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.

It's all about me!

I knew it was going to happen. I should have been prepared and actually thought I was, but as it turns out, I wasn't. It was inevitable that the secret would get out and the rest of the area would find out about the Tampa Bay Rays and start going to ball games at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg.

Now most folks think that this is a good thing. Others simply don't care and then there is me. I don't like it. You see, I have grown accustomed to being able to sit anywhere I wanted to, whenever I wanted to at that ballpark. I have grown accustomed to getting a hot dog or a sausage sandwich whenever I wanted it without having to wait in line. I have grown accustomed to waiting until the last minute to use the head because there was no chance that I would have to wait in line. Alas, that is no longer the case. 

Last Thursday night I missed almost a full inning of the Cubs/Rays game just getting a hot dog and a Pepsi. I had to wait in line at the food counter and then had to wait in line at the condiment counter. By the time I got back to my seat the inning was almost over and the dog was cold. Thank goodness nothing much happened while I was gone and thank goodness that I'm too lazy to keep score. Later in the game I postponed a trip to the rest room because there was good stuff happening on the field. It never occurred to me that there would be a line at the urinals when I finally did get up to take care of my plumbing issues, but there it was at a most inconvenient time. I had to pay a kid in front of me three bucks to let me go in front of him to avoid an embarrassing accident. He wanted five but I guess I convinced him that I didn't have any more cash and he felt sorry for me.  

Now don't get me wrong; I love the fact that the Rays are viable in the American League this year. After spending the last ten years watching them play with the worst pitching in baseball, one of the most porous defenses in baseball and rarely having more than three legitimate Major Leaguers on the field at any given time, this year is a pleasure; except for the fact that it becoming more and more uncomfortable and inconvenient to go to a ball game with all of these other people around.  

I should have realized that this was going to be the way it was going to be on opening day. My wife and I had four "babes" in their early twenties sitting in front of us that didn't seem to have any idea what was going on in the field. They would stand up in the middle of an inning for no apparent reason and would look at me like I was asking for their first born when I asked them to sit down so that I could see the game. After about four innings had elapsed, their scent had permeated every corner of the stadium and single guys were arriving alone, in pairs and at one time, five guys (all carrying their $8 beers) showed up. The problem for us was that there was no place to move to except up in the nose bleed section. We finally left the game at the seventh inning stretch rather than get into an altercation that probably would have required some kind of bail. 

I guess the point of all this is that even though I want the Rays to be successful, I am not happy with all these people messing around in my sandbox. If I only went to a few games a year, I would probably accept the inconveniences that large crowds bring. But I go to a lot of games and I am becoming unhappy with the inconveniences that success brings. 

It's all about the team!

The Rays are 6 games short of being exactly half way through the 2008 campaign. Their record is 44-31 as we speak and only 3 teams in Major League Baseball have a better winning percentage than the Rays have. Some interesting facts concerning the Rays season thus far: