Rays Rants (and more):

I was reading the St. Pete Times this morning when I came across a story that had the following quote in it.  

"We don't have anyone to throw out the ball for our first playoff game," Tampa Bay Rays President Matt Silverman said. "MLB asked us who it'd be. We realized nobody in the history of the franchise had done anything to be worthy of the honor."  

This is what it has come to. The improbable Tampa Bay Rays are about to engage in the American league Playoffs for the first time in their eleven-year history and there is nobody from the organization’s past worthy enough to throw out the first pitch of the opening game. I was taken aback when I read this quote. How can there not be somebody from the past eleven years to be worthy enough to throw out the ceremonial first pitch of the playoffs?   

I decided to do some research in order to help Mr. Silverman find somebody with the proper qualifications to perform this prestigious task. Alas, I discovered that he has a major problem on his desk. The Rays don’t have Babe Ruth’s daughter to fall back on. They don’t have a Yogi Berra; a Rod Carew; a Yaz; a Ken Brett; a Johnny Bench; a Tom Seaver; a Bob Gibson; a Ron Santo or any one else who might have helped get them to the promised land in the past; mainly because they have never been to the Promised Land in the past and in fact, have never been close. 

They don’t have a revered “Hall-Of-Famer” to fall back on unless you consider Wade Boggs to be that and most folks don’t even remember that he finished his career with the Rays. Even venerable players from the past don’t qualify. Vinnie Castilla had five 30+ home run seasons and four 100+ RBI seasons, but none of them with the Rays. Jose Canseco has 462 career homers and is famous but nobody would be stupid enough to pick him. 

There is nobody from the front office that deserves the honor who isn’t currently affiliated with the team. Vince Naimoli thankfully brought the team to the Bay area but in eight years did more to alienate the community against the Rays than any of their bad baseball teams did. Naimoli is definitely out. Don Zimmer would seem like a great pick with his 60+ years of being in baseball. But he is currently on the payroll. 

It’s amazing! In the whole history of this team there is no one who stands out enough to qualify for this position. I guess Matt will have to look outside of the organization. Now there we have some qualified people. Governor Charley Crist is a relatively frequent visitor to the Trop. Paul Azinger just won the Ryder Cup for the United States and is a local. My choice however would be for #### Vitale. Dickey V has been a season ticket holder from day one. His shiny baldhead can be seen in the first row next to the visitor’s dugout about fifty times a year. He could even be seen there during the ten dreadful years before this one. He does in-house promotional spots on the big screen. Yep…Dicky V would be my choice.

Of course I’d prefer that they select Duane Staats to make the historical toss. Staats has been the TV announcer for the Rays for most of the dismal years and wouldn’t you know, when the Rays clinched a spot in the playoffs, he had the night off. FOX did the game and there was no local broadcast. Announcers are an integral part of baseball marketing. I can still hear Curt Gowdey broadcasting the Red Sox games when I was a boy. What Yankee fan my age does not remember Mel Allen or Dodger fan, Vin Scully? What Red Sox fan does not know whom the “Rem_Dog” is? There are a lot more of them that I never got to hear but it would be the right thing to do for Duane Staats.   

As I was researching this I thought of the movie “Major League”. There is a scene where two Japanese groundskeepers were speaking and made the comment (which appeared in sub-titles), “Who are these guys?” That is the same thought I had when looking over the current roster. 

Has anybody outside of Milwaukee ever heard of Grant Balfour or Gabe Gross? Has anybody except a statistic geek Dodger fan ever heard of Dioner Navarro or Edwin Jackson? Has anybody outside of Minnesota ever heard of Jason Bartlett or Matt Garza? Did Andy Sonnanstine catch anyone’s eye when he was drafted in the 13th round of the 2004 draft? Does anybody from Atlanta remember Willy Aybar? Did anybody notice that at the same time the Red Sox signed Dice-K, the Rays Quietly signed Akinori Iwamura? Did anybody in Kansas City miss J.P. Howell when he came to the Rays last year for Joey Gathright? Did anybody in Baltimore blink an eye when Chad Bradford was released? Did everyone feel that when the Rays reacquired Dan Wheeler that it was going to be more of the same old, same old? Do you think that the Phillies, Dodgers, Red Sox, Reds and Astros wished that they had Trever Miller in their bullpens this year? They all owned his rights at one time or another.   

The fact is, the only Rays anybody ever heard of before this season was Carl Crawford, Scott Kazmir, B.J. Upton and Carlos Pena, and the Rangers, Athletics, Tigers, Yankees and Red Sox cast off Pena at one time or another.  

During the off season last year the names most people knew on the Rays were David Price and Evan Longoria; and neither of those guys had played even one inning of Major League baseball. 

“Recognizing his nearly six decades of service as a player, manager, scout, instructor, and goodwill ambassador, the Red Sox yesterday announced they will retire Johnny Pesky's No. 6 before Friday night's game against the Yankees, the eve of his 89th birthday.”  

 http://link.brightcove.com/services/link
/bcpid1185143625/bctid1813547254   
 

You can’t imagine how elated I was when I read the above item in the Boston Globe the other day. Johnny Pesky is one of the special people who have ever worn the Red Sox uniform and will be the first Red Sox player to have his Uniform number retired who was not a member of the hall of Fame.. About a year or so ago I wrote a blog about Pesky and got some great comments on it.

Way to go Red Sox! 

Rays Rants (and more): 

It always amazes me how the best-laid plans can get sidetracked. I thought I had my schedule all set for the last month of the baseball season. I was going to watch the upstart Rays cruise into the American league playoffs and I had my seat picked out for every game. I even had my subjects picked out for my Rays Rants blogs for about a three-week period.  

Family matters in Boston caused me to table those plans but I assure you that my arriving in Bean Town last week on the same day as the Rays was just a coincidence. The trip had nothing at all to do with the fact that I got to see the Rays take 2 of 3 games from the Sox and hold them off for a while longer. It had to do with attending to family matters.  

It was fascinating to watch my friends in Boston walking around with a look on their faces that screamed, “This is not supposed to happen”. At least it is not supposed to happen at the hands of the (Devil) Rays. Maybe the Yankees, maybe the Blue Jays, but not the Rays.  

