Oct 23
Ben Zobrist, BJ Upton, Bud Selig, Cole Hamels, Daisuke Matsuzaka, Fernando Perez, Gabe Gross, James Shields, Joe Maddon, Matt Garza, Scott Kazmir, Todd Kalas, Trever Miller, Troy Percival Cork Gaines
Click on above images to be taken to full standings, box scores or schedule…
THE GOOD: It was a perfect game for the Phillies. They had their best pitcher on the mound against the Rays #3 starter. They got a number of breaks during the game, including a safe-call on a pickoff attempt in the 2nd inning that showed the runner was out. In the 5th inning Pat Burrell was safe at first on an error when it appeared that he was clearly inside the base line. The Phillies had several excuse-me swings and bloop basehits. With the bases loaded and only 1 out in the 3rd, BJ Upton hit a ball about as hard as it could be hit, but the ball went right to Pedro Feliz at third base, who turned a double-play. And the biggest break may have been a non-balk call in which Cole Hammels picked Carlos Pena off first base with no outs in the 6th of a 1-run game. All of those breaks, with their ace on the mound and the Rays still only lost 3-2 and had several opportunities to win the game. If there is such a thing as a “good” loss in the World Series. This was it. With pitching matchup advantages in the next 3 games, the Rays are far from out of this…The DH is a big advantage for the Rays. Chris Coste was the Phillies DH and he didn’t even look like a major league hitter…The Rays “double” lead-off combination of Jason Bartlett and Akinori Iwamura reached base each of their first 5 plate appearances…Lefties in the lineup went 4 for their first 7 with a home run and 2 RBI against Cole Hamels.
THE BAD: Scott Kazmir once again couldn’t get out of his own way in the first inning giving up a 2-run home run. And even though Kazmir was a bit unlucky with some bloop hits after the first inning, he still allowed 11 base runners in the first 6 innings. If the Phillies didn’t go 0-9 with runners in scoring position in those 6 innings, the game wouldn’t have been so close…Phillies lead-off hitters were on base 4 times…With 2 outs in the 5th and a runner on second, BJ Upton fouled out to Ryan Howard who reached into the stands for the grab. Absolutely awful job by the crowd in that section. We have no idea how they can let an opposing player make that play…The Rays 2-4 batters went a combined 0-12 with 5 Ks….Why the hell is the “free taco” such a big story? Did people think there was a chance nobody would steal a base in the entire World Series? Taco Bell is giving away free Tacos. Good for them. We understand Fox TV making a big deal. It is a corporate sponsorship. But why are there so many news stories on the topic?
THE TELLING: Joe Maddon chose to start Ben Zobrist in right field with Gabe Gross struggling and preferring to keep Fernando Perez on the bench as a late-inning weapon. It was Zobrist’s second start in right field in his career…10 of the last 11 World Series winners won game 1. Then again 5 of those were sweeps and another 2 were 4-1. Anybody think the Rays are getting swept? Didn’t think so…There is about an 80% chance of rain in St. Pete tonight. Too bad the Rays don’t play in a dome. Oh. Wait. Never mind…According to CoolStandings.com the chances of the Rays winning the World Series is now only 36.1%.
DEVIL DOGS WEBTOPIA…
- In a strange story, Daisuke Matsuzaka apparently accused (in the Japanese media) the Rays of moving the pitching rubber to benefit James Shields. MLB checked the mound and found nothing wrong. [St. Pete Times]
- Big League Stew debates the non-balk call. [Big League Stew]
- In a classic case of “hindsight is 20-20″, Jeff Passan of Yahoo! Sports says the Rays were “too cool” in game 1 and didn’t play the game with urgency…Of course in game 1 of the ALCS everybody was saying the Rays played too uptight. [Yahoo! Sports]
- Gerry Fraley of Fox Sports says the game 1 win cannot hide the problems the Phillies have. [Fox Sports]
- Jerry Crasnick of ESPN says Joe Maddon gives his players 30 minutes after every game to either celebrate the win or stew about the loss. After 30 minutes, that game is done and it is time to focus on the next game. [ESPN]
- We always wonder what makes one team in a championship contest a “team of destiny” and the other is not. The Press of Atlantic City thinks the Phillies are destiny’s darlings this year. [Press of Atlantic City]
- Philly, we’ll make you a deal. We’ll stop ringing the cowbells if you promise that the Phillies fans in games 3,4,5 will not yell any ignorant insults. Deal? Didn’t think so. [Philadelphia Inquirer]
- Peter Mucha of the Philadelphia Inquirer says a rainout on Saturday would move Cole Hamels up from game 5 to game 4. This will not change Hamel’s availability for game 7. If game 4 is moved to Monday, game 7 will not change. There just won’t be an off-day between games 5 and 6. Which means game 7 will be next Thursday regardless of when game 4 is played. So unless Hamels comes back on 2 days rest, Hamels is not pitching game 7. [Philadelphia Inquirer]
- Scott Kazmir just wishes he could get the one pitch back from the first inning. [MLB]
- Mark Newman gives us “Ten things to love about The Trop.” [MLB]
- Sean McAdam of the Boston Herald says that the emergence of the Rays changes the landscape in the AL East and the Yankees and Red Sox should get used to it. [Boston Herald]
- BJ Upton’s bat from the ALDS and ALCS was sent to the Hall of Fame. [Baseball Prospectus]
- Bud Selig sure doesn’t seem upset about the Rays in the World Series when he says, “I just can’t tell you how important this is…I’m really lucky I was able to see this.” [USA Today]
- Troy Percival is still at home with his family in California…Joe Maddon says he would be with the team if he was on the roster. [Tampa Tribune]
- The Tigers new pitching coach has ties to Matt Garza. [Detroit Free-Press]
- Todd Kalas joined his dad in the radio booth during the 4th inning. [MLB]
- While the Rays were celebrating after game 7 of the ALCS, Trever Miller’s 4-year old daughter nearly died in the stands. It does sound as if Miller’s wife had the situation under control, as this is a condition that is not new. [MLB]
Oct 09
Click on above images to be taken to full standings, box scores or schedule…
This piece by John Romano goes above the fold today. A must read…Joe Maddon is a manager that is not big on team meetings, but there were three this season that set the tone for the 2008 Rays. The “genius” label is tossed around in sports as loosely as a teen girl tosses around the label “best friend”. In both cases, the overuse takes away from the significance. In the case of Maddon, we will just call him a brilliant tactician. He doesn’t push buttons often, but when he does, you can be sure the move is well thought out, well planned and perfectly executed. Come to think of it. That pretty much describes everything about the 2008 Tampa Bay Rays. [St. Pete Times]
DEVIL DOGS WEBTOPIA…
- In case you missed it yesterday afternoon, we ran a bunch of “Webtopia” links in the evening “Happy Hour” feature. [Rays Index]
- Joe Maddon said the goal will be to inflate Daisuke Matsuzaka’s pitch count. Maddon also said that it is not out of the question to go back to James Shields in game 4 if needed…That does not seem likely considering how well Andy Sonnanstine pitched against the Red Sox in September. [Boston Globe]
- The Biz of Baseball has some quotes from Joe Maddon from the yesterday’s team workout. [The Biz of Baseball]
- Manny Stiles breaks down the ALCS position-by-position and gives the Rays a slight edge. As usual, Stiles is short and too the point…Who are we kidding. This piece is over 5,200 words. To give you perspective, the average column in one of the local papers is usually under 1,000 words. [armchair gm]
- Marc Lancaster spoke with JP Howell. By our count Howell said “man” seven times during the interview. And he sure loves his PB&J and Doritos, man. [Tampa Tribune]
- Bob Ryan of the Boston Globe sure picked a funny time to rip the Rays because of their attendance, considering the playoff games all sold out in less than an hour. And that is without a sizable season ticket holder base. [Boston Globe]
- Sox and Pinstripes wants less cowbell in the ALCS…Because you know, cowbells are a million times more annoying than some drunken bandwagon Red Sox “fan” wearing a pink hat and screaming every obscenity in the book and doing their best job to pick a fight. [Sox and Pinstripes]
- Adam Kilgore of the Boston Globe sure wants there to be bad blood in this series. Terry Francona and several players were asked about the potential for something to happen in the ALCS and they all sound as if they are not even considering it, which is smart considering what is on the line. But not satisfied with those responses, Kilgore finally gets a couple to give weak “I guess it could happen” responses. One thing we have learned from some reporters. If you ask questions long enough eventually you will get the answers you need for a story, even if the story is a stretch. [Boston Globe]
- Sox and Dawgs takes a look back at all 18 games between the Rays and Red Sox this season. [Sox and Dawgs]
- Joe Maddon says it is too easy to put a Cinderella label on the Rays. He says that it is no fluke that the Rays are in the position they are in. BJ Upton says the biggest difference is just believing they can win every time they take the field. [MLB]
- Pete Williams of The New York Times writes that the success of Tampa Bay sports franchises are no longer overshadowed by the Yankees. [New York Times]
Tito Francona An AL scout offers his thoughts on each player in the Rays lineup. [Boston Herald]- Hacks with Haggs breaks down various odds for the ALCS. The Red Sox are the favorite to win the World Series at 7/4 and the Rays are second at 5/2. The best odds of a Ray to win the ALCS MVP is BJ Upton at 7/1. There are 5 Red Sox with better odds to win the MVP. [Hacks with Haggs]
- Ticket prices for the ALCS are going sky high and the fear is that those tickets are more likely to be scooped up by Red Sox fans wearing pink hats. [Bradenton Herald]
Jun 28
Red Sox GM Theo Epstein appeared on Cal Ripken’s XM Radio show, Ripken Baseball. Epstein was asked about the sudden surge of the Tampa Bay Rays.
