Aug 29
We mentioned this briefly this morning, but somebody suggested we post the audio. And well, who are we to turn down a second-chance to hear TV commentator Brian Anderson tell the Yankees to “Shut Up.”
Archive for the 'Brian Anderson' Category
Aug 26
[THE HANGOVER] The One Where We Discuss Simple Hellboy, No Beef, And More On Penny’s Thoughts
Andy Freed, Brian Anderson, Dewayne Staats, Jeremy Hellickson, Sean Rodriguez 17 Comments »
- Tigers 2, Rays 0 (click image for boxscore)
The GBT – The Good, The Bad and The Telling sandwich, where The Bad is nice and lean and the The Telling is ripe.
THE GOOD: A Start Wasted. Outside of the home run to the first batter of the game, Jeremy Hellickson was masterful. After allowing 3 baserunners in the 1st inning, Hellboy retired 15 of the next 16, including a franchise first 4 strikeouts in the 3rd inning. That happened after Kelly Shoppach couldn’t handle a strike 3, allowing the batter to reach first base. But this start, even a loss, was classic Hellickson. If you can throw strikes and change speeds, you can be successful as a pitcher. And that is exactly what Hellboy does. 102 pitches. 87 were either fastballs or changeups. And 59 of those were strikes. Simple, but effective.
THE BAD: Still No Beef. Doug Fister retired the first 13 batters he faced. And once again, when the Rays did get runners into scoring position, they couldn’t figure out how to get them home going 0-5 with 3 strikeouts and a double-play to end the game…Unlucky. We really want to be mad at somebody for the game-ending double-play, but it was just bad luck. You really want that second runner in scoring position, especially a slow runner like Matt Joyce who is no guarantee to score from first on a double. And he got such a good jump that Sam Fuld’s line drive was behind him, and Joyce didn’t know it was a flyball until he rounded second and picked up Tom Foley. Even Fuld gets credit for hitting the ball hard. Good call. Solid Execution. Dumb luck…Losing Series. Teams don’t lose 3 of 4 to the Tigers in late August if they want to be taken seriously. Right now, the Rays can’t even make the argument that they are just a victim of their own division. Even if there was a second Wild Card in the AL, the Rays would be on the outside looking in.
THE TELLING: Andy Freed missed his second straight game in the radio booth…The Rays went 1-6 against the Tigers this season.
THE JUNKYARD DOGS WEBTOPIA…
- If you missed the update, Brad Penny claims he screamed and cussed at Sean Rodriguez because Rodriguez was screaming and cussing. [RaysIndex]
- Tom Jones blames Dewayne Staats and Brian Anderson for speculating that Brad Penny was yelling at Sean Rodriguez for not hustling. That seems odd. It wasn’t until Joe Maddon commented (especially the one where he said Rodriguez would be justified in charging the mound) that anybody was even talking about this issue. Obviously Rodriguez and Maddon thought Penny was mad about Rodriguez hustling. So to blame Staats and Anderson seems unfair. [TampaBay.com]
- As Evan Longoria goes, so do Read the rest of this entry »
Jul 29
There has been a lot of hub-bub over the spat between Brian Anderson and Dewayne Staats last Saturday night. When we heard this live, we didn’t think much of it. But with the columns in the local papers, and the bro-hug two nights ago, we thought we should go back and give it a second listen.
And we still aren’t sure what the big deal is. Was it a little animated? Sure. But these guys will work more than 150 games together this season. If they didn’t have an occasional lovers quarrel, we would be worried.
Let’s set the stage: It is the fifth inning in Kansas City, and BJ Upton is up after back-to-back doubles by Ben Zobrist and Evan Longoria have tied the game 2-2. The count is 3-2 and BJ takes a pitch that is wayyyy outside. Here is the plot that shows it is about four inches off the plate.
Honestly, this is one of the worst called strikes we have seen in a plot and BJ had about three that night.
So he was pissed. But BJ also
Read the rest of this entry »
Jun 16
[THE HANGOVER] The One Where We Discuss Hellboy’s Dominance, Inept Hitting, And BA’s Candid Story
Bobby Ramos, Brian Anderson, Jeremy Hellickson 12 Comments »
- Red Sox 3, Rays 0 (click image for boxscore)
The GBT – The Good, The Bad and The Telling sandwich, where The Bad is nice and lean and the The Telling is ripe.