I arrived back in Florida a few days ago with just enough time to get my affairs in order and go back to the airport. This time I had to pick up my daughter and her husband who were coming to town to see the Red Sox play the Rays in the final series of the year. Now if you want to talk about Red Sox fanatics, you need to talk about these 2 people. We have 3 games here and my daughter brought 8 Red Sox shirts with her. She even brought me a pair of gardening gloves with the Sox logo on the back. 

It is always great to have them here and this trip had been planned for a long time. However, I expected to attend the games at the Trop as a family firmly attached to the Red Sox Nation. I hadn’t figured that I would be the one to go over to the “dark side” and become a member of the Rays Republic. But there it was; my wife, my daughter and her husband all decked out in their Red Sox gear and me with my James Shields Rays t-shirt. And to make matters worse, Sox fans surrounded us. I was the blue shirt amid a sea of red. And to make matters worse than that, the Red Sox came to play. On Scott Kazmir’s second strike of the game, Big Papi hits a 3-run homer and it was all down hill from there. It got so bad that I had to leave my seat and sit under the stands for about 5 innings eating hot dogs and ice cream, smoking cigarettes and watching people. I would have gone home by the 5th inning but I was driving and they weren’t budging. It was a long, long night. 

Every morning the sun rises and yesterday morning was no different. The sun rose and it was a new day. Yesterday was yesterday and the fact that the Sox hit 6 home runs and Dice-K was almost unhittable the night before didn’t matter so much. The Red Sox were sending Josh Beckett to the bump and the Rays were countering that move with the formidable Andy Sonnanstine. On paper, that meant that the Red Sox would be in first place this morning. But I guess that Sonny doesn’t read the paper. He matched Beckett pitch for pitch for six innings before giving way to the Rays’ (I’m sorry, but I can’t come up with one adjective to properly describe perfection) bullpen.  

The game was tied going into the bottom half of the ninth but there was no doubt in my mind that I was going to have the bragging rights when the game was over and the Rays didn’t disappoint. A bloop hit, a walk and a hit batsman loaded the bases when Dioner Navarro hit a ball to center field deep enough to score the run from third and give the Rays the win. The Rays stay in first place, 2 games up in the lost column. If the Red Sox do manage to overtake the Rays for the AL East championship, they won’t have done it on head to head match ups.  

Tonight’s game won’t be nearly as stressful for me as the first two. Even if the Sox win they will still leave town in second place. It will be sad to see the kids go home on Thursday but I think my son-in-law will go home with some hope for the post season. He said last night that if the Red Sox don’t make the World Series he at least has someone to root for in the Rays. The Rays Republic is growing by the minute. 

I need to offer an apology to my friend B&O languishing in frustration up in New Jersey because of his beloved Mets’ failure to close out the National League East in the last two weeks. It was just about two weeks ago when I assured my friend that I could write enough words on the Rays to divert his attention from the struggles his team was having to just stay in the race. But take heart B&O; there are 12 games left and I’ve got a feeling…. 

I find it fascinating that in the year 2008, the most stable franchise in baseball seems to be the Rays. The Yankees have been old and confused all year. The Red Sox haven’t been physically healthy all year and their mental health was suspect until they shipped out Manny. The Dodgers mental health was suspect until they acquired Manny. Go figure! The Indians haven’t made sense all year; they are not a last place team. The Jays, Mets, Brewers and Mariners all changed managers and 3 of those teams still have playoff chances.  The Tigers were the team to beat in the spring and managed to sel####estruct from the beginning. Are the Twins there because everyone else is so bad or are they for real? How can the White Sox look stable with Ozzie at the helm? The Cubs seem quite stable but we keep reading about their potential sale. The Pirates have mastered the art of rebuilding. How did the Rockies get into the World Series last year? Or better still, what the heck did they do to miss it by so much this year?   

I have to admit it. I have jumped on the Dustin Pedroia bandwagon for MVP. Up until about 2 weeks ago my pick would have been Justin Morneau or Carlos Quentin. Quentin got eliminated with his injury but Morneau has only continued to deserve consideration. However, after seeing the Red Sox 5 times in the last 2 weeks, I am convinced that the Red Sox are what they are because of Pedroia. He makes them go. He may be the most exciting ballplayer in the American League.  

 I saw a video from the Red Sox clubhouse yesterday. It had David Ortiz doing an interview with Jonathan Papelbon while they showed the videotape from his high School days imitating Patrick Swayze. I found the whole thing entertaining except the part when Ortiz referred to Pap as Cinco Ocho. It somehow offended me that anybody buys into Chad Johnson’s ####. 

Rays Rants (and more):

So Wednesday morning I logged on to the Tampa Tribune web site to read more about how our home town Rays beat up on the Angels the night before. What do you think I found? I’ll tell you what I found. I found one small article on the game and five articles on B.J. Upton’s alleged lack of hustle. I say alleged because I don’t really believe that he has a lack of hustle but more on that later.   

Tuesday nights win put the Rays in a tie with the Cubs for the best record in Major League Baseball.  They had a 77-48 (.616 winning percentage) record on August 20th with only 37 games left to play. They were 29 games over .500. They had a 5 game lead (in the lost column) over the Red Sox. They had won 8 of their last 10 games making them the hottest team in the American League and they did this without their best 2 players (Carl Crawford and Evan Longoria) and their closer (Troy Percival). That’s the stuff I want to read about.  

 But nooooooo! That’s not what I get to read. I get to read how B.J. Upton is dogging it. I get to read how B.J. Upton is loafing. I get to read how B.J. Upton is putting himself at a higher plane than the team. I get to read that B.J. Upton is an arrogant, cocky, prideful and a self-centered malcontent. Forget about the game. I guess it’s more fun to talk about the vultures circling Upton’s corpse. Even the comments that readers add to the forum are disturbing. Most of those are calling for Upton to be traded or sent down to Durham as punishment for his behavior. 

