Tampa Bay Sports Blog

Carl Crawford’s legs are back. CC has looked like the Carl of old so far this season and yesterday he put an exclamation point on it. It was nice to see the singles turning into doubles and triples yesterday as he pretended he was back in High School or something. Six steals in a game is impressive and it was icing on the cake that he blew by Ellsbury for the league lead in the process. My only problem with all the steals was seeing how many fastballs Evan looked at in allowing CC to do it.

Speaking of Evan, was anyone else as happy as I was when Evan gave the fans hell for screwing with that foul ball? When that fat idiot realized what he did he looked so pathetic and stupid that I almost felt bad for him. You can’t be that ignorant and Longoria had no problem letting him (and the other moron that tried to get the ball) know what jackasses they were. It got even more scary when Ellsbury sent that ball to the warning track. I thought he got it.

Finally I will get on Upton. I have decided that I will not let go of this. Upton is pissing me off to no end and it’s time for all the fans to let him and the team know. Someone needs to kick his ass and let him know that these games count also. He looks worse than ever right now and there shouldn’t be any more excuses made for him. He rarely swings and when he does he looks like he’s swinging a broomstick at a golf ball. It is ugly. I’m sure the Upton apologists and ass kissers will put some stupid graph or chart up to show that he is smart and only swinging at certain pitches and he’s still drawing walks, blah, blah blah. He is too talented to be this useless. He is batting .162 with 14 walks and 26 strikeouts so far. Outstanding!

Technorati Tags: BJ Upton, Boston Red Sox, Carl Crawford, Evan Longoria, Jacoby Ellsbury, Tampa Bay Rays

• Full Name:Carl Demonte Crawford
• Birthplace: Houston, TX
• Born: 08/05/1981
• Position: LF
• Bats/Throws: L/L
• Years Pro: 7
• How Acquired: 2nd round draft pick (52nd overall) in 1999

What we know: Crawford was a multi-sport star at Jefferson Davis High School in Houston where he played football, basketball and baseball. He was also a member of the swim team in high school. Crawford turned down a basketball scholarship to play point guard for UCLA and a football scholarship to play quarterback for Nebraska to play baseball for the Devil Rays.

Crawford is a two time All-Star (‘04 and ‘07) who has led the American League in stolen bases four times and is one of the best defensive left fielders in the game today due to his tremendous speed. Crawford is also the Rays all time leader in At Bats, Plate Appearances, Runs, Hits, Strikeouts, Stolen Bases, Triples and Singles. He has won many awards over the years with the organization and is the longest tenured player with the team now. Crawford is also one of only eight players in baseball history to accumulate 1,000 hits and 250 stolen bases before the age of 27.

What we think: Carl has essentially been the face of the franchise since he’s been here and will continue to be while sharing the spotlight with others. Crawford had a down year in 2008 as he had his lowest output in SB’s and batting average since his rookie campaign. Although ‘08 was a down year he made it back from injuries to help the Rays through their dramatic playoff run and into their first World Series. Crawford is a talented player but I don’t think we’re going to see the power output we all have thought we would see out of Carl until he learns some plate discipline, but it’s hard to pick on a guy who produces what he has over the years for this team.

Picture courtesy of Dennis Adair on Flickr.

For stats click here.

Technorati Tags: Carl Crawford, Jefferson Davis High School, Nebraska Cornhuskers, Tampa Bay Rays, UCLA Bruins, World Series

It was a busy week in the AL East and I had to sit down and look at it tonight. I’ve been listening to the radio and reading about the moves being made and I came up with this. The Rays are much smarter than the Yankees.  There are a few good things about being a small market team and they’re showing during the winter baseball season. Let’s break it down.

