Oct 21
Just the links this morning. We should have more later.
DEVIL DOGS WEBTOPIA…
- Just in case you missed all the links in our “Happy Hour” edition yesterday afternoon, here is the link. [Rays Index]
- Joe Maddon still hasn’t announced the rotation for the World Series, but look for Scott Kazmir to get the game 1 start followed by James Shields and Matt Garza. [MLB]
- Charlie Manuel first tough decision in picking a DH for game 1, which could affect the postseason roster. [Beerleaguer]
- The RAYSHEAD Army is growing and we couldn’t be more proud. [Newsday]
- ALCS game 7 was the most watched baseball game ever to be shown on a cable network. [Awful Announcing]
- Bob Ryan of the Boston Globe tries desperately to find a silver lining for Red Sox fans. Ryan wants Red Sox fans to realize that the team overcame a lot just to get to game 7 of the ALCS…That is all fine and dandy, but that means nothing right now. it might mean something in a few months, but not now. The truth is, the Red Sox were in game 7 and they lost. End of story. It doesn’t matter how they got there. The Red Sox had one shot at glory and flushed it down the toilet. [Boston Globe]
- Sox and Pinstripes takes a fairly even-handed look back at the ALCS. [Sox and Pinstripes]
- The Hardball Times looks at why the Rays beat the Red Sox. [The Hardball Times]
- Cliff Corcoran of SI.com takes a look at 4 things we learned about the Rays in the ALCS. [SI.com]
- Marc Lancaster says there is a sense in Philadelphia that the Phillies caught a break when the Red Sox lost. [Tampa Tribune]
- John Romano puts the Rays season in a historical context. [St. Pete Times]
- One Red Sox writer lost a bet on the ALCS and is now sporting a beautiful Rayhawk. [Bugs and Cranks]
- Gary Shelton says it had to be the Phillies. It is only fitting that the Rays go for their first World Series title against a team from Philadelphia. [St. Pete Times]
- The Joe Maddon song of the week, should be song of the year. [the somewhat manly nerd]
- Last week one Red Sox site tried to compare the Red Sox to Rocky. That one was lost on us. This week David Chalk compares members of the Phillies to characters from Rocky movies. This one makes more sense. [Bugs and Cranks]
- Mark Gonzales of the Chicago Tribune joins the growing wave of national media that recognizes the Rays are not going to be a one-hit wonder. [Chicago Tribune]
- Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel also looks at the future and says Evan Longoria was a big part of the “master plan”. [Orlando Sentinel]
- Several members of the Rays chat it up in “The Dugout” after winning the ALCS. [Fanhouse]
- SI.com wonders if the economy can have a positive impact on the World Series ratings. [SI.com]
- The Boston Herald talks about David Price’s role in the ALCS and preparing for the World Series. [Boston Herald]
- One of the writers from Oh, It’s THOSE Girls guest posts at Bugs and Cranks on the struggle of rooting for two of her former Twinkies, Jason Bartlett and Matt Garza…Speaking of which. Not sure where we first heard this, but shouldn’t Garza’s sports psychologist have been named the ALCS MVP? Maybe he/she deserves a playoff share? [Bugs and Cranks]
- Another article trying to convince baseball fans that Phillies and Rays is a good series including “The Greatest Team Turnaround Story in the History of Modern Sports.” [ESPN]
- After losing to Tampa Bay squads twice before in quest for championships, a Phillies fan is hoping the third time is a charm…Or as we like to say, three is a pattern. [Bugs and Cranks]
- One Cleveland Indians fan is jumping on the Rays Bandwagon. [Kanka's Sports Page]
- The Rays have released Jorge Velandia from the Durham Bulls. Velandia appeared in 14 games for the Devil Rays in 2007. [Baseball America]
- Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe says the Red Sox may have gone to the World Series with Manny Ramirez, but that trading him was the right thing to do for the “greater good”…If by “greater good” he means bringing the Pink Hat Nation back down a peg, then we completely agree. [Boston Globe]
Aug 31
Marc Lancaster is reporting that the Rays have traded cash to the Cleveland Indians for Jorge Velandia.
Despite what MLB.com might have you believe, though, Velandia is NOT being added to the Rays’ 40-man roster. Not to say he might not end up here eventually in case of an injury, but it’s not happening now.