THE GOOD: Jeremy Hellickson. We have always hated the excuse, “one bad pitch.” Usually that means the pitcher failed at the most crucial moment. But outside of Hellboy’s one bad pitch, he was brilliant last night. After a 1-out single in the first that was erased by a double-play, Hellickson retired 16 of the next 17 batters and didn’t give up his 2nd hit until the 7th. We’ll take that against the Sox anytime…Reid Brignac. One hit. One stinking hit, and that came from the #9 hitter. The top 8 hitters in the lineup were 0-25 with no walks. The Rays only hit in the game was a 2-out infield single by Briggy Baseball in the 3rd inning.
THE BAD: Kevin Youkilis. 3-run home run. No hit-by-pitches. The end.
THE TELLING: Brian Anderson was very candid during the game in recalling a time when he was told to hit a batter on purpose. Here is the boxscore from the game. Anderson didn’t say it was the only time he beaned a hitter. Just the only time he was told to hit a batter (it was his second season). Hope he can’t be suspended retroactively.
THE JUNKYARD DOGS WEBTOPIA…
- Casey Kotchman takes the high road, Read the rest of this entry »
Jun 02
Jun 17
Sep 24
[THE HANGOVER] Rays Sweep; Yankees Are Officially Roadkill
Brian Anderson, Carl Crawford, David Price, Evan Longoria, Joe Maddon, Troy Percival 3 Comments »
Click on above images to be taken to full standings, boxscores or schedule…
THE GOOD: No doubt wins. Game 1 of the double-header was just one of those ho-hum never-in-doubt wins. Even when the Rays fell behind 2-0 the game never seemed in doubt. The Rays have had a few of those this season. Not a lot, but certainly more than the first 10 years combined. In the second game of the double-header the Rays struggled for the first 7 innings with a triple-A lineup. But then Joe Maddon went into the clubhouse and woke some of the regulars, and rallied to score 6 in the 8th for the first-ever sweep of a double-header in franchise history. It should be noted that baseball no longer schedules double-headers and rainouts at the Trop are rare. We are assuming that every double-header in franchise history has been on the road [Ed. note: See comments]…According to Baseball Prospectus the odds of winning the division are now 95.5%.
THE BAD: The Red Sox beat the Indians and Cliff Lee to clinch at least a wild card. Of course, the win also eliminate the New York Yankees.
THE TELLING: The Twins beat the White Sox last night in the first game of 3 head-to-head. The win pulls the Twins within 1.5 (2 in the loss column). The Twins most likely need to win the final 2 games to have a shot at winning the division and facing the Rays in the first round…The first two games of the ALDS have sold out. Somehow, some writer is still going to find a way to criticize Rays fans…If the Rays win their final 5 games, they will finish with 100 wins.
DEVIL DOGS WEBTOPIA…
- We have been told by the Rays that opening the Trop for road playoff games and broadcasting road playoff games on the jumbotron is “being considered.”…We suspect that they are trying to first gauge fan interest. So if you would want to watch any of the road playoff games at the Trop, we suggest contacting the team.
- At this point it sounds like Joe Maddon is leaning towards keeping Troy Percival off the post-season roster, for at least the first round…Percival is expected to rejoin the club Thursday in Detroit. [Tampa Tribune]
“We’ll just have to make sure that he is healthy,” Maddon said. “The big thing with the role that he would play would be that he would be able to come back on back-to-back days, and he and I have already talked about that.”…The manager also said he and Percival already have had a heart-to-heart discussion about the pitcher’s status and Percival is well aware of the situation.
- David Price’s position on the post-season roster may also depend on whether Joe Maddon believes he can pitch on back-to-back days. [St. Pete Times]
- Carl Crawford swung a bat for the first time since surgery on his finger, hitting off a tee. He reported no pain, but admitted he will be a “little nervous” the first time he tries to swing hard. Joe Maddon says he will wait to get a full report from the trainers before predicting when CC might return. [MLB]
- Marc Lancaster lays out a couple of scenarios for the playoff rotation that we had not previously considered…Our question: Is it really important to Joe Maddon that the pitchers stay on normal 4-days rest, or will Maddon take the opportunity to give his young arms an extra day or two before their first playoff start? [Rays Report]
- Brian Anderson came to Spring Training hoping to revive his pitching career. Instead he blew out his elbow and retired. Now, Joe Maddon says Anderson has been “invaluable” to the team this season and is going to make a good pitching coach someday. [USA Today]
- Evan Longoria made the Twins pitching staff his bitch, and Oh, it’s THOSE GIRLS have t-shirts to prove it. [Oh. it's THOSE GIRLS]
Mar 26
[THE HANGOVER] Rays React To Demotion Of Evan Longoria
Brian Anderson, Dan Wheeler, Dioner Navarro, Evan Longoria, Joel Guzman, Jonny Gomes, Scott Kazmir, Trever Miller, Troy Percival, Willy Aybar 1 Comment »Tampa Bay Rays (5 days until Opening Day)
Yesterday: Tampa Bay Rays 10, Jays 0.
The Good: Rays pitchers combined on a shutout without walking a batter and striking out 8. Jason Hammel was limited to 4 innings in the game so that the relievers could catch up on their work (Hammel continued to work in bullpen after his 4 innings), but was very effective. He did not allow a run and gave up only 3 hits and did not walk a batter. He struck out 2…Five relievers, that will all be on the opening day roster, combined for 5 shutout innings, with only 2 hits and no walks with 6 strikeouts…Another errorless game…Jonny Gomes was 3-4 with his 4th home run of the spring…Eric Hinske had a double and a RBI.
The Bad: Guess we could put Cliff Floyd here for going 0-3 and lowering his spring average to just north of the Mendoza Line (.205), but that is a stretch as spring numbers don’t mean much, but they mean even less for veterans.
The Telling: Elliot Johnson started at short and played the first 8 innings. Right off the bat in the first he successfully turned a double play and later handled a ground ball cleanly. Johnson needed to show he could handle short if he is going to be a utility player off the bench while Ben Zobrist is on the DL.
DEVIL RAYS WEBTOPIA…
- Obligatory Public Service Announcement: We will be hosting the 2nd Annual Opening Day Tampa Bay Rays Live Blog here at RI. So feel free to stop by and join in on the shenanigans as participation is certainly welcome.
- In case you missed it late yesterday, we have a poll going to gauge the reaction of RAYSHEADS to the demotion of Evan Longoria and see what you think the Rays should have done. [Rays Index]
- Several Rays are not happy about the demotion of Evan Longoria including Jonny Gomes…They must not have asked Willy Aybar and Joel Guzman their thoughts. [St. Pete Times]
If I say I commit to winning, he’s on my team for sure. I think everybody wearing a Tampa Bay hat and uniform wants that guy here. I don’t think it’s a good day on the players’ end and for everybody in a uniform.
- Joe Maddon is taking a very a conservative approach with Scott Kazmir. Kid K will play catch the next few days and may throw from a mound some time next week. And yes, he was officially placed on the DL. [The Heater]
- Gary Shelton shows that the Rays will improve in 2008 and the biggest reason is the bullpen, especially considering the Rays in essence traded Shawn Camp, Ruddy Lugo and Brian Stokes for Troy Percival, Dan Wheeler and Trever Miller. [St. Pete Times]
- This is the extreme example of the uninformed bashing that some people are tossing at the Rays since the Evan Longoria demotion…And for the record, the Rays do not have the worst winning percentage in baseball history. There are 20 franchises in history with lower winning percentages. [Mike Responts]
- Drays Bay found a stat that shows that Dioner Navarro is one of the better catchers in baseball at blocking pitches in the dirt and preventing runs. [DRays Bay]
- Most previews should have this title. At least this blog is honest enough to admit it, and that earns points in our book. [The Ballclub]
- Willy Aybar is trying to put his troubled past behind and is relishing his fresh start. [St. Pete Times]
- Brian Anderson, who attempted a comeback from Tommy John surgery this spring with the Rays, has accepted a position with the team in which he will assist pitching coach Jim Hickey and the front office with scouting. [Rays Report]
Mar 19
[THE HANGOVER] Matt Garza Good And Bad In Latest Outing
Andrew Friedman, Ben Zobrist, Brian Anderson, Elliot Johnson, Joe Maddon, JP Howell, Scott Dohmann, Scott Kazmir, Todd Linden No Comments »Tampa Bay Rays (12 days until Opening Day)
Yesterday: Phillies 4, Tampa Bay Rays 2.