• The Yankees signed CC Sabathia to a $161 million deal and brought one of the best pitchers in baseball to New York. But how much did this improve them? I honestly don’t think it improved them much at all. Think about it like this. They signed a guy that won 17 games last year to replace a guy that won 20. Now I’ll say that Sabathia is better than Mussina and he would’ve probably won 22 or 23 games with the Yankees last year with the same run support Mussina got, but that’s still only a 3 game improvement. Not enough for that kind of money. They also signed AJ Burnett to fill in the rotation but they haven’t re-signed Andy Pettitte yet. That’s a 4 game improvement if Andy doesn’t come back. Not enough either. If Pettitte comes back and teams with Wang and Sabathia that should be a decent three man rotation. Then they’re counting on Joba Chamberlain and Phil Hughes to handle the rest of the load. I’ll take my chances. Burnett will get hurt, Wang and Sabathia will probably be ok, but I don’t think Chamberlain and Hughes will do what they’re expecting. The Yanks also are going to lose Bobby Abreu and Jason Giambi, Jeter is another year older and slower and A-Rod will be useless when needed as he always is. I’m not writing the Yankees off before the season starts, but how many of these store bought teams have done what they’re supposed to do? Even Sabathia realizes that the pressure in NY is so silly that he got an opt-out clause after three years. How much you wanna bet that that gets exercised?
• In comparison, the Rays traded their fifth starter for a young RF prospect who is already an upgrade over anything they put out there last year in Matt Joyce. Replacing Jackson will be the best pitching prospect in baseball who already proved himself at the Major League level at the end of last season, including the playoffs. This move also puts a guy on the bench, Gabe Gross, who contributed in a major way throughout a championship season.  
• If we look at who’s not coming back and who is it’s a big difference as well. The Yankees may not have lost all these guys yet but have Andy Pettitte, Bobby Abreu, Mike Mussina and Wilson Betemit. Kyle Farnsworth is gone and so is Carl Pavano (useless) . I personally think Abreu will end up in Chicago and Pettite with the Dodgers. Mussina is retired and that tells me something right there. This is a guy, who at the age of 40 and just came off his first 20 win season, has decided to retire rather than come back to NY or anywhere else. How big a toll did playing in NY take on him? I can’t think of any other reason that he wouldn’t come back to play somewhere for a couple years and try to get his 300th win other than the pressure of playing in NY completely beat him down. There’s no telling what the same pressure will do to Sabathia, who has an awful postseason record, and Burnett. Burnett comes in with an injury history similar to Carl Pavano’s and don’t think that the NY media won’t be harping on that either. The Rays lost Jonny Gomes (finally), who was phased out anyway, Trever Miller and possibly Rocco Baldelli. Miller can be replaced without damage and Baldelli wasn’t counted on anyway.

In wrapping this up I come up with this. The Rays got better already while making one move, the Yankees may or may not have depending on who comes back. The Yankees could still get Abreu, Giambi and Pettite back and that would make them a better team. The main component there would be Pettitte. Even if all these guys came back, who do the Yankees have to fill in if someone goes down? The rotation could end up being a high priced nightmare if one or more of their pitchers get hurt. Who do they have to replace any one of those guys if someone goes down, Darrell Rasner? Again, I’ll take my chances. Their bullpen has already been weakened as well with the loss of Farnsworth and Chamberlain. They could sign Derek Lowe, but I think he’ll end up in Boston. On the Rays end, they have replaced Jackson with Price, Gross with Joyce and still may sign some guys to fill out the DH and bullpen needs. If one or more of the Rays pitchers gets hurt there’s guys like Wade Davis, Jason Hammel, Mitch Talbot, Jeremy Hellickson and Jeff Niemann to fill in. It shows that being small market forces a team to think about the future. Remember when George Steinbrenner was forced out and the team finally had to develop players? They got Bernie Williams, Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera out of that deal, among others. They got role players then like Scott Brosius, Chuck Knoblauch and Jim Leyritz to fill out the roster and that’s how they won all those Series rings. That’s the path the Rays are on now with pieces like Longoria, Price and Upton as they sign guys like Iwamura, Pena and Percival to fill things out. It’s the smart baseball people that win, not the big money teams. We’ve seen it over and over again with teams that try to outspend everyone and don’t succeed and it amazes me that more teams don’t do it better. The Red Soxhave the best combination of both sides right now unfortunately as they have great development and lots of money. They can sign anyone if they want and are developing guys like Papelbon, Pedroia and Youklis. That’s a hard mix to beat but the Rays have the core to compete with them right now, maybe not forever, but right now. The entire perception of these things make me laugh because people are too caught up in the money aspect to see what’s real. The Yankees are supposed to win because they have the most money, they won’t because they don’t have good baseball people. The Red Soxwin because they have both money and good baseball people. They can afford to pay Ortiz, Beckett and Matsuzaka but they don’t win if they don’t develop Pedroia, Youklis and Papelbon. We all hope the Rays can spend the money to keep all these guys but the realistic fact is that, 2 or 3 years from now, they will have to trade a Kazmir, Crawford or Upton to help reload with younger, cheaper players. I hate the thought of that but it’s the reality we live in as a small market team. The great part of it though is that we don’t have distorted thoughts about our teams here and appreciate the winning much more because of it. I can’t wait to see what happens during the rest of this off-season and the regular season next year.