The Rays do have an opening on their 40-man roster, but we expect Mike DiFelice to take that slot tomorrow or Tuesday and be added to the 25-man roster with Dioner Navarro expected to miss the opening game of the Yankees series.
Velandia will join the Durham Bulls during their playoff run. In 14 games for the Rays last season, Velandia was 16-50 (.320) with 2 home runs.
Rays bring Velandia back to Durham [Rays Report]
Sep 18
Akinori Iwamura, BJ Upton, Carl Crawford, Carlos Pena, Joe Maddon, Jonny Gomes, Jorge Velandia, JP Howell, Rocco Baldelli, Scott Boras, Scott Kazmir, Vinny Testaverde, Xavier Hernandez Cork Gaines
Angels 10, Devil Rays 7.
Just the links today as we try to recover from a weekend in the Live Music Capital of the World.
DEVIL RAYS WEBTOPIA…
- The Devil Rays are 63-88 with 11 games remaining and are 2 games behind Baltimore in the AL East and Kansas City for the worst record in baseball (1 game behind in win column).
- An 8-3 finish will give the Rays 71 wins (a franchise record)
- A 10-1 finish and the Rays will avoid 90 losses for the first time.
- Scott Boras is up to his old tricks and this time it might cost the Devil Rays if they wish to sign Carlos Pena to a long-term deal. Boras believes that the Rays need to step-up because of the bargain they received this year, believing that the Rays got “a player who had probably a $15-million season for about $1.2-million” and “the greatest player to ever put on a Devil Ray uniform” (which sounds great on the surface, but really isn’t saying much). Boras has the amazing ability of making each of his clients out to be the greatest player ever. Pena has been great, but it is not like he is hitting 40 home runs from short stop. He is a first baseman. The drop-off from Pena to the #20 first baseman (stats-wise) is not that great. [tampabay.com]
- BJ Upton stole home last night, to become just the third Devil Rays player to successfully complete a straight-steal of home. [tampabay.com]
- Joe Maddon was ejected in the seventh inning after Jonny Gomes was called out on a check-swing. It was Papa Joe’s sixth career ejection. [Devil Rays]
- Jorge Velandia has is making the most out of his rare major league opportunity. He reached base 8 times in 12 plate appearances, covering 3 starts and he has played the best defensive shortstop we have seen in a long time, from a player wearing green and grey. [TBO]
- Durham Bulls pitching coach Xavier Hernandez has joined the Devil Rays coaching staff for the final two weeks of the season. [TBO]
- Scott Kazmir was named the AL player of the week. He shares the award with Fausto Carmona of the Cleveland Indians. This is the second time that Kid K has been honored with the award. [Devil Rays]
- Carl Crawford will be out of the lineup until at least Friday, and it is still unclear if he will return this season. This would be a good opportunity for CC and Rocco Baldelli to get to know each other again. [tampabay.com]
- Akinori Iwamura talks about life as a major leaguer with a newborn son. Translation: The wife wakes up the middle of the night. [Celebrity Baby Blog]
- JP Howell was recalled from Durham, but will not be inserted into the rotation as a 6th starter. He will work out of the bullpen, but hopes to get another shot as a major league starter down the line. [Devil Rays]
- Poor Vinny Testaverde. He comes in at #13 on the list of “100 Players You Love To Hate.” Did you know that Vinny is not only still alive, but he was still playing in the NFL, as a backup with the New England Patriots last season? That is the definition of parity in the NFL. The Pats were one knee injury or concussion away from being 7-9 instead of 12-4. [ESPN]
Sep 10
Devil Rays 3, Blue Jays 2.
Earlier this year we witnessed stretches of good offense and even a stretch or two of decent pitching (we are yet to see decent fielding). We wondered aloud on many occasions how good this team could be if both the hitting and pitching clicked at the same time. Of course, by “wondered aloud” we really mean screamed obscenities at the TV and stuck needles in our Chuck LaMar VooDoo doll. Well the Rays are 22-18 in their last 40 games, which marks the best 40 game stretch the team has experienced under Joe Maddon. The exciting news about all this, as pointed out in the comments this weekend, is that for the most part, this is our 2008 Tampa Bay Devil Rays. We can expect a new shortstop. Maybe a veteran starting pitcher and one or two bullpen arms to be added to the mix. But this is it. And it is looking pretty good.
