Wow

Wow. That was brutal. I think the Rays made the Yankees mad and the result wasn’t pretty. After beating New York 14-4 on Friday night the Rays from Tampa Bay proceeded to lose the next 3 games in spectacular fashion. During the long, looooong weekend they gave up 45 runs on 53 hits and turned Shelly Duncan into the second coming of Kevin Maas. Even their ace, James Shields, couldn’t escape the shelling as he gave up 10 runs in 3 innings on Sunday.

Adding to the misery were injuries to Jay Witasick and Carl Crawford. Witasick pitched with a bad elbow that swelled to the size of a golf ball by the end of the game. Today he was placed on the 15 day disabled list that could mean he’s spent his last days with the Rays. Crawford’s injury was described as a sprained left ankle and he isn’t expected to miss any significant time. Then again his wrist injury a few years ago wasn’t supposed to be a big deal either.

Several changes to the bullpen were made throughout the weekend. The latest were Witasick going on the DL and being replaced by Jason Hammel (who started the weekend on the major league roster and than was demoted Sunday before being recalled on Monday). Juan Salas was activated as well replacing JP Howell who’s brief return saw him surrender 7 runs in 5 innings in the second game of Saturday’s double header.

Also, making his return to the roster was Jae Kuk Ryu. The South Korean is set to work out of the bullpen during his second stint on the Rays roster. It will be interesting to see if he gets more work this time around. Also joining him is Scott Dohmann. Dohmann was effective in Durham holding hitters to a .211 average. If he is able to continue that in the major’s he could be a huge boost to the leagues worst bullpen.

These may not be the final changes to the Rays pitching staff. Several published reports (including the New York Post) have the Rays moving Ty Wigginton to the Yankees for relievers Scott Proctor or Kyle Farnsworth. Farnsworth could step in as a closer if Al Reyes is moved. Armed with a dominating (but ruler straight fastball) the former Yankee, Cub, Brave and Tiger has tantalized fans since 1999, but never lived up to his hype.

Proctor would be used as a set up man and should prove more reliable than the current cast of characters. The 30 year-old right-hander enjoyed his best season in 2006 when he appeared in 83 games and pitched to an ERA of 3.52.

The local beat writers have already begun lamenting trading Wigginton. John Romero fired the first shot in his column today stating that it is time to “pay more attention to the box score than the bottom line”. He mentions that Ty is one of the few players with a “fire in [his] belly” and that he wants to stay around.

That’s all well and good, but keeping him would severely tie the Rays hands as early as next season. The power hitting infielder already is a player without a true position. He’s not a natural 2nd baseman, or first baseman and has no shot of moving Aki Iwamura from 3rd. With the likelihood that super prospect Evan Longoria will be knocking on the doors in the majors next season there is even less room for Wigginton. His value is at an all time high.

It will be an interesting week leading up to the deadline. In looking at the current roster the Rays have several players that could fill the needs of certain teams.

Most Likely To Move

Ty Wigginton – Minnesota, New York (AL and NL), California and Los Angeles could all use more power in their line up.

Al Reyes – Every team in contention could use bullpen help with Cleveland and Boston leading the charge. If Octavio Dotel is garnering interest it shouldn’t be hard to move Reyes.

Might Move

Brendan Harris / Josh Wilson – a team like the Mets may be willing to drop a second tier prospect to add some infield depth to their roster.

Casey Fossum / Gary Glover – A long shot, but a team desperate for an arm might be willing to take a shot.

Won’t Move, well maybe….

Jon Gomes – Another player without a spot on the roster. His performance since being recalled may have intrigued some teams looking for power. His limited defensive skills may restrict him to the AL, but don’t count the Dodgers out. As we learned from last year the two organizations aren’t afraid to swap players.

Aki Iwamura – Before you think I’ve lost it, think for a minute. Aki proved he can hit major league pitching and he has shown Gold Glove ability in the field. As mentioned before super prospect Longoria may only be a season away. If Aki stays than one of them has to move. If the right deal comes a long (first tier prospect and a major league ready arm) the Rays may need to move him.