“Obviously they’ve been picking at the top part of the draft for the better part of a decade now and they haven’t missed with those picks. When you draft number one overall, you have to get a franchise-type player and they have. They’ve got plenty of them and they’ve done a great job drafting lower down as well and developing their players…”
There is only one small problem with that assessment:
Number of “number one overall” players on the Rays’ roster: 0
Prior to David Price, last season and Tim Beckham this season, the Rays have only drafted #1 two times, one of which was Josh Hamilton in 1999, whom the Rays lost in the Rule 5 draft.
Certainly one can say that the other top pick (Delmon Young in 2003) helped shape this roster as Matt Garza and Jason Bartlett were acquired in an off-season trade for Young. But that is still only one “number one overall” player that has led to the Rays success this season and Andrew Friedman and Co. deserve a little more credit for that trade than just “they have sucked for 10 years.”
Also, the Rays are far from the only team that has consistently drafted near the top of the draft for the last 10 years (Pirates, Royals, etc.) and yet the Rays are the only team that consistently drafts and develops top-rate players.
And while the Red Sox may not draft near the top, they have become experts in the art form of hording compensation picks for lost free agents. In the last four drafts alone, the Red Sox have selected 13 players before the second round.
Let’s reword Epstein’s statement to reflect why the Red Sox have been so successful…
“Obviously they’ve been picking tons of players in the first round of the draft for the better part of a decade now and they haven’t missed with those picks. When you draft 13 first round players in four years, a team is bound to hit the bullseye a couple of times even if their eyes are shut. They’ve got plenty of them and they’ve done a great job hording compensation picks as well as copying the organizational philosophy of the Evil Empire by throwing $100 million at a pitcher that might win 16 games…”
Theo Epstein on the Rays [MLB ON XM]
May 22
THE GOOD: If you would have offered us 3-3 on a tough two-city road trip, we would have signed for that. So, despite yesterday’s awful performance, the Rays are still playing well. Being 2 back in the division is more of an indication of how well the Sox are playing right now.
THE BAD: Bizarro Andy Sonnanstine. Duke retired the first 8 batters, but after that, A’s hitters were 9-18 with a walk, 4 doubles and 2 home runs…Jonny Gomes career as an outfielder took a major hit yesterday. There were 2 doubles that hit off the base of the outfield wall that probably should have been cought. He also had trouble fielding a ball on the ground a couple of times and missed at least 1 cutoff man. If Sonny wasn’t so hittable, we would suggest that the outcome would have been different if Carl Crawford had not been given a day off…Offense managed onle 3 hits, and none from the 2-6 hitters.
THE TELLING: The Rays still have a 2 game lead in the Wild Card over Baltimore, which means this is a big series coming up this weekend. The Rays have an opportunity to put some distance between themselves and the O’s and reveal to the rest of the league that Baltimore is a pretender, not a contender.
DEVIL RAYS WEBTOPIA…
- Don’t forget to VOTE for Carl Crawford to start the all-star game. If you haven’t voted yet today, go NOW! [MLB All-Star Voting]
- Tampa Bay Rays’ merchandise sales have risen 70% so far in ’08. Of course a 70% increase of very little is still very little as the Rays still rank 29th in baseball, ahead of only the Toronto Jays. [St. Pete Times]
- Bill Chastain has a few quotes from other teams in the AL East and how they view the ’08 Tampa Bay Rays. [MLB]
- Joe Henderson takes a closer look at the Rays vastly improved defense and tells us something that the rest of baseball has been saying since the middle of April: The Rays turnaround in ’08 is due in large part to the improved fielding. [Tampa Tribune]
- Do the Rays have the best 1-2 starting pitchers in the AL East? Well, the Red Sox would never in a million years trade Josh Beckett and Daisuke Matsuzaka for James Shields and Scott Kazmir. [DRays Bay]
- Rays Digest breaks down the early-season contenders for Rookie of the Year. [Rays Digest]
