Archive for the 'Eva Longoria' Category

Oct 06

[EVAN LONGORIA] Dirtbag Didn’t Study His Cliches In The Minors

Eva Longoria, Evan Longoria, Evan Longoria is a Dirtbag Cork Gaines 1 Comment »

This interview of Evan Longoria is a few days old, but we have a good excuse. We are big fans of “Big League Stew” over at Yahoo! Sports, but we don’t remember ‘Duk conducting any interviews before [Ed. note: Interview was not conducted by 'Duk. Rather it was David Brown, and the "Answer Man" series is a regular feature]. Couple that with some of the strange questions and answers and honestly, we thought this interview was satire. Apparently we were wrong.

On Eva Longoria:

I’m done talking about that. I did it all through the minor leagues. That’s all I had to hear was her name associated with mine. I think we’re kind of past that.

On who would play him in a movie:

Mark Wahlberg.

On which member of the Rays should not get a mohawk:

Well, he still doesn’t have one. Carlos [Pena]. And I told him not to. He asked me multiple times if he should get one. I just don’t think he’ll look good with it. He’s the clean-cut Latin guy on our team. I guess it’s debatable if he’s Latin or not. He is Dominican. I told him not to.

On the difference between being from Tampa and from St. Pete:

It’s almost like — from my perspective — the difference between being from Long Beach and being from L.A. I don’t want to say there’s a — I don’t want to say “stuck up” — but the St. Pete natives come to the game dressed as baseball fans. Tampa people come dressed to go out. There’s girls in heels dressed up and ready to go out. Usually, the St. Pete people that are fans, are FANS. They’re there to watch the game and support us.

Apparently Dirtbag needed a “Crash Davis” in the minors to mentor him on learning cliches.

One of the nice things about rooting for a small-market team, is that an interview like this will not become a national story. If Longoria played in New York, he probably would have been crucified for some of his answers. But he plays in St. Pete and our reaction is, Meh.

Answer Man: Evan Longoria talks Tampa Bay, Dick Vitale and Eva [Big League Stew]

Sep 26

[THE HANGOVER] Percival Closer To Post-Season Roster Spot; Crawford Could Be Activated Today

Ben Zobrist, Carl Crawford, Eva Longoria, Evan Longoria, Frank Hibbard, Scott Kazmir, Stuart Sternberg, Troy Percival, Urban Meyer Cork Gaines 4 Comments »



Click on above images to be taken to full standings, boxscores or schedule…

THE GOOD: Ben Zobrist. Is this guy’s blood being checked? Zorilla went deep twice yesterday, including a shot to straightaway center field that is a rare sight in Comerica Park.

THE BAD: Scott Kazmir. Has there ever been a more disappointing 12-8, 3.49 season? Only Kazmir can make Ramon Santiago look like Ben Zobrist. Santiago entered the game with 1 home run this season. For his career, he had hit 1 home run every 138 at bats. Kaz serves up 2 gopher balls to the most unlikely of batters. It is the equivalent to Jason Bartlett hitting 2 home runs in 1 game. Should never happen. And once again, Kazmir was repeatedly looking back down at the mound after pitches indicating that he was once again struggling with his landing foot…1:05 starts one day after playing a night game in Baltimore. Why? Senior citizen day. Seriously.

THE TELLING: According to Baseball Prospectus the odds of winning the AL East are now 98.0%, so let’s not panic…The Twins won again last night, completing a sweep of the White Sox and moving a half-game ahead of Chicago. At this point the ideal scenario for the Rays is to have the teams end up within a half-game of each other after Sunday. This would force the White Sox to make up a game on Monday against Detroit. If the Sox and Twins are tied after the makeup game, they will be forced to play a 1-game playoff on Tuesday. After the game, the winner will have to immediately travel to St. Pete to take on the Rays on either Wednesday or Thursday…The Angels won again, making the magic number for the Angels to clinch the best record 1.