The Rays spend the rest of this week in Baltimore and their performance against their fellow AL East whipping boys will show what kind of team Joe Maddon has on his hands. Will they fold and slink on to another 100 loss year or will they rebound and keep fighting?

.500!

At least since the All Star break. Nice win to keep the Yankees reeling. I must say I didn't see much thanks to a post work extravaganza put on by the vendors whose products we sell at the No Limits Fun Factory.

A limo scavanger hunt.... that's the way we roll. Luckily along the way I was able to poke my head into a couple of bars to see the score. Looks like like the Rays led the whole way. Good for them!

That's all..... I'm going to go pass out now....

Second Half.... Same as the First?

Thanks to the generosity of one of our vendors I spend Thursday night at the ol ball yard. The first game of the unofficial second half, the Yankees in town, James (Don’t call me Jamie!) Shields on the hill – what could go wrong. Well apparently a lot.

The Rays looked as flat as the beer I was drinking. A pop falls in, a dropped ball on a sacrifice bunt, some questionable baserunning all added up to a 7-3 loss at the hands of the Yankees. In order to make any kind of run to save the season they are going to have to go back to fundamentals. It seems like they keep waiting for the big hit to keep them in the game. Right now it’s not coming for them so they have to start manufacturing runs.

More later…..

Post All Star Blues......

There are slow sports days and then there is the day after the All Star game. Unless you count the WNBA as a sport (and I don’t) there are no games to watch. With my girlfriend out of the house I had the TV all to my self, but nothing to watch. Oh the horror. Luckily HBO came though.

Their documentary The Brooklyn Dodgers:The Ghosts of Flatbush followed the history of “Da Bums” from the “The Boys of Summer” glory days to their move to Los Angeles. As a kid who grew up in Baltimore I didn’t take the time to learn the history of the classic New York teams. As far as I was concerned the only legends were the ones who wore orange and black. I knew the names, Jackie Robinson, Pee Wee Reese, Duke Snider and Carl Erskine couldn’t compare to the Brooks Robinsons and Jim Palmers of the world.

HBO may run crappy movies into the ground, but they know how to product a sports documentary. Throw in a lot of classic footage of the team, weave together interviews with former players (in this case Johnny Podres, Carl Erskine and others) random famous people who followed the team as kids (Larry King and Lou Gosset, Jr.) and you have an enjoyable two hours of TV.

The Dodgers make for a great subject. From the integration of Jackie Robinson to the year after year of heartbreak at the hands of Yankees and the move to California there was more than enough drama to fill the two hours. Even those that don’t know the history of baseball may gleam some understanding as to why fans developed such an attachment to the teams of that era.

It was nice that they had a built in villain in Walter O’Malley the owner of the Dodgers who traded an aging Robinson to the rival New York Giants and is forever remembered as the man who moved the Dodgers out of Brooklyn.

Some random items I found interesting:


Johnny Podres, “I’d go have a cigarette. Let me know when there are two outs and I’d butt my cigarette and go out there”.

Branch Rickey – signed Jackie Robinson and Roberto Clemente.

Liev Schrieber should narrate any and all sports documentaries from now until eternity.

Podres – 9-10 starter wins the biggest game in the history of the Brooklyn Dodgers. He shut down the Yankees 2-0 in Game 7 of the 1955 World Series to give the Dodgers their first Series title after 65 years of heartbreak.

How much have times changed? No one likes the Yankees and the owner was a son of a bitch.

Lou Gosset’s quote, “Until him (Robinson) all of my heroes were white comic book characters”.

O’Malley seemed to be a villain from central casting. Slicked back hair, fancy suits, tiny glasses and cigar and to top it off he was a layer. I half expected him to cackle and fly away like the Penguin.

