Sep 21
- Yankees 5, 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: Keeping Pace. The Orioles helped by beating the Red Sox for the second time in three game, rallying late. So the Rays remain 2 back (1 in the loss column). But the season is also getting late, real quick, with just nine games remaining for the Rays and seven for the Red Sox.
THE BAD: Yet Another Brutal Call. In the second inning with one run in already for the Yankees. Brett Gardner reached on a bunt single when the replay showed that he was clearly out. It wasn’t even really that close. That loaded the bases with no outs. Two batters later, Curtis Granderson unloaded the bases with a double making the score 4-0. Game over…Where’s Johnny? Oh boy, it happened again. The Rays made one final rally in the 7th inning, loading the bases with no outs. Desmond Jennings flied out to left field and was unable to bring a run home. And then BJ Upton came to the plate. Why? Because he’s been hot, Johnny Damon has been struggling, and that’s how Joe Maddon has been filling out the lineup card for two weeks. But as luck would have it (you know, the bad kind), Upton was up with the bases loaded. On the season, Upton is 2-11 (.182) with the bases loaded with a walk. He does have a grand slam. On the other hand, Damon is 6-14 (.429) with 2 walks with the bases loaded. And in his career, Damon is a .380 hitter with the sacks full. Of course Upton grounded into a double-play. We’re not blaming Upton or Maddon. We are just blaming sh*tty luck.
THE TELLING: Joe Maddon was fined for his ejection and rant in the Red Sox series…Ben Zobrist may also miss the first game of today’s double-header having left the team to attend the birth of his daughter…Kyle Farnsworth will throw off a mound today…David Price is OK to go Friday. Saturday’s starter will either be Matt Moore or Alex Torres…Andy Sonnanstine made his first appearance for the Rays since June.
THE JUNKYARD DOGS WEBTOPIA…
- Mark Simon lays out the keys to the Wild Card race for the Rays. [ESPN]
- Poor Red Sox. They are losing because they have owies. [SI.com]
- Joe Maddon made an appearance on “The Dan Patrick Show” yesterday. Here is that interview transcribed. [SportsRadioInterviews]
- Do you want to know what Matt Silverman’s favorite smart phone app is? Here you go (P.S. we gave up after the second question. So let us know if they actually discuss anything important). [ABC Action News]
- If you care what Curt Schilling thinks, he doesn’t see the Red Sox making the playoffs. [ESPN]
- Manny Ramirez wants to play winter ball in the Dominican Republic. [USA Today]
- College football’s most popular football teams. The Gators are lower than we thought they would be. [Business Insider]
Sep 19
Dirk Hayhurst, the best-selling author, and pitcher, who spent the season in the Rays organization, wrote a post on his blog recently in which he relayed a conversation he had with his wife. During that conversation, the topic of Manny Ramirez’ recent arrest came up…
“Did you see Manny got arrested?” I asked my dearest Bonnie, presently standing at my side with matching coffee cup and pajamas.
“Shocker,” she said
“Yeah,” I took a sip, “I guess. Though I was kinda surprised. He wasn’t the smartest guy I played with, but he didn’t seem like the violent type either, especially not with all those female fertility drugs in his system. I thought he’d be more inclined to cry during a fight than smack his wife around?”
“Nothing he does surprises me anymore,” said Bonnie.
Ouch.
Hayhurst was recently released by the Rays after posting a 4.12 ERA in 11 appearances with triple-A Durham. He spent the second-half of the season on the disabled list. Hayhurst is said to be considering an offer to pitch in Italy next year.
Sep 18
We have been arguing this for a while. But it is a bit surprising to hear of the Rays players plainly state that the Rays would be better with Manny Ramirez.
“We’d be better with Manny,” Rays infielder Sean Rodriguez said. “You’re talking about an experienced guy who can still hit. Everyone was giving him tough times because he was struggling at the beginning, but everyone goes through funks, and his just came at the beginning of the year. It’s hard to say his resume wouldn’t have helped us. Just look at what Johnny’s done for us.”
Now consider that the Rays are just three games back in the Wild Card. Is Rodriguez saying the Rays would be leading the Wild Card if Manny had accepted his suspension and not retired?
And the last line is curious, because Rodriguez lauds Johnny Damon, but doesn’t consider that Damon’s playing time would have taken the biggest hit if Manny came back on July 31. Something that wouldn’t have been a bad thing.
Sep 14
- Orioles 4, Rays 2 (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: Evan Longoria. For a while there the Rays looked overmatched as they trailed 1-0 for most of the game. But then Longoria seemed to save the night with a 2-run bomb in the 6th that temporarily gave the Rays the lead. That seemed to be the spark the Rays needed. But it wasn’t enough.