“We’ve been saying this from Day 1: As soon as we start clicking, it’s game on,” Shields said. “It’s game on. … I think we’re going to be able to compete. We know it. I think teams are starting to figure it out. All it took was for us to have some good chemistry and click out there. Once we click, this is what we’re all about.”
One intriguing question for spring training will be whether or not Jeff Niemann will make the rotation. At the beginning of this season we all expected Niemann to be part of the Rays staff by June or August at the latest. Now it looks like we may not see him at all this season. With Edwin Jackson, Andy Sonnanstine and Jason Hammel pitching more effectively the last month, it is no longer a forgone conclusion that Niemann will break camp with the parent club next spring.
Many scouts believe the magic number for starting pitchers is 400. As in most pitchers need approximately 400 innings pitched in the minors before they are ready for the majors. College pitchers may need a little less and high school pitchers may need a little more, but for some reason, 400 seems like a benchmark that many teams shoot for. Sonnanstine had 495. Shields had 554. Edwin Jackson had 556. Kid K only had 228. With the amount of time he has spent on the sideline, Niemann only has 240.
If we had to guess right now, we believe that Niemann will start 2008 at AAA Durham. 10 starts there will get him above 300 career minor league innings and he will be the first option when a starting pitcher is needed.
This time, Rays insist, it’s for real [tampabay.com]
Playin’ a lil’ pepper with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays (quick random thoughts from the weekend)…
- The Rays are now 60-83 and have been officially eliminated from playoff contention
- The Rays now trail Baltimore by 1.5 games for 4th place in the AL East (2 in the loss column), and are 1 game behind the White Sox and the Marlins for the worst record in baseball.
- With 19 games remaining the Rays need only finish 3-16 to avoid 100 losses.
- An 11-8 finish will give the Rays 71 victories and the best record in franchise history.
- A 13-6 stretch and the Rays will avoid 90 losses for the first time in franchise history.
- We did unbox the John Lynch jersey for the first time since 2003 and we will not do that again until he retires. Our bad.
- Two great scoring opportunities in the first half with the team dominating on both sides of the ball and afterwards you look up and see that you are 1 touchdown away from being behind. There is nothing quite like winning a game you are supposed to lose and yet you are still hanging your head and muttering “here we go again”.
- And this is the biggest difference between baseball and football. In baseball there is a comfort level…A consistency. Even when your team sucks, there is always tomorrow and the next day and hope for something better. Football is much more of an emotional roller coaster. When your team plays poorly it ruins your entire week. And because of that there is a much higher premium placed on every game. More stake riding on every play with higher “ups” and much lower “downs”. And all our friends and loved ones know it. When the Bucs lose we might as well have leprosy.
DEVIL RAYS WEBTOPIA…
- The equipment staff packed the gear for some guy named Rocco Baldelli, to be included on the team’s road trip. [tampabay.com]
- The 125 runs the Rays have scored in the past 15 games (8.3 rpg), is the 4th highest total in baseball for any 15-game stretch in the past 6 seasons. They also have 29 home runs over that span which is the best in baseball. [Devil Rays]
- Jorge Velandia was called up from Durham and added to the 40-man roster. [tampabay.com]
- At least one person has wondered aloud as to why the Devil Rays picked up Joe Maddon’s 2-year option. OK, many people have wondered, but one actually wrote about it. [Baseball Digest Daily]
- It is often like a broken record, but it seems like at least once every series, the opposing teams broadcasters comment on how the Devil Rays outfielders play deeper than any other team. We have commented on the lack of range of the middle infielders and how that at least contributed to the failings of the pitching staff at times. Well, the outfielders are not without blame as their positioning has certainly led to a number of hits falling in that would normally be caught. Playing deep is usually a sign that a player is insecure in their defensive abilities as coming in a ball is much easier than going back. BJ Upton admits this and feels that the team is letting him play deeper than they would prefer, but will not change his poor positioning until next season. [Devil Rays]
- Dioner Navarro hit .177 prior to the all-star break and has hit .294 since. The .117 point increase is the largest turnaround in the majors. The .177 prior to the break was at least partially bad luck as his expected BA based on percentage of line drives was considerably higher than his actual batting average. [USA Today]
- Marc Lancaster takes a look at the Rays roster and how it is likely to look in 2008. With so many young players on the roster, there will be very little change from the end of this season. [TBO]
- A little experience can go a long way for a young team and that could be the biggest reason that the team is playing with so much more confidence at this point in the season. [TBO]