If the Rays ever leave the TBA I doubt there will be much lamenting. They won’t find any old men lamenting their dearly departed heroes. Chances are it would be hard to find anyone who remembered the team was here.

Perhaps the best thing about these films is that they bring back the nostalgia of the glory days of baseball. One of the random people that they interviewed mentioned that you “could walk down the street and not miss a pitch” because of all of the radios out on the porches.

While the game today may have the greatest athletes that have ever played the special connection between the players and the fans has been lost. The Dodgers more than any other team of the era epitomize the “one of us” familiarity that the fans had for the players. It’s nice when a film like this comes along to remind us of those days.

Everything's fine here... How are you?

Is this rock bottom? Down 13-2 in the 4th inning to the Red Sox and well on the way to an 11th straight loss it looks like the Rays are ready to hit the ground harder than Wile E. Coyote. However, I’m wary of saying it can’t get any worse, because if the Rays have proved anything in the last 10 seasons it’s that it can (and probably will) get worse. So where do they go now?

For starters they head to Kansas City. After a three game series with the Royals the All Star break looms like a mirage in the desert for the battered Rays. The last two months have been costly as they have lost their starting centerfielder (Rocco Baldelli), their 2nd baseman (BJ Upton) and most recently their closer (Al Reyes) to injuries.

With the exception of Carl Crawford who will be flying off to San Francisco to represent them in the Mid Summer Classic the Rays are going to get a much needed break. Without a doubt they need it more than any other team right now. What had been a promising first half at 33-40 has burned to the ground with the 10 game losing streak.

Everyone on the roster is scuffling from the starting pitchers to the starting nine in the field. From Aki (.220) to Carlos Pena (.188) to Ty (.176) no one is hitting in the last two weeks or so. It’s really hard to win when not one single starter is hot. James Shields has cooled off over the last two weeks and is currently riding a 4 game losing streak. Scott Kazmir continues to battle his control and is nothing more than a 5-6 inning pitcher at this point.

Despite all of the chaos that is encircling the team recently there has been one constant and that is Manager Joe Maddon’s optimism.

“Everything’s been good, we just haven’t been winning. It’s a perfect growth moment.” Wow, I’m starting to wonder if California Joe isn’t starting to self-medicate, heavily.

It will be interesting to see if upper management is as patient as the Rays resident philosopher/manager. The firing season in the major leagues has already begun with the sacking of Sam Perlazzo and Jerry Narron.

Removing Maddon from his position will not help. The young players need to have his reassuring presence in the clubhouse. The fire and brimstone method that was the norm under Lou Pinella did not work, so perhaps it’s time to trust in the current leadership.

This season is still one of development for the team. Perhaps the mistake the Rays made was being successful enough to make fans want more. Now fans seem to expect more out of what is a last place team. Right now and for the rest of the season it’s about seeing which of these prospects can play at a major league level. Is Delmon Young ready to realize his fill potential, can Andy Sonnanstine step into the rotation, will Dioner Navarro hit his weight?

Those are questions that need to be answered now not if the Rays can finish next to last instead of in last. In the grand scheme thing of things does that really matter?

The Rays will eventually pull themselves out of this funk, but when they do you have to wonder how much momentum they might have lost from a season that started, if not promising, at least better than normal. Till then hang tough Rays fans.

(Can it get worse? Navarro just knocked in a run with a weak ground ball to first. In doing so he managed to slam his jaw against Josh Beckett’s shoulder and knocked himself woozy. Only with the Rays would an RBI cost them a starting catcher.)

Quick Hits

More posts coming later this week (I know promises, promises).

I go out of town for a few days and the Rays fall apart. In case you were wondering the Rays get zero coverage in the West Palm area.

Jon Gomes has returned with a vengeance. I had a feeling that if got the chance he wouldn't take it for granted. It makes the benching of Elijah Dukes easier for Joe Maddon.