DEVIL DOGS WEBTOPIA…

  • If you or somebody you know has been a season ticket holder since the inaugural season, can you please drop me a line HERE. Thanks.
  • Joe Maddon was impressed with the outing by Troy Percival, but wants to get him into tonight’s game to see how he handles back-to-back games, before deciding about the post-season roster…Also Carl Crawford could be reinstated from the DL today to be used as a pinch-runner and defensive replacement. Still no word on when he will be able to start swinging a bat. [St. Pete Times]
  • Wow. Neil Johnson of the Tampa Tribune wrote a story about Rays fans being disappointed having to wait for a Division Title. The first three paragraphs are about a dog that did not get his favorite treat because the Rays lost a game. Really? A dog? It is bad enough that many think the Rays don’t have any fans, but you start a story about Rays fans and you begin with a friggin‘ dog?…We can’t make this shit up. [Tampa Tribune]
  • Mohawks on girls? Her Rays has an…um…an…well…gosh…you see it’s…we…oh lord. We’ll just let her tell you. [Her Rays]
  • Well, this was only a matter of time…Eva Longoria, Rays fan (we had to read this three times before we realized it might not be a joke). [Orlando Sentinel]
  • Clearwater mayor Frank Hibbard, mohawk fan (if the Rays make it to the World Series). [St. Pete Times]
  • Urban Meyer, Rays fan. [St. Pete Times]
  • Ronald Blum takes a look at how Stuart Sternberg went from Mets fan to the owner of the Rays. [Yahoo! Sports]
  • John Romano is worried about which Scott Kazmir will show up in the post-season…Aren’t we all…aren’t we all. [St. Pete Times]
  • The Rays slay the Yankees…In poetry. [The Hardball Times]
  • Marc Topkin has his list of the top 10 games from this season. [The Heater]
  • We tried to follow along with this couple, but we got confused at “Aki“. [VIDEO]
  • Tom Jones gives us a semi-sarcastic (we think) look at who should throw out the first pitch. [St. Pete Times]
  • Anybody that thinks a division title celebration will be muted because of the previous celebration, think again. [Tampa Tribune]
Mar 10

[THE HANGOVER] Edwin Jackson Being Edwin Jackson

Akinori Iwamura, Andy Sonnanstine, Brian Anderson, David Price, Edwin Jackson, Eva Longoria, Jason Bartlett, Joe Maddon, JP Howell, Matt Garza, Scott Kazmir, Troy Percival Cork Gaines 10 Comments »

Tampa Bay Rays (21 days until Opening Day)

Yesterday: Reds 6, Tampa Bay Rays 4. Edwin Jacskon allowed all 6 runs in the second inning on 6 hits, 2 walks and 2 errors. Jackson retired the last 6 batters he faced in the 3rd and 4th and 5 other pitchers did not allow a hit in the final 5 frames including Troy Percival and Dan Wheeler who each pitched perfect innings. The Rays committed four errors on Sunday after committing only two in the first eight games. Dioner Navarro was 1-2 throwing out base stealers. Elliot Johnson started and led off, going 1-4 with a walk. He is now 6-13 (.462) with 3 walks (.563 OBP). Ben Zobrist started in left field and later played one inning in right field. He fielded two base hits, but made no put outs. Evan Longoria had a pinch hit double. Willy Aybar started at third going 0-2 with a walk. Reid Brignac started at short, batted 9th and went 1-3 with an RBI single.

DEVIL RAYS WEBTOPIA…

  • Edwin Jackson may have lost his firm grip on one of the open spots in the rotation. Even though he was strong in the third and fourth inning, Joe Maddon says that Jackson must stay away from innings like the second and needs to find the strike zone better. This was classic Edwin Jackson. He looked dominating most of the game, but when things unravel for Jackson that unravel in a big way and he is bad enough in just one inning to lose a game. [St. Pete Times]

“Edwin Jackson today, really not sharp,” Maddon said. “That’s the kind of performance he’s got to stay away from. Better strike throwing, better quality pitches – we need to get that out of him. More like he did in that six- or seven-game stretch last year during the season. … I just want to see a little bit more direction within the strike zone.”

  • JP Howell and Andy Sonnanstine are both expected to start games in the near future…Despite looking so well so early, Brian Anderson will start season in the minors with hopes of being in the majors within a month or two. [Herald Tribune]
  • Scott Kazmir will throw a bullpen session today and is expected to make his spring debut on Saturday against the Yankees. Joe Maddon noted that it was still possible for Kazmir to be ready to throw on opening day, but that they need to remain flexible and consider what is best for Kaz and for the team. [Tampa Bay Rays]
  • Hidden behind the “Insider” wall of ESPN.com, Peter Gammons names Evan Longoria as #3 on the list of the “Grapefruit League’s eight to watch”. [ESPN]

Maybe the Rays will send him down to Triple-A to start the season because of concerns of him being a “Super Two” player after the 2009 season, but Longoria should open the season and be an instant impact star. His hands are remarkable, and scouts believe he can hit 30 home runs as a rookie, in the middle of a lineup with B.J. Upton, Carl Crawford and Carlos Pena. Think of that Long Beach State shortstop succession, from Bobby Crosby to Troy Tulowitzki to Longoria, who will play third for the Rays.