The Good: Matt Garza in the 2nd, 3rd and 6th innings. After a shaky first, he retired 9 of 10 and then the last 4 he faced. Evan Longoria hit his 3rd home run of the spring but more eye-opening was his 9th walk of the spring. Only 5 players in the majors have more and only one of those players (Willie Harris) has fewer than Longoria’s 5 strikeouts.
The Bad: Matt Garza in the first inning: 1 throwing error, 1 wild pitch, 1 walk, 1 run. Reid Brignac committed his 3rd error of the spring. He only had 3 errors in the final 43 games last season. As a team the Rays only managed 3 hits, without a baserunner until 2 outs in the 5th, and committed 2 errors.
The Telling: JP Howell once again came on in a relief role and pitched a perfect 9th with 2 strikeouts. Howell is going to make the roster…as a relief pitcher.
DEVIL RAYS WEBTOPIA…
- USA Today takes a look at the importance, or lack thereof, of spring win-loss records. Andrew Friedman may have summed it best…“Generally, I think there’s very little correlation,” Friedman said, “but for us, and the collective mind-set of our organization, it sure can’t hurt.” [USA Today]
- Bad news for Elliot Johnson fans. Ben Zobrist had his cast removed a week earlier which gives the Rays newest utility guy a much better shot at being ready for opening day…Scott Kazmir is playing catch, and may be able to throw a bullpen session on Wednesday. [Rays Report]
- Joe Maddon is less optimistic about the chances of Ben Zobrist making the trip to Baltimore for opening day. If Zobrist is not on the field by the end of next week, we suspect Zobrist will start season on the DL with a stay in extended spring training. [Tampa Bay Rays]
“You have to take at-bats, all the other little things you have to do to get ready for the season,” Maddon said. “I’m not sure about that yet, we’ll see. He’s been playing catch. I know his arm is still in shape. He’s been doing anything he can possibly do to stay under the circumstances to stay ready, and that’s typical Zobrist right there. Again, he just has not been able to hit, which would be a big factor.”
- Scott Kazmir revealed that his recent switch to a cautionary tone with regards to his arm may have been fueled by the career-ending injury suffered by Brian Anderson. [Tampa Bay Rays]
“It kind of freaked me out a little bit, to be honest with you,” Kazmir said. “You see him come in and the next thing you know he’s talking about, ‘Oh, I ripped my whatever’ and what not. Then I’m like, maybe I should take a little more time…I see that going on. I’m thinking, ‘Oh, man, I don’t want to be in that boat.’ And, plus, I’ve got the time no just to make sure that everything is strong and I’m ready to go.”