Speaking of Maddon, getting tossed in yesterday's game was one of the few times it seemed being the Rays' manager got to him. Sure Angel Hernandez made a bad call, but I don't think it was worth getting tossed for. Looks like he had some pent up rage that he needed unleashed.

Scott Kazmir is still struggling through his starts. No need to start dumping on him yet, but he doesn't seem to be making any effective adjustments. That's one of the main differences between him and James Shields at this point.

The Chosen One finally walked a couple of people. Still he is the best pitcher with an ERA over 7.00 that has come along in a long time. Look for the ERA to drop significantly. If he has a year similar to Shields' performance last year than the rotation for 2008 is starting to shape up.

Switching to hockey. Interesting move by the Lightning to pick up Chris Gratton for a second round pick. It seems like they're willing to try anything to help the special teams out. If not for anything else at least they'll be better on faceoffs next year.

Congrats to whoever had Sam Perlazzo and June for his firing. It's kind of a shame that he became the fall guy. After all he didn't put together that stellar bullpen.

That's it for now...

Don't Call it a comeback

The Rays wrapped up their series with the Toronto Blue Jays with a little afternoon delight. Ed Jackson pitched 6 innings and only walked 2 in the matinee affair. However, he had left the game long before Delmon Young’s 2 run single made a winner out of Gary Glover. The Rays are now 4 and 3 in June and 2-0-1 in their last 3 series. Despite the bullpen implosion that led to Tuesday’s atrocious 12-11 loss they are playing well as a team. The offense has picked it up and the starting pitching has seen a marked improvement since the beginning of the season.

That’s all well and good, but I’m not going to talk about the Rays today, or at least in this post. Instead I’m moving up the east coast to talk about the dreaded New York Yankees. That’s right the dynasty that is currently lying in ruins. Or so the national media would have you believe. With a sub .500 record and trailing the Boston Red Sox by double digits one would think that most storied of all baseball franchises has descended into the depths normally occupied by the likes of the Royals, the Nationals and yes our beloved Rays.

I submit to you that the reports of the death of the Yankees are a tad premature. The calendars rolled to June a week ago. Kids abandoned schoolrooms for swimming pools mere days ago. Network news has only had two measly tropical storms to over hype. With the season just passing the 1/3 mark the Yankees have plenty of games left to make their run.

Within a month, when New York has crept to within 5 or 6 games of the Red Sox the talking heads will begin cranking up the talk. Remember that you read it here first. The Yankees are going to make this race exciting. You may think I’m talking crazy at this point, but bear with me for the next few paragraphs while I lay out a few points why this is going to happen.

1. It’s Happened Before – That’s right. I’m talking about 1978. I was 2 years old and didn’t know a baseball from my elbow. However, all of you Red Sox fans know….wait…I’m talking to the real Red Sox fans. You all know what I’m talking about. Bucky “Bleepin’” Dent. His October home run capped an amazing comeback by the Yankees that crushed the souls of Boston fans for years to come. It was one of the main cornerstones of the mythical “curse” that the 2004 Red Sox club lifted from the organization with their World Series win.

What happened between July and October of that year could have similarities to this season. In 1978 the Yankees found themselves 14 games behind the Red Sox on July 19th. This season they’re only 10.5 games behind them and it’s only June 7th. New York has an entire extra month to run down the AL East leaders.

2. They’ve already made up 3 games this month – At the end of the day on May 31st, 2007 the Yankees were 22-29 (tied with the Rays!) and found themselves 13.5 games behind the Red Sox. Fast forward to June 6 and the Yankees are 26-31 and only 10.5 games behind Boston.

Boston currently finds themselves in a bit of a slump. A win on Thursday snapped their 4 game losing streak. However, the last week hasn’t been kind to them. They lost 2 of 3 to the Yankees and 3 of 4 to the A’s. The Yankees took the two games from Boston and are looking to take three from their four game series with the Chicago White Sox. If the Yankees keep winning series they will make up ground in a hurry.