  • Brittany Ghiroli takes a look at Jason Bartlett’s adjustments to his new team and new environment. In addition to learning Japanese to help the communication between himself and his new double play partner, Akinori Iwamura, and tinkering with his swing Bartlett has been a calming influence on the emotional Matt Garza. [MLB]
  • Great line from Joe Maddon about David Price…After making a recent joke at Troy Percival’s expense, the closer responded by sticking large pictures of himself to Price’s BMW. When asked if Price had the “inner fortitude” to respond, Maddon stated that “he has the inner intelligence to not”. [Tampa Bay Rays]
  • Yankees Chick has a poll going on the morality of playing hard in spring training…On a Yankees blog…two days after one of their players is hurt by a completely legal and regular occurring baseball play…Let’s just say it is not the most scientific poll ever. [Yankees Chick]
  • In an effort to ease our stress levels this morning, we will not be posting links to every Yankees blog that is crying over a play in which Yankees fans would be the first to laugh it had happened to another team. Instead, we gave you the silly poll above and now for balance and sense of Fen Shui we will now give you the point of view of Red Sox Chick, which we can sum up in three sentences…”Does new Joe realize that he’s making the Yankees look like whiny babies and the Rays look like tough guys? Is this the direction he wants to take the team? Or is he just enjoying being a hypocrite this early in his new job?” Couldn’t have written it better ourselves. [Red Sox Chick]
  • Sports Indeed takes Rays Anatomy to task for backing Joe Girardi’s comments…An outsider might raise an eyebrow or think a writer is trying to take an unbiased point of view. Neither are true. The lead writer for Rays Anatomy writes through pinstripe-tinted glasses. He is a Yankees fan. [Sports Indeed]
  • When asked if he would still brush a batter back in spring training if the situation called for it, Joba Chamberlain said “You have to. If you don’t, that’s the time you get hurt, when you’re not doing .everything you would normally do.“…Sounds like Joe Girardi needs to have a talk with his own players. [Newsday]
  • Oh yeah, and in case you missed it, DRG came down pretty hard on the Evil Empire yesterday. [Rays Index]
  • River Ave. Blues ranks the best skills in the AL East. [River Ave. Blues]
Feb 21

[THE HANGOVER] The Rays Are Beginning To Believe

Carl Crawford, Carlos Pena, Cliff Floyd, Dioner Navarro, Don Zimmer, Elijah Dukes, Eva Longoria, Evan Longoria, Glenn Gibson, Joe Maddon, Jonny Gomes, Rocco Baldelli, Scott Kazmir, Tony Parker Cork Gaines 2 Comments »

Tampa Bay Rays (39 days until Opening Day)

A while back we were critical of Joe Maddon for the following quote…

I think [81 wins is] a reasonable goal…But of course I don’t want us just to stop there.

Some thought we were too hard on Papa Joe. Our point was simple…While 81 wins may be a “realistic” goal, it is not a reasonable goal. If winning games is the goal, as it is this year, then the playoffs are the only reasonable goal. If a manager sets a goal of .500 and only ‘wants’ more, the team will never attain more.

Yesterday Carlos Pena was asked about the recent comments by Scott Kazmir in which Kaz stated that the playoffs were something “that’s possible”. Pena’s comments are exactly what we want to hear from the team’s manager.

“Obviously, in our minds we are a playoff team,” Pena said. “And first we have to believe that. So that has to almost be ingrained in you and not a second thought. We just know we should be playing in October.

“We also know there’s a process. Every game needs to be played to the best of our ability. We need to optimize every single opportunity that comes our way to win ballgames. We know that there’s a process involved. But we do have a vision about becoming a winning team. And we see that in the very near future. We don’t really think that’s very far-fetched.”

It takes more than ‘wanting’ to achieve greatness. It starts with ‘believing’. The Rays are beginning to believe and that is the first step. If a manager/coach can convince his players they can be great, there is a better chance of achieving greatness. Let’s hope that Papa Joe’s words behind the scenes exuded more confidence than his words to the press.