Now I have had some issues with the way Upton plays the game. He is just learning the center field position and too frequently throws to the wrong base. He over estimates his own abilities and tries to throw out people when he has no chance. I think he plays too short relying on his speed to get to balls hit over his head. And I don’t think he is the smartest guy to ever play the game.  

Some guys have a natural instinct for the game. They know exactly what to do with the ball even if they don’t do it quite as well as the next guy. They change the way they think with 2 strikes on them. They don’t try to lay down the perfect bunt every time. They don’t give away the fact that they are going to steal by adding a half step in their lead. They realize that you can’t hit a five run homer. B.J. doesn’t seem to have these instincts. He has all the natural ability in the world but he keeps short circuiting himself with his lack of mental instincts. I think that if the Rays could ever teach him a little prudence in his decision-making and outlook on the game his natural physical abilities will make him one of the better players in the league. 

I don’t think B.J. Upton is a punk. I don’t think his hat size has grown since his arrival in professional baseball. I think he is a 23-year-old kid who has been the center of attention all his life. I think that everything he did earlier in his life worked because he wasn’t playing against competition that could take advantage of his shortcomings. I heard a great quote some time back. I think it came from a Clint Eastwood movie. “A man has to know his limitations” (or something like that). That’s what I think B.J. has to do; learn his limitations. 

I think that if I was a NFL General Manager, I would do anything in my power to get Usain Bolt’s name on a contract to become a wide-out for my team. I don’t care if he has never seen a football! With that speed and that body he could be the most frightening thing that a defensive back every saw coming his way.

I can’t believe one of the latest moves by Theo Epstien. Last Friday (the last day for MLB teams to sign contracts with their amateur draft picks) Theo signed Ryan Westmoreland, an 18 year old High Schooler from Portsmouth, RI to a rookie contract and gave him a $2 million signing bonus. He also agreed to pay $212,000 towards college should Westmoreland ever decide to attend. Now what’s the big deal you say? Westmoreland was a fifth round draft pick. That means that MLB execs thought that about 150 players had more potential than this kid. I know that if I was one of the 149 players picked before him and didn’t get that much I would be pissed. Theo is driving the market up and out of control.  

I have thoroughly enjoyed watching the Beijing Olympics this year. That wasn’t my plan but that is the way it has worked out. However, some of the events are bizarre. Hula Whoops? Trampoline jumping? Synchronized diving? And they are giving baseball and softball the boot. It must be me! 

Having one of the best pitching staffs in baseball has caused the Rays to make some hard decisions concerning their staff this year. A while ago they released Gary Glover when he came off the disabled list. Glover was the reliable workhorse of the 2007 Devil Rays. He had a few bad outings this year but didn’t do a bad job most of the time. There just wasn’t any room for him with everyone else pitching lights out. He was picked up by the Tigers and just got up to the big club.

 Al Reyes had the same thing happen to him this past week. He came off the DL and there was no room for him. He cleared waivers and wouldn’t take a Triple A assignment, prompting his release. The Mets signed him and they will be better for it.

These two guys were about the only positive things to come out of the bullpen last year. It is sad for me to see them go. I wish them both much success with their new teams.

Rays Rants (and more)

Last Sunday night I was watching the Red Sox/Yankees game on ESPN. Much conversation took place between John Miller and Joe Morgan about Manny Ramirez’ recent slump. At some point in the evening there was a quote attributed to Manny that his slump would be over on Monday. Late in the game Manny (who wasn’t in the lineup) went in as a pinch hitter. He struck out on three pitches without even swinging the bat.  

On Monday night Manny was back in the lineup and went 2 for 4 with an RBI. On Tuesday, he hit his 17th home run and had two RBIs to help the Sox get a 6-5 win over the Twins. Could it be that his slump is over as he predicted it would be? You may hate Manny Ramirez or you may love him, and either way your arguments would be sound. But I doubt if anyone could argue against the fact that he is a fascinating man. I for one have learned that if Manny talks, you need to listen.

 I was really surprised when Scott Kazmir was selected to participate on this year’s American league All-Star team. When Kaz came off the DL, he came out strong but most of his last 4 or 5 starts have been nothing to write home about. He has slipped into that familiar role of being a 5 or 6 inning pitcher. Nobody seems to be able to get the fat of the bat on his pitches very often but he doesn’t seem to be able to avoid foul ball after foul ball without the ability to put the hitter away. I have been saying for the past 2 years that James Shields was the ace of the Rays’ staff, not Kazmir, and nothing that has happened this year has turned me from that position.

I love Carlos Pena and I firmly believe that his second half will be far more productive than his first half has been. However, he has struck out 10 times in the last 5 games and he has been killing the Rays batting out of the clean-up spot all season long. He needs to be moved to 6th or 7th in the order until he is back on track.

Jonny Gomes is the highest paid cheerleader in the country and may be one of the best teammates. But he no longer needs to take up space on the Rays 25 man roster. It is time to designate him for assignment and if he ends up being lost on the waiver wire; then so be it. I can’t help but believe that if the Rays are seriously looking for additional help for a playoff run they will try and package Gomes in the deal, but I can’t imagine anyone buying into it.

(In St. Pete, we'd like to think that when Kaz is on the bump, he only needs shirts in the field.)

I know it is kind of early to start thinking about this but assuming the Rays make it to the American League playoffs, I am wondering who is going to pitch? According to my calculations, 4 of the Rays starting pitchers will have used up around 200 innings by the time the season is over. Only Kazmir will be below 170 innings because of his time on the DL at the beginning of the season. One of the things the starters on this team have shown is an ability to stay healthy. In fact, the current rotation has started 82 of the 89 games the Rays have played this year. However, 200 innings takes its toll on a young arm. Both Jason Hammel and Jeff Niemann have enjoyed some success as a starter this year. How about going to a 6-man rotation for about six weeks during late July and August? I don’t mean rotating six men but I do mean each member of the rotation skipping a start during this period and resting the wing. If they can clinch a playoff spot early in September then you can rest the arms further. My concern is based on the fact that there is nothing more fragile than a Major League pitching arm and sometimes it just runs out of gas.

