Apr 22
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: Winning Series. Before the series, if somebody would have offered us a 3-1 series win, we would have signed for it and asked “when does the plane leave for Toronto.”
THE BAD: Offense. We need to temper our excitement. Just as this team wasn’t as bad as their 1-8 start, this team isn’t as good as their 8-1 record over the 9 games prior to last night. And while we are confident in the pitching, the offense is going to continue to cause problems. Last night, the Rays managed just 2 runs marking the 10th time in 19 games that the Rays scored 2 runs or fewer. That’s not good…Missed Chances. The Rays were 1-6 with a walk and 2 strikeouts with runners in scoring position. One big blow was in the 2nd when the Rays loaded the bases with 1 out, only to have John Jaso ground into a 1-2-3 double-play. Then in the 4th, with the score 5-2 and runners on the corners, Johnny Damon missed a double down the right field line by inches. That would have scored 2, pulling the Rays within 1. Instead, Damon struck out to end the inning…Jeff Niemann. Teams love tall right-handers. But really tall pitchers can more easily have their mechanics come out of whack. Niemann is a mess right now.
THE TELLING: Johnny Damon was back in the lineup…Evan Longoria hit off a tee yesterday. When asked how he felt, he said “great”…Sam Fuld has 7 stolen bases. The Cubs have 2.
THE JUNKYARD DOGS WEBTOPIA…
- Matt Joyce credits a shorter swing for his hot start. [TampaBay.com]
- John Romano writes about how important this homestand was. But what is fun is just read all the quotes by the Rays and see how many different ways they can basically say the same thing. Not really Romano’s fault as the Rays often love their clichés. [TampaBay.com]
- A couple of Rays showed up on this Read the rest of this entry »
Oct 14
The general rallying cry right now in the Pink Hat Nation is that the Red Sox have been down before. 3-0 to the Yankees, 3-1 to the Indians last year. In other words, instead of discussing what is wrong with the Sox or *gasp* that the Rays might actually be a better team, the fans still just assume that this team will win with the status quo. Somebody remind us when the World Series became a Boston birthright.
DEVIL DOGS WEBTOPIA…
- Should the Rays host a game 6 and/or game 7 in the ALCS (Rays could still clinch in Boston, how sweet would that be?) the tarps will be removed from the upper deck adding 5,762 seats to the capacity. Originally this was only to happen in any potential World Series games. [MLB]
- How delusional are Red Sox fans? At least one thinks the Red Sox are Rocky in this series. [SawxBlog]
- The first sign that a population has exceeded carrying capacity? Turning on your own. In this case the population is The Red Sox Nation Bandwagon. And they are turning on their own…This will get worse before it gets better, and by worse we of course mean “better for us”. [Barstool Sports]
- There were a lot of empty seats in at the end of game 3 in Fenway…Hmm? We thought the Rays fans were on the bandwagon and “fickle”. [Boston Dirt Dogs]
- We have argued this before…How is Cliff Lee a better comeback story than Rocco Baldelli. That voting was the equivelant of Jack Nicholson and Keanu Reaves co-starring in Speed 3 and giving the Academy Award for Best Actor to Reaves. [Bugs and Cranks]
- Tim Keown of ESPN.com is praying for the Rays and Phillies to win their LCS, knowing full well that the media coverage for a Dodgers-Red Sox series is something none of us will be able to stomach. [ESPN]
- Here is the problem when your home town announcers are homers. When you watch an unbiased national broadcast you think everybody is against you. Case in point: “All series (and the last one), [TBS has been doing] the same thing: Here’s what the Rays have to do to succeed, here’s what the Red Sox can do to fail. Surely people are noticing this.“…Don’t get us wrong. We love Jerry Remy and Don Orsillo. Even though they are always rah-rah for the Red Sox, we never seem to mind as they still tend to be fair in their analysis, unlike many others *cough* Hawk Harrelson *cough*. But Remy and Orsillo are biased and by comparison everybody else will seem anti-Red Sox. [Red Sox Fan from Pinstripe Territory]
- Scott Dohmann, who appeared in 12 games for the Rays this season, has been granted free agency. Dohmann was designated for assignment by the Rays in May, accepting an assignment to triple-A. Dohmann recorded 20 saves in 33 appearances for Durham. [Baseball America]
May 31
DRG here again to get you through the weekend. I can be reached here..
The Good: The call by the White Sox announcers on Cliff Floyd’s walk-off home run to lead off the 9th inning. “That ball hit way back…DeWayne Wise at the fence…jumps…AND MAKES THE CATCH…no…that ball is outta here and this ball game is over.” For the record, Wise missed that ball by about 8 feet. I mean he was in the neighborhood, but anybody with a pulse knew he didn’t catch it. Hawk Harrelson is such a homer, that he wishes the ball into White Sox gloves.
The Bad: Rays got the first 2 batters on in the 1st inning. What are the chances of BJ Upton grounding into a double-play with Carl Crawford on first? If they play together for the next 10 years, I would be surprised if it happens 5 more times…Hawk Harrelson’s grandson proposed to his girlfriend at the game. Hawk knew it was going to happen and made sure the camera’s were focused on his grandson so all the friends and family could watch back home. Why do guys think this is OK? For those of you that are yet to propose…TRUST ME…they want a private moment. Just the two of you. She doesn’t want to share this with your grandfather or thousands of people on the big screen or the little screen at home.
The Telling: How fast is Carl Crawford? In the 9th inning somebody hit a line drive down the left field line that was 15 feet foul and with CC playing pulled over to left-center. There shoudn’t have even been a play, but Crawford actually dove for the ball. He missed it. But he and NOBODY else would have even been close to the ball.
DEVIL DOGS WEBTOPIA…
- Tyler Hissey from Rays Digest will be on 1220 AM talk radio today at 3:40 to discuss the Rays. [Rays Digest]
- Marc Lancaster takes a none too subtle shot at Rays fans and their lack of support for the Rays. Tonight’s game is a near-sellout and Lancaster attributes it all to the post-game concert, and the the apparent eager anticipation of people that will go to the game just to get their free trucker hat. According to Lancaster, 10,000 people will be there for baseball and 20,000 people will be there for a few country songs and a free trucker hat. [Rays Report]
- I wasn’t the only one that thought Hawk Harrelson’s call on Cliff Floyd’s home run was atrocious. UmpBump has a link to the video with the call. [UmpBump]
- UmpBump also has a post comparing Dioner Navarro to Tony Gwynn and shows why this season might not be a fluke. [UmpBump]
- Could David Price still be in the plans for the Rays this season? As a Joba Chamberlain-type?…Interesting idea, but I have to think that there is a better chance of Wade Davis or Jake McGee being called up as a dominant 8th inning guy. [Outs Per Swing]
- Mayor Rick Baker and the city of St. Pete have recommended to the city council that they vote for the new stadium on June 5. This is just the first step in the process to put the new stadium on the ballot in November. [Ballpark Frankness]
The GBT – The Good, The Bad and The Telling sandwich, where The Bad is nice and lean and the The Telling is ripe.