3. They’re not this bad – The Yankees aren’t a sub 500 team. They are an old team and a team with holes, but they are one of the top two teams in the AL East. Toronto is too schzioprentic to be taken serious and Baltimore plays like the season ends in August. The Rays, well have you met their bullpen?

Not enough has been made about how damaging it was for the Bronx Bombers to be without the services of Mike Mussina and Chien-Ming Wang early in the season. Add in the freak injury to Jeff Karstens and the continued debacle that is Carl Pavano’s Yankee tenure.

Without two stalwarts in the rotation (Mussina seems to win 18 games every year and Wang was their best starter a season ago) the Yankees were forced to use 11 different starting pitchers in 57 games. Starting such luminary pitchers as Darrell Rasner, Chase Wright, Karstens and Matt DeSalvo has forced manager Joe Torre to overuse his bullpen. Now that the rotation has stabilized look for the bullpen to be more effective as the starters chew up more innings.

Speaking of the bullpen much has been made of the struggles of future Hall of Famer Mariano Rivera. Overall his numbers are less than impressive. Three losses, two blown saves and a 4.87 ERA are not what the common fan comes to expect from the whip thin reliever.

Yet with the warm weather the native of Panama has had a bit of a resurgence. In his three appearances he has two saves and no runs allowed. He’s faced 9 batters and only one has reached base. Four consecutive seasons of more than 70 innings pitched has taken it’s toll on the reliever so he won’t reach the magic number of 50 save, but don’t be surprised to see him around the 30-35 save mark.

On the offensive side Bobby Abreu is not a .252 hitter and for the remainder of the season Josh Phelps will be more productive at first base than Jason Giambi. Alex Rodriguez is not going to cool off. His final average will be around .300 and he will hit 50 homeruns.

On the flip side Josh Beckett is going to lose games. His 8-0 record is nice and sparkly but this is the same pitcher who has never won more than 16 games. There is an extremely good chance that he will see some time on the Disabled List as well. His history or arm troubles and blister issues aren’t going away.

Curt Schilling is not getting younger. Despite the one hitter on Thursday his season has been marked mostly by his inconsistently. He even admits it. Just read his blog.


Those are only three points. Don’t count Brian Cashman out. He may make a move to kick the Yankees into another gear (Mark Texeria anyone?) Joe Torre may have had his head in the guillotine early this season, but it could turn into his finest coaching job ever. He may have benefited from a debilitated George Steinbrenner more than anyone on the club.

Another reason, a reason that has no basis in fact whatsoever, is that it would make me happy. I despise the Yankees as much as the next kid who grew up in Baltimore. They’re “mystique and awe” are annoying. Their wild spending is repulsive to a fan who believes in team chemistry and fundamentals.

Besides haven’t Boston fans become a little full of themselves. As if one World Series victory washed away 87 years of failure. With their pink hats and condescending sneers it seems they feel entitled to post season play. For fun ask your local Red Sawwwwwx fan when the last time they won the AL East was. If they say 2004 laugh at them. It was 1995.

Besides blowing a double digit lead to their heated rivals would bring them back to reality. When they surpass Yankee fans as the most obnoxious fans to attend games with you know something is wrong with the sporting world. Losing the division would bring some of the “woe is us” attitude that made Boston fans so adorable for the last few decades.

Finally, I have a dream. It’s not as noble as Martin Luther King Jr.’s dream, but it is still a dream. I dream that in November the Yankees are lifting the World Series trophy and a champagne covered Alex Rodriguez is being honored as MVP of the post season. As drunken New Yorkers look on A-Rod kisses his wife, then kisses his stripper mistress, then watches as his wife kisses his stripper girlfriend and rips off the storied pinstripes revealing a Los Angeles Dodgers T-Shirt, looks into the camera and says, “F--- You, New York I’m going to Disneyland”.

That’s my dream. It won’t solve world hunger or bring peace to the mid east. But it will make me happy.