What is this apparent love affair the Rays have with Ben Zobrist? He has had some success hitting for average in the Minors, but has barely hit his weight in parts of 3 years at the major League level and he always seems to be hurt. He has only shown himself to be a marginal fielder at best. Somehow I don’t think that a 27-year-old project makes sense with the talent this team has at the minor league level. Brignac needs to be playing while Bartlett is on the shelf.

Something is wrong with Carl Crawford. I know that he has had a bad knee for a lot of the season but this is not the same player who we have grown to love for the past 6 years. He seems to be tentative in everything he does and at the same time he seems to be trying too hard at the plate. Rest him or fix him or do something. If the Rays success is going to continue they will need Crawford playing at his best.

            It was 5:00pm and the parking lot I normally use was full. This I did not understand since it has never happened before. Reluctantly, I turned around and headed for the main lot. This whole business didn’t make any sense. I haven’t had to park in the main lot in years and it was two hours before the start of the Rays/Red Sox game at Tropicana Field on Monday night.

            My wife (the fabulous Cindy) and I were attending our second game of the season together and we wanted to get there early to visit the Ted Williams Museum and Hitters Hall of Fame. It was actually going to be like a date (for old people, that is).

            Cindy and I both come from the Boston area and have always been baseball, and specifically, Red Sox fans. Her father was a life-long pal of Joe Morgan, the former manager of the Red Sox, and baseball was the hot topic of conversation at her house; when they weren’t discussing politics. I grew up in the city of Boston and frequented Fenway Park maybe 20 to 25 times a year in my youth. However, we moved to the beaches of Pinellas County, Florida 15 years ago and quickly became starved for Major League baseball. In 1998, a franchise was awarded to the City of St. Petersburg and we again got to witness one of our favorite past times in person.

            After nine years of watching the Tampa Bay Devil Rays futile attempt at playing quality baseball at the Major League level, things have finally turned around. The Rays have become viable. We saw this starting to happen last year but their record didn’t show it. This year the record shows the improvement; and that is an understatement.

            Walking through the parking lot was cool. We passed a host of people tailgating and socializing before the game. The smell of food cooking on the grill was everywhere and people were smiling and having a great time. The mixture of Rays blue and the Red Sox red was about equal in the parking lot, which is a common event when the Sox were in town. We got into a line that was about 150 yards long to get into the stadium and in fact were behind a family of five who were visiting from Andover, Mass and I actually got to take their picture for them in front of the Tropicana Field sign. They were all decked out in their Red Sox gear of course. But they were nice folks and the wait wasn’t very long.

            Cindy and I both decided to attend the game in neutral colors. The seats we were sitting in were given to us by a Rays employee and Cindy didn’t want to cause him any embarrassment by wearing Red Sox colors in his seats. Besides, it was awkward for us in deciding whom to root for. We have become fans of the Rays but the love of the Red Sox will never go away. I am convinced that there are two teams in Major League Baseball whose fans will never change. Those teams are the Cubs and the Red Sox. Once a Cubs fan or a Red Sox fan: always a Cubs fan or a Red Sox fan.

            We made our stop at the Ted Williams Museum and got to our seats about fifteen minutes before game time. The stands were pretty full by then and I would guess that the fans who were displaying colors were about 60% Rays and 40% Red Sox. The Rays mascot, Raymond was marching in front of the stands carrying a sign that read, “let there be peace” on one side and “can’t we all just get along” on the other. I thought that was pretty appropriate considering the recent past between these two teams. Justin Masterson threw the first pitch of the game and B.J. Upton made a statement by promptly knocking it over the center field wall for a 1-0 Rays lead. There was a quiet moment a few minutes later when Masterson hit Willy Aybar on the foot with a pitch but it was obviously not intentional and nothing came of it.

            Cindy found this game to be very emotionally taxing. She was happy that the Rays were doing well but said she couldn’t root against the Sox. I didn’t have that problem though. The Red Sox win all the games at Fenway and the Rays win all the games at the Trop; it’s only fair. Besides, I am convinced that the Sox are going to win the AL east this year so a couple of losses at the Trop won’t matter in the long run and will help to ensure that the Rays get the Wild Card spot. I don’t know how I will react if and when they face each other in the playoffs.

            I’m not going to bore you with the details of the game (ESPN has done a fine job of that) except to say that the Rays won. It was, in fact, a great game to watch. There were home runs. There were fine defensive plays. There was good pitching and the drama was elevated. I thought it funny that there was not one stolen base by the two best base stealing teams in the American League. There was an electricity, an excitement, an energy that I have never seen at Tropicana Field before this and it was nice.

            The one big difference between this game and all other Red Sox/Rays games I have attended at the Trop was that the Red Sox fans did not dominate the Game. The Rays fans actually overpowered the Sox fans throughout and the only time you saw that change was when Drew homered. It seemed all the fans behind the third base dugout were wearing red.

            The game started with drama and ended with drama. A ball hit the catwalk and came down in fair territory getting the Red Sox close. Troy Percival came up lame and J.P. Howell had to come in to get the last out against a stubborn Julio Lugo. There was a typical Florida thunderstorm taking place outside the Trop during the last two innings. It made getting out of the park difficult but it did allow me to enjoy the Rays fans celebrating as we crept our way to the parking lot. It hasn’t always been like this and it was a long time in coming. It was nice to see.

            I did learn some things though. I have been a supporter of a new stadium in St. Pete since Stewart Sternberg announced plans for one. I did believe that it needed to be covered and last nights rain convinced me I was right. Another issue was the traffic. I wasn’t able to set up my escape from the park due to the fact that I was in an unfamiliar parking lot. The traffic in the area is an issue and moving the park to the waterfront will create even more issues. It is my opinion that Sternberg made the right move in tabling the referendum on the new stadium until some of these problems get worked out.

            I’ll be back at the Trop tonight with my friend Doc Spero. I have decided to display colors for this one though. The problem I am having is what color to display. Red? Blue? Red? Blue? Red? Blue?

I was absolutely beside myself with glee after watching the Rays/Marlins game Monday night. The Rays were behind 3-2 late in the game when a walk, a (rare) bunt single and a Seeing Eye infield hit loaded the bases. At that point the Marlins brought in a pitcher who couldn’t come close to finding the plate and eventually walked in two runs. Evan Longoria came up and promptly hit a double down the right field line, plating two and putting the Rays up 6-3.