Maybe we are nitpicking the choice of words put forth by Maddon, but for a leader…Every. Word. Counts.

Joe Maddon Considers Mediocrity A ‘Reasonable Goal’ [Rays Index]
Playoffs?! Did he say playoffs? [St. Pete Times]
Notes: Baldelli healthy, ready to go [Tampa Bay Rays]

DEVIL RAYS WEBTOPIA…

  • Rocco Baldelli says he is healthy, but he can’t go all out in workouts the way he would normally. [Bradenton Herald]

“I don’t worry about it. My body might respond a little different if I went out there and killed myself…Normally I go out there in spring training and every drill that I do I do all the reps I’m supposed to and then some, and I do them as hard as I can until when I leave the field…That’s my normal routine, that’s the way I’ve done it for the last eight years…I don’t take reps off. I do everything, and I do it as hard as I can. And maybe that’s not something that my body may agree with, so if I don’t have to I’m not going to. It’s tough, when you play one way, I’ve pretty much always tried to play hard my whole career in every aspect of the game, so it’s an adjustment to not do that every single time you take the field, but it’s something I’m going to do this year, I’m going to take it easy some times.”

  • Jonny Gomes reported to camp with plans for being an everyday player. Sorry Jonny. You are one of our faves, but if Rocco Baldelli is healthy, you are sitting against righties most nights. That means 50-60 starts. [Tampa Tribune]
  • Di you realize that only two players from last year’s opening day lineup will be in the same position on opening day 2008? Carl Crawford and Dioner Navarro. [The Ledger]
  • Rays of Light spotlights Cliff Floyd…who we affectionately refer to as “Dr. Huxtable”, because he is old and wise and jolly and loves pudding pops*. [Rays of Light]
  • Don Zimmer will be wearing #60 this year to commemorate his 60 years in professional baseball. We remember an interview with Zims once when he thought it was weird when he received his first Social Security check because it was the first check he had ever received outside of baseball. [TampaBays10]
  • Tonight the St. Pete city council will hold the first public meeting on the proposed waterfront stadium for the Rays. [Tampa Tribune]
  • Evan Longoria stays away from newspapers and blogs. However, his mother is an avid reader of everything that is ‘Evan Longoria’ on the ‘net. [Tampa Bay Rays]
  • Riverwalk Talk has a couple of quotes from Joe Maddon on Evan Longoria and why they do not want to rush the Dirtbag, and a couple of quotes from Longoria. [Riverwalk Talk]
  • And yes! We have our first sighting of a blog that has attempted humor by dedicating an entire post to the Evan Longoria-Eva Longoria name-likeness. The joke? Eva should have married Evan instead of Tony Parker. Hey Jim Baumbach! We have a joke for you. Peter Pan called. He wants his costume back… It’s not even March. Jim Baumbach of Newsday is now officially on our shit-list. [Newsday]
  • Elijah Dukes said something. Honestly, we don’t give a shit anymore. We barely cared when he was here. Dukes is a loser. He failed the Rays, his teammates, his coaches and the fans. Instead of playing baseball and helping the Rays win games, he turned his own life into a circus. Not only was he an idiot for getting himself suspended and thus not able to help the team, but he made life for his teammates and coaches more difficult. He is dead to us. If Glenn Gibson never pitches one inning for the Rays we will still be glad the Rays got rid of Dukes. [Rays Report]

*we might have made that up

Jan 28

[EVAN LONGORIA] The Evan Longoria/Eva Longoria Jokes Have Commenced

Eva Longoria, Evan Longoria, The Dugout Cork Gaines 2 Comments »

We have professed our love for The Dugout on this site before. And today they are back with another chatroom featuring the Tampa Bay Rays top prospect, Evan Longoria and his alter-ego, Eva Longoria, who gives young Evan some investment advice.

As Rays fans the Eva/Evan Longoria name-similaritiness seems like old news. We have joked about it. We have talked about it. Sometimes we even see a headline (LIKE THIS, or THIS) and go ‘huh-wha!?!’. But we need to come to terms with the reality that we live in very special place. The Raysiverse. And the population is not very big and news from within the Raysiverse does not travel very far, unless of course a player chucks a bat at an umpire or threatens the lives his wife and children.

Of course we would probably enjoy this more if he was named Selman Hayek…Just Sayin’.

The Dugout: Stocks, pt. 1 [AOL Fanhouse]