THE BAD: David Price. After a little bit of a rocky start, giving up a run in the first, Price was cruising by the time the 4th inning rolled around. He needed only 37 pitches to get through the 2nd, 3rd and 4th innings, with 28 of those strikes. But while 84% (11 of 13) of his pitches were strikes in the 4th, he slowly deteriorated from there. In the 5th, it was 60% (9 of 15) strikes. In the 6th it fell to 54% (7 of 13). And finally, in the 7th, only 12 of his 25 (48%) pitches were in the strikezone. The velocity was still there, with 7 pitches hitting at least 96 mph in his final frame. But he just lost the strikezone and the O’s tied the game…Sean Rodriguez. In the 1st inning with a runner on second base, Sean Rodriguez, at shortstop, played a ball to his left as if he were playing second base. He drifted back into the outfield, waited for the ball to come to him, and thus was forced to rush his throw. The throw was in the dirt and got past Casey Kotchman, allowing the O’s first run to score…JP Howell. Just when it looked like The Dude was back to his old self, Matt Wieters came up and took JP deep breaking a 2-2 tie in the 8th.
THE TELLING: The Rays have had 5-game winning streaks 5 times this season. They are now 0-5 going for win number 6 in a row…Kyle Farnsworth’s return “won’t be anytime soon.” Roger Mooney speculates he might not return until the Yankees series next week.
THE JUNKYARD DOGS WEBTOPIA…
- Forgot to mention this earlier, but here are the letterman sweaters the Rays wore on this roadtrip. [@SPTimesRays]
- Marc Topkin has an update on Manny Ramirez. [TampaBay.com]
- James Shields has been nominated for the Roberto Clemente award. [The Heater]
- In addition to the Nationals, BJ Upton also mentioned the Mets as a team he wouldn’t mind playing for. [CBS Sports]
- Here is another writer offering reasons why the Rays will win the Wild Card (obviously written prior to last night’s game). [Yahoo Sports]
- Looks like local sports fans are in panic mode all over the place. [Joe Bucs Fan]
- Here is a look at Bowling Green’s ballpark. [Stadium Journey]
Sep 13
- Rays 5, Orioles 2 (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: Keeping Pace. The story of the Orioles series should just be about keeping pace. The Rays just have to make sure they don’t lose any ground in the loss column to the Red Sox. And after last night’s win, the Rays have now made up 5 games on the Sox in the last 6 days and now trail by just 3…Joel Peralta. With Kyle Farnsworth out, Joel Peralta will be the unofficial replacement closer for the unofficial closer. And last night he looked great striking out the side in the 9th…The Giraffe. The keys for the Rays in the last 16 games will be Jeff Niemann and Wade Davis. At this point, we have to assume the other 3 starting pitchers will just do what they do. But what the Rays really need are for Niemann and Davis to step and make sure there are no off-nights. Last night wasn’t the prettiest night ever, but Niemann did work into the 8th inning and held the O’s to just 2 runs. The big outs came in the 5th inning after Niemann gave up 1 run and had a runner on 2nd with just 1 out. He escaped without any further damage and kept the O’s from getting back in the game.
THE BAD: Manny’s Karma? If you missed it last night, Manny Ramirez was arrested after an altercation with his wife. This is bad because if Manny had just taken his suspension, he would have been in Baltimore last night, helping the Rays and not beating his wife (allegedly). And yes, Manny would be a headache. But Rays DHs hit .234 with a .283 OBP in August. Manny couldn’t have been worse than that.
THE TELLING: Rob Delaney was designated for assignment to make room for Matt Moore on the 40-man roster…Matt Moore will likely be used to start innings in relief, and won’t be called in the middle of an inning. At least to start…BJ Upton set a team record reaching base 9 straight times…Bullpen coach Bobby Ramos is not expected to rejoin the Rays this season as he recovers from a throat infection.
THE JUNKYARD DOGS WEBTOPIA…
Sep 12
TMZ.com is reporting that Manny Ramirez has been arrested in Florida. Witnesses told TMZ that Many was removed from his house in handcuffs after an “altercation” with his wife.
Witnesses tell TMZ Ramirez was taken out of his Weston, Florida home at around 7 PM ET in handcuffs. We’re told Ramirez’ wife was in the house. Two witnesses tell TMZ Ramirez and his wife were involved in an altercation.
Manny retired earlier this season rather than face a 100-game suspension for testing positive for a performance enhancing drug. It was his third positive test. Manny would have been eligible to return from his suspension on July 31.
Manny signed with the Tampa Bay Rays this past off-season, but only appeared in five games before his retirement. He was 1-17 with no home runs and a single RBI. He finished with 555 career home runs, 14th on the all-time list.
Here is Manny’s mug shot (thanks Mike)….