Troy Percival came in to pitch in the ninth to close out the game but had his own problems finding the plate. Longoria made an absolutely incredible diving catch of a sure hit to save the game for the Rays. I was thrilled. However in two short months I have grown accustomed to Evan Longoria making plays like that.

I remember last winter when the Rays first started to talk about bringing Longoria up to play third base for the ’08 season and moving Akinori Iwamura to second. I wasn’t happy because I thought that Aki was a fine third baseman and why would you want to mess with something that worked. Well it seems that I either have no imagination or no ability to see a finished product from its inception because Aki has turned out to be the best defensive second baseman in the league and only Mike Lowell and Scott Rolen may be better at third than Longoria.

This post was originally intended to be a tribute to “Evan Almighty” (who just hit his 14th home run against the Marlins as I am writing this). But after doing some research on the subject the direction has changed. It changed because as I researched the progress of Rays’ rookie Evan Longoria I discovered that he is not the only rookie in major league baseball that is having an impact with his team.

Joey Votto is hitting .289 with 12 homers and 37 RBIs while playing first base for the Reds.

Jacoby Ellsbury is covering a lot of ground in the Red Sox outfield and leads the league in stolen bases with 34. Justin Masterson is 4-1 with a 3.43 ERA in 7 starts.

The Cubs have Kosuke Fukudome hitting around .300 and scaring the hell out of pitchers with his bat control. Geovany Soto is hitting .280 with 12 homers and 46 RBIs and a .506 slugging average.

The Rangers have David Murphy (a former Red Sox first round pick acquired in the deal that sent Eric Gagne to Boston). He has 10 homers and 51 RBIs and whomever Josh Hamilton doesn’t drive in, he does.

The Braves have Jair Jurrjens with a 7-3 record and a 3.20 ERA.

The Yankees boast Joba Chamberlain and Edwar Ramirez. Chamberlain has been effective out of the bullpen setting up Rivera and has recently shown he can be an effective and dominating starter. Ramirez has been one of the most effective pitchers the Yankees have coming out of the bullpen.

The Orioles have Jim Johnson in the bullpen with a 1.29 ERA in 30 appearances.

The Blue Jays have Jesse Carlson in the bullpen with a 1.73 ERA in 35 appearances.

The Cardinals have Kyle McClendon in the bullpen with a 2.45 ERA in 37 games with 16 Holds.

The Athletics have Joey Devine and Greg Smith doing fine work with Devine coming in from the pen and Smith a regular in the rotation.

Aaron Laffey has started 11 games for the Indians and has a 2.83 ERA. Masa Kobayashi has been the workhorse out of the bullpen with 37 appearances and a 3.23 ERA.

The Twins have started Nick Blackburn 15 times this year and he hasn’t disappointed with a 6-4 record and a 3.68 ERA.

How does Longoria compare with all these guys? As I write this he is hitting .262 with 14 homers and 43 RBIs. His fielding percentage is right behind Scott Rolen and just ahead of Mike Lowell.

I get to watch Evan Longoria every day. He has made an incredible difference to the Tampa Bay Rays this season and he seems to get better every day. If you get to watch Fukudome or Ellsbury or Votto or Murphy or Soto every day then I would assume you have the same feelings about them as I have about Evan “Almighty”, and I don’t blame you. These are all players that you can base your hopes on.

It may be my imagination and that may be because I never really paid any attention to it but it appears to me that this is the best crop of rookies that MLB has seen in quite some time.

The purpose of this article is not so much to reminisce about a very pleasant part of my past. It is intended, more correctly, to alert the baseball world to watch out! All things are possible. 

I am a native Bostonian who happens to live in the Tampa Bay area of Florida. I have been here for about fifteen years and while remaining a Red Sox fan, I have followed the Tampa Bay Rays since they have been in existence and have developed a soft spot in my heart for them. The history of the Rays is very similar to that of the Red Sox of my youth. In what seemed like the blink of an eye the Red Sox went from the laughing stock of the American League to being within one game of being World Champions. 

This year, the Rays seem to have the pieces of the puzzle in place to make them competitive. Teams like the Tigers, Blue Jays and the Indians are at this point having a hard time living up to their hype. Teams like the Athletics and the Twins are playing better than most folks thought they would. The Yankees are old and brittle. The White Sox and the Rangers confuse me. The Mariners are not as bad as their record indicates. The Royals are not as bad as they have been in recent years. The Orioles have shown signs of life and all those kids may surprise. That being said, it is my opinion that the Angels and the Red Sox are the elite teams in the American League but the Sox have pitching concerns and the Angels don’t seem to have the chemistry (although that is viewing it from 3,000 miles away). 

The timing may be just right for another “Impossible Dream” season featuring your Tampa Bay Rays baseball team. 

I spent the summer of 1955 with my sister and her husband in Levittown, New York. My mother decided that I needed to get out of Boston that year for a couple of reasons. The one that I always thought was the main reason was that the polio epidemic was running rampant in Boston at the time. In fact, two kids in my neighborhood contracted and died from polio that summer. Recently, she told me that the main reason I was shipped to New York that year (and the following five) was because my Dad had passed away a couple of years before and my Mom couldn’t take care of my little sister and me and work at the same time. My going to stay with my older sister gave her some breathing room.  

I was nine years old and hardly knew my big sister and her husband when I arrived at their Long Island home. They were almost smothering in trying to make me welcome and comfortable. One of the things my brother-in-law (####) did to entertain me was to take me to a Giants game at the Polo Grounds. My sister was wild. I was there for protection against the poliovirus and here he was taking me to a ballgame surrounded by thousands of other people who could be carriers of the virus. We didn’t go to any more games that year but I was hooked. In the following years, #### and I went to a lot of Giants games. 

I was about twelve when I went to my first Red Sox game. My uncle Irving was upset that I was becoming so attached to my brother-in-law that he decided to compete with him. Irving was an avid Red Sox fan and attended a fair amount of games every year. He also didn’t like #### very much. I always wondered why he bothered going to games though, because all he ever seemed to do was complain about how bad the Sox were back then; and they were pretty bad. But they got even worse! 

