Archive for the 'Randy Johnson' Category

Jun 05

Why Randy Johnson Is Not The End Of An Era

Randy Johnson, Scott Kazmir Cork Gaines 10 Comments »

php2OkiRIMaybe this is beating a dead horse, but who cares, the horse is dead. It can’t feel anything…

Yesterday, Randy Johnson won his 300th career game, becoming the 24th member of the elusive club. And once again, just like when Tom Glavine won his 300th and when Greg Maddux won his 300th game, out come the articles and posts confidently declaring that we will never see another 300-game winner.

Of course, the reasoning behind all the arguments is that nobody else is close to winning 300 games. To which we reply, so what?

Yes, pitchers are handled differently in today’s game. They only make 32-33 starts a year and they only pitch 6-7 innings per game.

But this is also an era that saw not one, but two 350-game winners.

Winning 300 games is special. And it is special because it doesn’t happen very often.

Between Grover Alexander’s 300th win in 1924, and Warren Spahn’s 300th in 1960, a span of 37 years, there was only one 300-game winner. And that was a time when starting pitchers made 40 starts a season and completed more than they did not. After Early Wynn in 1963, there was not another 300-game winner until Gaylord Perry in 1982.

Unlike the 500-home run club which is now watered down with new entries every season, the 300-win club remains elusive…but not unreachable.

Consider this fact from the article linked above:

Johnson had 55 wins when he turned 29.

Now consider that Scott Kazmir is only 25 and has 51 career wins. And also consider that Kazmir, like Johnson, is a power-lefty that has struggled with his mechanics early in his career.

Now, what if Kazmir pulls his act together and averages 15 wins over the next 4 years? All of the sudden he is around 115 wins at age 29.

This is exactly why we track Kazmir’s win total in the sidebar. Not because we think Kazmir will win 300 games. Rather, we track them simply because it is possible that Kazmir will win 300 games.

And just because nobody else is near 300 wins right now, does not mean nobody will ever reach the milestone again.

Unit could be last of the 300-game winners [Yahoo! Sports]

Jun 05

[THE HANGOVER] It Was Edwin Jackson Vs Josh Beckett. What Were You Expecting?

Aki Iwamura, Carlos Pena, Coco Crisp, Evan Longoria, Joe Maddon, Justin Ruggiano, Randy Johnson, Seth McClung Cork Gaines 3 Comments »



THE GOOD: (see “THE TELLING”)

THE BAD: (see “THE TELLING”)

THE TELLING: C’mon people. Think about this for a second. It was Edwin Jackson versus Josh Beckett in Fenway Park. If they played that game 100 times, the Rays would win it 1 time and only because Beckett would be struck by lightning in the first inning and Manny being Manny would accidently hit a 3-run home run for the Rays…Look, it’s not in our nature to be mysterious. But we can’t talk about it and we can’t talk about why.

DEVIL RAYS WEBTOPIA…

  • Quick reminder: The Rays Index Live Blog-A-Baloo of the Week will be held tonight right here. And don’t forget the early start time of 6:05.
  • Evan Longoria is up for MLB’s Rookie of the Month award and the fans can vote for the award. Go to this link and show your love for Dirtbag. [MLB]
  • 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]
  • Joe Maddon and Coco Crisp got into a heated exchange in the 8th inning after Crisp intentionally slid late on a steal attempt and shoved a forearm into the chest of Aki Iwamura like a little bitch. MLB.comhas video of the slide…Crisp might want to wear a little extra padding on his backside tonight. [MLB]
  • Carlos Pena was placed on the 15-day DL with a broken finger. Justin Ruggiano was called up to take his roster spot. [St. Pete Times]
  • There is another entry into the Rays Blogosphere, and this one comes from one of our regular commenters, Dirtbagfan. [Rays The Stakes]
  • Sorry we missed this one yesterday, but did anybody else notice who gave up only 1 run in 6 innings and beat Randy Johnson two nights ago? Answer: Seth Freakin’ McClung. Sweet Fancy Moses! We sat and stared and tried to wrap our brain around this one for a while. This is more complexing than trying to understand Salma Hayek and Ed Norton as a couple. [Bugs and Cranks]
  • Baseball Analysts will be live-blogging the draft. [Baseball Analysts]
Oct 05

The Hangover: DRays Bay Still Committed To Tampa Bay Rays Despite New Colors

Bill Evers, DRaysBay, Jake McGee, Jim Hickey, Joe Henderson, Joe Maddon, Randy Johnson, Wade Davis Cork Gaines 33 Comments »

Devil Rays (66-96)
Our questions have been answered!

DRaysBay will be changing their colors to match those of the new Tampa Bay Rays uniforms and logos that will debut next season. They will also be changing their logo (Please make it a sunburst!). Patrick Kennedy sounds like a kid losing his woobie when he talks of trying to refer to the team by their new moniker.

I will try and respect the team’s decision and refer to the team as the ‘Rays’ as much as I possibly can, although having grown up a fan of the Devil Rays and having written about the team online for 33 months, that will be admittedly difficult.

But one thing will not change at DRaysBay…

we are all committed to wanting the Devil Rays to become a championship organization as soon as possible.

Thats right folks. DRaysBay writers are “committed to wanting” the Rays to be good. We are not sure what “committed to wanting” means, but we envision all the writers at DraysBay already have “Tampa Bay Devil Rays: World Champions” tattooed on their asses. Now that is “commitment to wanting”.

DRaysBay to Change as the Team Does [DRaysBay]

DEVIL RAYS WEBTOPIA…

  • On the last day of the season, Jim Hickey, passed Randy Johnson, and took home the “Most White Trash Story of the Year” Award. [Drunk Jays Fans]
  • The Hardball Times takes a close look at Scott Kazmir and try to answer questions concerning where his career is headed. One has to wonder if Derek Carty was the right choice to write this piece. Can a Mets fan truly analyze Kid K from an unbiased viewpoint? [The Hardball Times]
  • When Jake McGee and Wade Davis go out to dinner, do they go to the bathroom together? Once again the two pitching prospects are found attached at the hip. This time it is on Baseball America’s list of the top 20 prospects in the Florida State League. McGee and Davis are #3 and #4 respectively. [Baseball America]
  • Joe Henderson believes that the Rays may regret the decision to not extend the contract of Bill Evers. We don’t like the idea of losing a guy like Evers will all his experience and old-school style, but a bench coach needs to be a consigliere…His confidant. Apparently Joe Maddon and Bill Evers did not have this type of relationship and bench coach is the one assistant that the manager needs to be completely comfortable with. [TBO]