Jul 29
A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away (yes, Star Wars took place in the past, not the future, it was right there in front of your faces the whole time, but I digress), Manny Ramirez retired from the Rays and the game of baseball rather than face a 100-game suspension for his latest positive test for performance enhancing drugs.
More specifically, Manny’s retirement took place on Friday April 8. We remember the date well, because that was the same day we were a guest on “Happy Hour” with JP Peterson only moments after JP had the family jewels snipped, but I digress again.
Anyway, tomorrow’s game would have been the 100th game of Manny’s suspension, meaning he would have been eligible to play on Sunday.
Of course, this would be a bigger deal if the Rays were still in the playoff race and were looking to add a bat for the stretch run. And it might have been a little deal if another team needed a DH for the stretch run.
But hey, let’s not be bitter. Let’s look back on Manny’s tenure with the Rays and remember him for that brief but golden era in which he was playing for the Rays.
17 at bats, 1 hit.
Apr 30
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: Matt Joyce. Sweet-swingin’ Matt Joyce and his 3-run home run was one of the only bright spots on a night that you could tell just wasn’t going to go the Rays way…Juan Cruz. With the Rays still only down by 1, the Angels loaded the bases with just 1 out. Cruz relieved David Price and got Erick Aybar to ground into a double-play. He then retired the Angels 1-2-3 in the 6th inning.
THE BAD: David Price. It just wasn’t King David’s night. 12 hits and a walk in just 4.1 innings, giving up 5 runs.
THE TELLING: If Andy Sonnanstine is not the starting pitcher tomorrow, look for Alex Cobb, who skipped his start on Thursday, to make his big league debut. Cobb, the Rays 4th round pick in 2006, is 3-0 with a 2.05 ERA and 29 Ks (6 walks) in 22 innings.
THE JUNKYARD DOGS WEBTOPIA…
- Yesterday, I took the GBT over to JoeBucsFan.com to break down first-round pick Adrian Clayborn, a player I am very familiar with. [JoeBucsFan]
- Turns out Jake Thompson did not tear Read the rest of this entry »
Apr 18
The legacy of Manny Ramirez may be one of a goofball that was also one of the greatest hitters of all-time. But as Jon Heyman explains, Manny was a calculating individual that was also extremely selfish…
He is the only player to have failed three drugs tests. He consistently quit on teams. And while he worked hard, it was only on his terms…”Everyone always said what a hard worker Manny is. That is true, but only on his hitting,” one former coach of Ramirez’s said. “Do you think he worked on his defense? No. His baserunning? No. He didn’t work on anything but hitting.”
This seems to contradict what we heard of Manny from this off-season, when we saw a number of stories on how hard Manny was working. But according to Heyman, even those workouts raised a red flag in some circles.
This off-season, Manny moved Read the rest of this entry »
Apr 12
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: The Bats Were Due. The Rays scored a whopping 16 runs. That is the most scored by the Rays since they dumped the Orioles 17-2 in September, 2007. The Rays also scored at least 3 runs in 3 different innings. Each of those innings provided more scoring than 7 of their first 9 games. Of course, we need to see more of this before we proclaim the season saved, but this was a good start…Sam Fuld. This guy is about 5’2″ and 95 pounds soaking wet. But he makes the most of that scrawniness. Fuld was 4-6 with 2 doubles, a triple and a HR that just dropped over the short porch down the right field line…Johnny Damon. The Idiot returned home and answered the boobirds with a first inning home run.
THE BAD: Matt Joyce. Joyce is a solid defensive right fielder, except apparently when it comes to diving. The Sox scored their first run when Joyce made a horrific dive attempt towards the right field line. Besides, somebody should tell Joyce that heroics are not necessary with a 7-run lead…Cycles Are Overrated. Sam Fuld’s night shows just how overrated it is to hit for the cycle. Fuld needed a single in the 9th for a cycle, but instead hit a 2B. So his night (4 extra-base hits) was better than hitting for the cycle, and yet a single would have put Fuld in the record books as just the second Rays player to hit for the cycle (BJ Upton, 2009).
THE TELLING: Dan Johnson is now back to wearing the number 24, since Manny Ramirez apparently no longer wants it…The Rays entered the night 1-8. But with the win, the Rays are now in sole possession of 4th place (head-to-head tiebreaker).
THE JUNKYARD DOGS WEBTOPIA…
- Evan Longoria hopes to start a rehab assignment in two weeks. And tomorrow, JP Howell will throw the first of three batting practice sessions. After which, he will start his own rehab assignment…In the same piece, Marc Topkin writes about Manny Ramirez’ conversation with Joe Maddon after learning of his positive test. [TampaBay.com]
- Manny Ramirez tested Read the rest of this entry »