From 1959 through 1966 the Red Sox never had a winning season and in fact, from 1964 to 1966 they lost over 90 games. They were hapless and hopeless but they were the Red Sox and I had become a fan. I knew they weren’t going to win anything so I focused on the players. Bill Monbouquette, Pete Runnels, Frank Malzone (although he was known as Frank Malone in my Irish neighborhood), Earl Wilson, #### Radatz, Don Buddin and later Eddie Bressoud were my favorites.  In 1966 the Sox brought up George Scott and Joe Foy. They were going to be the players that would allow Yaz and Tony Conigliaro to take the Sox to the next level. But it didn’t work out that way. As a matter of fact the 1966 season was in complete disarray with (manager) Billy Hermann being replaced by Pete Runnels late in the season. O’Connell was dumping everybody.  

#### O’Connell took over as GM of the Red Sox n September of 1965. He was doing an awful lot of things behind the scenes that we fans never knew about and from my point of view; the situation was no different than it had always been except that none of my favorite players were still on the team. After the 1966 season, O’Connell hired #### Williams to manage the Red Sox. Williams had been the manager of the Toronto AAA minor league team and knew most of the young players that were coming up. He brought a new and strange atmosphere into the Sox clubhouse; work hard, play hard and be accountable to your team. What a concept! Back then the Red Sox had the reputation of being 25 ballplayers who took 25 different cabs to the ballpark. 

Williams and the Red Sox started the 1967 season with a bucketful of young players. Yaz and Conigliaro were established stars and Joe Foy, Rico Petrocelli and George Scott were obviously going to be good ballplayers. Rookies Reggie Smith and Mike Andrews were untested but it did appear that the Sox had 7 of the 8 field positions covered. O’Connell filled the roster with role players like Jerry Adair, Dalton Jones, Jose Tartabull and George Thomas. He acquired Gary Bell and Lee Stange to go along with Jim Lonborg, Gary Waszlewski, Darrel Brandon and Dave Morehead. John Wyatt, Jose Santiago and a young Sparkey Lyle were in the bullpen. Actually O’Connell was running people in and out all year with 38 different players seeing time on the Red Sox roster. 

No long-in-the-tooth Red Sox fan will ever forget that awful August game against the Angels when Tony C was hit in the head by a Jack Hamilton fastball; ultimately ending his career. But help was there. Charley Finley and the Athletics had finally tired of Ken (the hawk) Harrelson and released him. O’Connell quickly picked him up and we had a right fielder. On August 3rd of that year the Red Sox traded two guys of no consequence to the Yankees for Elston Howard and the catching position (which had been a problem all year) was solidified.  

The American League pennant was won on the last day of the season. The Sox beat the Twins and the Tigers lost the second game of a double header to the Angels. The problem was that the Sox had to use their 22 game winner, Jim Lonborg against the Twins and messed up the pitching assignments with the Cardinals for the World Series. Only in game seven did Lonborg face Cardinals ace Bob Gibson and he did that with 2 days rest. There was no contest. Gibson had three complete game victories in that series. 

1967 was a glorious time for a Red Sox fan and the Red Sox organization. The Sox had not won a pennant in 23 years and in fact had only finished second twice during that time. Attendance was dismal for years until the 1967 season and I can attest to that. I never had trouble getting into a game and rarely did I ever see the stands more that half full. From then on, Red Sox tickets have become a premium buy in Boston. Carl Yastrzemski won the triple crown (the last player to do so). Jim Lonborg won 22 games and was the American league Cy Young award winner. Reggie Smith (who would have been Rookie of the Year if he wasn’t up against Rod Carew). Rico Petrocelli and Sparkey Lyle went on to have long and successful careers. Ken Harrelson got into a major market and took full advantage of it. His very public persona spring boarded him into a very successful post baseball career in broadcasting. After having such a dismal record prior to the 1967 season, the Red Sox have only had 6 losing seasons in the last 40 years. Only the tragedy of Tony Conigliaro’s beaning put a cloud over this wonderful season.  

I see are a lot of close comparisons to the Cardiac Kids of 1967 and the 2008 Rays. Yaz, Tony C, George Scott and Joe Foy couldn’t carry the Sox in 1966 (the Sox lost 90 games) and Carl Crawford, B.J. Upton, Carlos Pena and Delmon Young couldn’t carry the Rays in 2007 (the Rays lost 96 games). A couple of rookies and some key veteran pick-ups took the Sox over the top in’67. Evan Longoria and Jason Bartlett along with a few key veteran acquisitions have got the Rays this far in 2008. 

I know the season is less than 25% old as I write this but just maybe there is another “Impossible Dream” season in store for the Tampa Bay Rays in 2008. If it happened it would be one of the greatest stories in baseball and you heard it here first. 

 Last Sunday I celebrated my 62nd birthday. I don’t know if anyone can relate to this but I seem to do a lot of self-reflecting when my birthday comes around and I find myself reminiscing a lot. I had the great experience this past year of going to Boston to visit with my mother. I had a lot of free time during the visit and decided to see if I could find any of the guys I grew up with in Boston during the 50s and 60s. So many years had gone by and I had lost touch with every one of them. But somehow (thanks to the internet) I found and contacted three of them. I got the opportunity to visit for a while with all three of these fellows and came to a startling conclusion…they got old!   

Most of the time I spent with my friends was pretty much just catching up on the last 35 to 45 years. However I spent a whole afternoon with my friend Billy who I located in Brockton, a blue-collar city located about 20 miles south of Boston. Not only did we catch up, we reminisced. One of Billy’s memories was a baseball game at Fenway Park that four of us went to one August night in 1960. I couldn’t sleep very well last night and for some reason started thinking about the visit with my friend and ultimately, the game.

I was fourteen years old and probably had been to 50 or 60 games up to that point in my life. I lived and died baseball back then (as most of us did and I still do) and when someone came up with the idea of going to see the Red Sox play a twilight doubleheader against the Tigers, I was all for it. It was a Tuesday or Wednesday night right before the Labor Day weekend and school was starting right after that.  We went to four different schools back then and knew that we weren’t going to be seeing each other very much now that the summer was almost all over so the game was a great idea. 