- Yesterday Rays of Light rallied for the Rays to sign Todd Linden to be the 4th outfielder. Today DRays Bay tells us why he is not all his numbers are cracked up to be. [DRays Bay]
- Dayn Perry say the Rays are “capable of contending very soon”. Of course this is the same guy that said the Rays were one of “ten teams that could surprise” in 2007 and a week later wrote a column in which he said the 2007 Rays were one of the teams “with no hope for success”. [Fox Sports]
- USA Today interviews Joe Maddon. There is nothing here that we haven’t been hearing in the local media all spring. [USA Today]
- Yahoo! Sports projects the Rays lineup. They have Scott Dohmann and JP Howell in the bullpen, which is how DRays Bay projects it and the way we figure it will shake down. Of course there is a good chance they just read one or both sites. [Yahoo! Sports]
- The Tampa Tribune has details on the three proposals submitted for the redevelopment of Tropicana Field. Officials will recommend one of the proposals to the City Council by May 1st. [Tampa Tribune]
Mar 13
[THE HANGOVER] Shelley Shirley Duncan Is The New A.J. Pierzynski (A Little Bitch)
BJ Upton, Brian Anderson, Chris Mason, Joe Maddon, Joel Guzman, Jonny Gomes, Rocco Baldelli, Shelley Duncan is a lil' bitch, Troy Percival 1 Comment »Tampa Bay Rays (18 days until Opening Day)
Yesterday: Tampa Bay Rays 7, Spankees 6. Andy Sonnanstine got his first start of the spring and looked sharp going 3 scoreless and giving up only 1 hit. He did not walk a batter. Troy Percival pitched another perfect inning in the 5th. Both veteran non-roster invitee catchers saw playing time with Mike DiFelice getting the start. He went 0-2 with a strike out, while Josh Paul had a single in two at bats. The Yankees were 4-4 in steals against Paul. Reid Brignac who now has an outside shot at being on the roster for the first week or two as the Rays backup shortstop played late and went 2-2 with a walk. John Rodriguez played right for a while and went 1-2 with a double and 2 RBI. Jon Weber the other leading candidate for the 4th outfielder spot saw time at all three outfield positions going 1-4 with an RBI. Joe Maddon’s decision is likely to be based on who can handle center better, which rules Eric Hinske out. Evan Longoria started at third and had a walk in 3 plate appearances. Hinske relieved Longoria while Willy Aybar received one plate appearance as a first baseman.
DEVIL RAYS WEBTOPIA…
- Oh It’s Those Girls recreated yesterday’s brouhaha with the aid of various toys and bobble heads. Excellent work, with our favorite detail being the use of AJ Pierzynski bobble-head to represent Shirley Duncan. [Oh, It's Those Girls]
- You remember Shirley Duncan, don’t you? He’s is the little bitch that thinks a second baseman keeps his glove near his groin. [The Heater]
- Jonny Gomes hopes everything is “under the rug” but doubts it. While Joe Maddon called the play “borderline criminal”. [New York Times]
- Marc Lancaster has several quotes from the Rays in regards to the Shirley Duncan slide. BJ Upton called it a “dirty play” and Troy Percival noted that this play was not typical of the way the Yankees play the game, which might be the biggest insult anybody can lob at Shirley. It is one thing to play for the Yankees. It is something else entirely to be a Yankee. [Rays Report]
- Big League Stew says yesterday is “The day the Rays finally became a real MLB franchise”. [Big League Stew]
- This past weekend we linked to this Yankees blog for their idiotic rant after the home plate collision. Now they are back at it. This time they make fun of Jonny Gomes for being so foolish for attacking somebody as big as Shirley Duncan…I can forgive Yankees fans for not knowing about baseball players that makes less than $12 million a year and isn’t a future hall-of-famer (re: future Yankee), but Gomes is not a small man and he did not grow up attending private schools the way Shirley did. We’ll take Gomes and we’ll take our chances. [Joblog Chamberlain]
- Another Yankees blog blames Yesterday’s fracas on Joe Maddon…and goes on a long-winded non-sensical ignorant rant against Maddon citing the incident last year when Joe Torre checked Akinori Iwamura’s bat as another example as to why Maddon is “a pompous, sarcastic wise ass” and he should “Lay off the beer for a little while, so you stop bursting blood vessels around your nose and so you can reduce the size of the unsightly gut”. [The
AnalyticalTypical Yankees Fan] - Brian Anderson had to be pulled after facing only three batters after feeling “something strange” in his left elbow. Anderson is attempting a come-back after two Tommy John surgeries. [Tampa Bay Rays]
- Chris Mason was reassigned to minor league camp. [Herald-Tribune]
- Would the Dodgers want Joel Guzman back? They are suddenly short on third baseman and if Guzman does not make the 25-man roster, he must be traded or released as he is out of options. [Mike Scioscia's Tragic Illness]
- Baseball Happenings has a personal affinity for Rocco Baldelli and they will be rooting hard for him to get back on the baseball field…We will too…We will too. [Baseball Happenings]
- Members of the Columbus Catfish and the Montgomery Biscuits received their championship rings yesterday. [Montgomery Advertiser]
- The Montgomery Biscuits extended their Player Development Contract with the Rays for the 2009 and 2010 seasons. [Montgomery Advertiser]
