, and murderers row (Pena, Joyce and Johnson) didn’t kill the good guys.
Joe’s resigned himself to the fact that Rays fans are just never going to know the soul of this team until October. Although Joe is one of the guys that hits a 9 in the confidence poll.
On a side note, Joe had the unfortunate experience of listening to the end of the Yankees game on local radio in Tampa today. The unmitigated arrogance flowing through the airwaves was astounding, especially considering Joe expected a lot of that was coming.
You can just tell that the grating Suzyn Waldman and company just think the Rays are nothing more than a nice story simply to keep the final weeks interesting.
Joe’s never been more motivated to win the East.
Sep 03
With the return of Dioner Navarro this week, the Rays now have an interesting dilemma this off-season. When Navi was demoted back in June, we just assumed that he would be non-tendered during the off-season, essentially releasing him. It appeared that the Rays had chosen Kelly Shoppach’s bat over Navi’s defense and familiarity with the pitching staff. And with the inconsistency of the Rays offense, the Rays were willing to take a step backwards defensively at the catcher’s position.
But then something happened. Actually, we should say something didn’t happen. Shoppach never started hitting. In 146 plate appearances, Shoppach is hitting .189 with 3 home runs (2 in one game), a .306 OBP and a .288 wOBA (that sucks).
So what will the Rays do?
Of the three catchers, Shoppach is the only one the Rays are committed to for the 2011 season, to the tune of $3.0 million. Navarro is arbitration-eligible and would make $2.5-3.0 million. If they non-tender him, they owe him nothing. John Jaso would make near the big league minimum of $400K.
You have to assume they will Read the rest of this entry »
Sep 03
What do tigers dream of when they take their little tiger snooze? Do they dream of mauling zebras, or Halle Berry in her Catwoman suit? Don’t you worry your pretty striped head, we’re gonna get you back to Tyson and your cozy tiger bed. And then we’re gonna find our sponsors, and then we’re gonna give them a best friend hug. Sponsors, Sponsors, oh, Sponsors, Sponsors, Sponsors, Sponsors, Sponsors!
Won’t you check out our sponsors?
Dolman Law Group
Paradise Worldwide Transportation
Sep 03
On September 16, the St. Pete City Council is going to vote on a resolution to build a high-speed train between Orlando and St. Pete.
“Connecting St. Petersburg with the 25 million annual visitors to Disney is a game changing event for our economy and for the future of baseball in St. Petersburg,” Nurse says in a resolution he placed on council’s Sept. 2 agenda…The council deferred voting on the resolution until Sept. 16. A chance for a wider discussion on the issue will take place three days earlier, when St. Petersburg Councilman Jeff Danner chairs “Connecting Pinellas County to High-Speed Rail.”
Sounds great in theory. But how many people would really make the commute? Sure there are some hardcore fans, but we doubt that those fans add up to a significant impact. Even on a high-speed train, there is still a significant time commitment required that most people are not willing to make.
Would the train make stops in Hillsborough? That would increase the number of people with easy access to the Rays. But that would also significantly increase the commute time for those coming from Orlando.
Sep 03
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: off-day
THE BAD: off-day
THE TELLING: The Rays only need to go 13-16 in the final 29 to get to 95 wins. Every AL team in the Wild Card era has made the playoffs with at least 95 wins…The Rays extended their player development contract with double-A Montgomery through 2014…Rafael Soriano was named delivery man of the month for the second time…After 19 walks in July and 10 more in the first 3 weeks of August, Tim Beckham only has 1 walk in the last 10 games.
WHERE THEY STAND: The Rays are 82-51, 1.5 games behind the Yankees (1 in the loss column) and 6.5 in front of the Red Sox (7 in the loss column).
THE JUNKYARD DOGS WEBTOPIA…
- Jeremy Hellickson will not work back-to-back days out of the bullpen, and he is not likely to come into the middle of an inning. [St. Pete Times]
- Great interview with James Shields on learning how to pitch and how he attacks batters. [Baseball Beginnings]
- You’ve got to see this video of a woman that gets smacked in the face with a foul ball at The Trop, and recovers to actually catch 2 foul balls later in the game (thanks Scrappy). [Yardbarker]
- Joe Maddon received his honorary degree yesterday from Lafayette College. Guess what he wore. [Lehigh Valley Live]
- Desmond Jennings talks about Read the rest of this entry »