The Red Sox were about 20 games back in the standings but that didn’t matter. We met at Uphams Corner in Dorchester and caught a bus to Andrew Station. From there we caught the subway to the Park Street station where we transferred to a trolley to Kenmore square (Fenway Park did not have its own T station back then) but it is less than a 10-minute walk from Kenmore Square to Fenway. Everyone else on the street was going to the ballgame and we got caught up in the excitement long before we bought our tickets. It cost a buck to get bleacher seats in right field. The first game was to start at 4:00pm and we got there early enough to get seats next to the visiting bullpen.  

Billy Monbouquette was pitching for the Sox in the first game against the Tigers’ Frank Lary. They both pitched pretty well but neither of them was involved in the decision. At the end of the 9th inning they were in a four to four tie and nobody but the Sox second baseman (Pete Runnels) seemed to want to win the game. Finally, after 4 hours and in the bottom of the 15th inning, Runnels hit drive into the triangle next to the Red Sox bullpen and scored Frank Malzone from first base. It was Pete Runnels 6th hit of the game and the place went crazy.  

It took close to an hour to get the second game started. This was going to be another good one. Earl Wilson was pitching against Jim Bunning. The sore spot was that Ted Williams was not going to play in the second game. In the top of the 9th inning Rocky Colavito hit a monster shot over the left field wall to tie the game and put us into extra inning again. Thank goodness the Sox scored in the bottom of the 10th on a throwing error by the Tigers’ shortstop and ended up winning both ends of the double header. Pete Runnels had three more hits in the second game to raise his total to 9 hits for the day. I think that was some kind of a record at the time.                               

The coolest thing about the game was not actually the game. We spent over 9 hours next to the visitors’ bullpen and got to know some of the Tiger pitchers. Hank Aguirre and Paul Foytack were the two I remember most and they were terrific. Rocky Colavito was the Tiger right fielder and he interacted with us during both games. I sort of became a Tiger fan after that and grasped at the opportunity to visit Tiger Stadium in 1972 when I was in Windsor on business.

Now we ran into problems. Public transportation stopped at 1:00pm back then and the lateness of the game was only going to change the number of subway cars, not the time schedule. We ran like heck to the Kenmore Square station and caught a trolley to Park Street. There we managed to get the last subway back to Andrew Station but only found that the last bus home had already left. We had I’m guessing about a five mile walk ahead of us.  It was after 1:00am and we were all in trouble as we were all 14 or 15 years old and it was not acceptable to be out that late. There were no cell phones and we couldn’t find a pay phone during the walk to alert our families of our whereabouts. About half way home a Boston Police Department cruiser stopped us and the policeman inquired as to why we were out that late. Upon hearing our explanation and seeing a ticket stub he graciously drove us home.        

 However, this caused us more problems. All our parents were still awake waiting for us. They saw the police car drop us off one by one. My Mom was at the top of the front steps when I arrived. She only asked me if I was all right and then getting a positive answer told me to go to bed. The next morning was a different story. Back then it was very embarrassing for parents to have their children brought home in a police car. None of us got through that unscathed. Billy, by the way, was never a baseball fan. He only went to the game so he wouldn’t be left out. Yet he not only remembered the trouble he got into, he remembered Pete Runnels. When I asked my Mom if she remembered the incident she only remembered the night that the police brought me home. It’s funny how one of the best baseball nights of my life caused me so much trouble.

I'm so confused. I am surrounded by mixed feelings and I simply don’t know how to behave. Oh sure, over the years I have been confused in relationships, in religion, in politics and even in business. But I have never had any of these feelings about sports; and particularly sports that emanate from Boston. I have always known that the Yankees suck and the Sox rule. I have always known that no matter what that guy in LA does, Red Auerbach will always be the greatest coach who ever led an NBA team. I know that Bobby Orr was better than Gretsky, Lemieux or Crosby. John Hannah was the greatest offensive lineman who ever played the game. Larry Bird was the smartest man to ever hit a 3-point field goal and I have no doubt in my mind that whatever this Brian guy says to the commissioner of the NLF, “Spy gate” is a bunch of bull spit. But now I am confused. 

          I moved to the beaches of Pinellas County, Florida about 15 years ago. At the time the only thing that caused me any regret about the move was not being able to see NESN and the Red Sox on the television whenever I wanted. However I could still get a copy of the Boston Globe every morning and would be able to stay in touch with my beloved Red Sox and all the other teams from the Hub. The first summer here I missed MLB baseball and especially the Red Sox terribly. I just couldn’t get that revved up about the White Sox, Braves, Cubs and Yankees that would be broadcast here on the “Superstations”. I started watching local college baseball and would even take in local Little League games (until I caught one of the parents taking my photograph because I didn’t have any connection with any of the kids playing).  

          The City of St. Pete built a baseball stadium but had nobody to play there. They thought they could lure a team or get an expansion team if they had a facility in place. After what seemed like a half dozen close calls, the city finally got an expansion team and in 1998 the first regular season MLB baseball game was played in St. Petersburg, Florida. The team was the Tampa Bay Devil Rays and I don’t have to tell any baseball fan what life has been like for them over the past 10 years.  

          I have attended many, many games at what is now known as the Trop over those years and for a long time never missed a game when the Sox were in town. But three or four years ago years I started to feel uneasy about going to Red Sox/Rays games displaying my treasured Ted Williams jersey. It didn’t feel right displaying the Sox colors in the Rays’ house. Was I inadvertently developing sensitivity to the Rays? That must have been the case because last year I did not attend even one Red Sox game in person although I cheered for them every time they were on TV. I got caught up in the hoopla of Scott Kazmir, James Shields, Carl Crawford and Rocco. I was sure that Lou Pinella would turn the corner if he only got a little help from ownership. If the Rays were not playing the Sox I cheered mightily for them. I knew all the players and would talk for hours on end about them with my friends but they were and always were going to be second in my heart to my beloved Red Sox. 

          This weekend was the source of my confusion. I was actually rooting for the Rays in every one of the games against the Sox. I am convinced that the Red Sox are going to win the American League East with room to spare so losing a couple of games to the Rays over the weekend would not matter very much. But Sunday afternoon I found myself rooting for the Rays to sweep. I love Josh Beckett but I have never seen him pitch in person. I have seen James Shields pitch many times and have watched him develop into one of the premier pitchers in the league. I couldn’t root against him. I am fascinated with Evan Longoria (this guy is for real) this year the same way I was fascinated with Dustin Pedroia last year. I think the most thrilling thing to watch in baseball is Carl Crawford running out a triple (and he had two this weekend). I am thrilled with the fact that the Rays’ bullpen has the lowest ERA in baseball and the Rays’ pitching staff as a whole has the third lowest team ERA in baseball. I am ecstatic that the Rays are in first place in the American League East this late in the season although I am enough of a realist to know it probably won’t last. I am disturbed as heck that Scott Kazmir is coming off the disabled list next week because that means that one of the Rays starters will have to be sent down. That will probably be Andy Sonnanstine because he is the only one who has any options left and Sonny has become a favorite of mine (although you gotta love Kazmir).  

My eyes were closed. I had been up since 4:00am and was having a difficult time staying awake. I was watching my beloved Red Sox playing in a tie game with the Anaheim of Southern California Los Angeles Area Angels (or something like that). I wanted the game over so I could go to bed. My mind drifted. I imagined oft-maligned Julio Lugo winning the game with a walk-off homer but that was too easy so I gave him a double. I saw the next two batters make outs and was disappointed that I gave Lugo a double; now they would walk Big Papi with first base open. Manny comes to the plate and hits one into New Hampshire. I hear Tessie playing in the background. What a dream! Wait a minute; it wasn’t a dream. It really happened. Tessie was really playing in the background. Manny Ramirez, the Red Sox current left fielder, won the game in the bottom of the ninth with a wicked blast. Oh, those Red Sox left fielders!                    

   As hard as it is for fans to get a ticket to a Red Sox game in Fenway Park, it is harder for baseball players to play in left field for the Red Sox. Although there have been a lot of different players who have played the position for a few games over the years, only seven Red Sox players have called Left Field home during the past sixty eight years. That is seven players who, if they were not injured or not resting or not fighting in World War 2 would almost always be inserted into the line-up in front of the fabled Green Monster at the Fens.

In 1939, Manager Joe Cronin put a tall, skinny twenty-year-old kid from San Diego into the line-up. He would be penciled in every time he was available for the next twenty-two years. That kid was Theodore Samuel Williams; Teddy Ball-Game; The Splendid Splinter. He hit .327 his rookie year with 31 home runs and 145 RBIs. He committed 19 errors that year but his offense demanded that he stay put and eventually became an acceptable defensive left fielder. Ted Williams finished his career with a .344 lifetime batting average; he hit 521 home runs and had 1839 runs batted in and he is considered by many to be the greatest hitter who ever lived.

So in 1960 when Ted finally called it quits, who was going to take his place? Obviously nobody could. Left field was destined to be patrolled by the Marty Keoghs and the Gene Stevens and the Billy Harrells of baseball.  There was never going to be another Ted Williams.

Or was there?

A kid from Long Island, New York came up to the bigs in 1961. He was 5’11” and only weighed 180 pounds but he swung the bat harder than anybody I have ever seen. This was Carl Yastrzemski and he proved to have more character and heart than almost anybody who ever played the game. He had to. He was replacing Ted Williams. This was an impossible task for anyone, but Yaz put up with the unfair comparisons and severe criticisms and eventually became his own man. He won the Triple Crown in 1967 to go along with his MVP award. He was the veteran who led the “Cardiac Kids” to the American League Pennant in 1967. Although he played for 23 years, he patrolled left field for 15 of them. Only moving to first base and DH with the arrival of Jim Ed Rice in 1975.

Jim Rice quietly took over the left field spot in 1975. I say quietly because next to him in center was another phenom rookie named Fred Lynn. Lynn hit .331 with 21 homers and 105 RBIs that year compared to .309, 22, and 102 for Rice. But Jim missed the World Series because of injury and Fred Lynn won the Rookie of the Year title and the American League MVP award. Rice held the left field position for the next 13 years. During that period he won an MVP award and was Home Run and RBI champ twice. He also had 8 all-star appearances. 

In 1987 the torch was passed on to Mike Greenwell. Greenie hit .328 during his first full year in left. He had a career .303 average with occasional power and a pretty good ability to drive in runs. As a matter of fact, in 1996 Greenwell set the ML mark for RBIs in a single game with 9 against the Seattle Mariners.  In 1997 he signed a huge contract with a Japanese team but failed miserably due to injuries.

The position was up for grabs for the next 4 years Wil Cordero played left for the 1997 season and did pretty well. His personal problems (spousal abuse) for all intent and purpose got him kicked out of Boston. After his troubles became public he was booed every time he made an appearance. Troy O’Leary took the position for the next three years and did a real good job; actually knocking in 103 runs in 1999. But a fine job for a left fielder in Fenway Park is just not quite good enough. The Sox needed a “bat” there. They signed a free agent named Manny Ramirez prior to the 2001 season. Manny was a proven star for the Cleveland Indians with over 700 RBIs and a better than .300 batting average. He has owned the position for the past 6 years with batting accomplishments and statistics to numerous to chronicle here. He and David Ortiz make up the best 3-4 combinations in the Major Leagues. And Manny is Manny. He probably takes more heat from around the country than any other player in the league. But in Boston, he is just Manny being Manny and we love him.                          

I don’t know if any team in baseball can boast of a success at one position the way that the Red Sox can boast of the success they have had in left field. Williams, Yaz, Rice, Greenwell and Manny. Who’s next? Jacoby Ellsbury, Brandon Moss, or do the Sox just find a free agent who wants to take the legacy ordained to left fielders at Fenway Park. If it was my choice, I’d postpone any changes and resign Manny when the time comes. 

RED SOX ROLL!