Technorati Tags: AJ Burnett, Akinori Iwamura, Alex Rodriguez, Andy Pettitte, Bernie Williams, BJ Upton, Bobby Abreu, Boston Red Sox, Carl Crawford, Carl Pavano, Carlos Pena, CC Sabathia, Chien-Min Wang, Chuck Knoblauch, Darrell Rasner, David Ortiz, David Price, Derek Jeter, Derek Lowe, Dustin Pedroia, Edwin Jackson, Evan Longoria, Gabe Gross, George Steinbrenner, Jason Giambi, Jason Hammel, Jeff Niemann, Jeremy Hellickson, Jim Leyritz, Joba Chamberlain, Johnathan Papelbon, Jonny Gomes, Kevin Youkilis, Kyle Farnsworth, Los Angeles Dodgers, Mariano Rivera, Matt Joyce, Mike Mussina, Mitch Talbot, New York Yankees, Phil Hughes, Rocco Baldelli, Scott Brosius, Scott Kazmir, Tampa Bay Rays, Trever Miller, Troy Percival, Wade Davis, Wilson Betemit

Technorati Tags: Akinori Iwamura, Andrew Friedman, Andy Sonnanstine, Ben Zobrist, BJ Upton, Boston Red Sox, Brandon Lyon, Brian Fuentes, Carl Crawford, Carlos Guillen, Carlos Pena, Chad Bradford, Dan Wheeler, David Price, Dioner Navarro, Edwin Jackson, Elijah Dukes, Evan Longoria, Francisco Rodriguez, Gabe Gross, Gary Sheffield, Grant Balfour, J.P. Howell, James Shields, Jason Bartlett, Jason Hammel, Jeff Niemann, Joe Beimel, Joe Maddon, Jonny Gomes, Los Angeles Dodgers, Magglio Ordonez, Matt Garza, Miguel Cabrera, Mitch Talbot, Pat Burrell, Philadelphia Phillies, Reid Brignac, Rocco Baldelli, Scott Kazmir, Shawn Riggans, Tampa Bay Rays, Trever Miller, Willy Aybar

   Time to wrap up the Rays season. What a season we had here, never saw this coming. I thought, the same as everyone else, the Rays would improve but not to this extent. Let’s wrap it up…

• The defense: The most dramatically improved thing on this team was the defense. The arrival of Jason Bartlett and Evan Longoria made this into the best left side defense in baseball. I was skeptical of Bartlett in the beginning (no need to bring my stupidity there again) as he had some unexplained throwing errors early but recovered to have a great season (should’ve got the gold glove over Young in my opinion). Longo was great defensively from day one and that’s that. Aki transitioned nicely over to second and Pena (won gold glove) was phenomenal. Having Pena at the corner saved Barty and Longo at least 5 errors a piece. Navarro’s improvement behind the plate was far and away the most amazing difference I saw. He was such a different player all around this year that I want to compare images from last season to see if this is the same guy. Unreal! Crawford and Upton were very good and have the speed to make up for other mistakes they might make. Right field was our problem child but Gabe Gross, Eric Hinske, Nathan Haynes (remember him?), Jonny Gomes (worst of all), Rocco and Fernando Perez did good enough to stay out of the conversation. Riggans did fine as a backup and Ben Zobrist was also good enough in learning new positions that he warranted to complaints. Willy Aybar was a godsend. He started the year at third and gave up his spot to Evan after getting injured. When he returned he helped fill the voids left by Pena and Longoria while they were injured (separately of course).
• The starting pitching: The pitchers improvement was made by maturation and the defense if you ask me. James Shields continued his development into an innings eating machine who we can count on every fifth day to give us a quality start. Kazmir started great after his injury and reverted back to the 5 inning 100 pitch nightmare we’ve gotten too used to. I still think he was pitching through injuries as his slider was gone and we saw hitters make better contact off of him than ever before. Matt Garza was better than advertised and he should improve as he gets his emotions under control. Sonny ate innings as we expected and showed the mental toughness of an ace. Edwin Jackson pitched better than anyone expected. I would like to see more strikeouts from a power arm like his, but it’s hard to complain about 14 wins. We also saw the arrival of David Price. Not much to say there except, hello king David! Now either Sonny or EJax has to give way to Price, one of those nice problems we’ve heard about but rarely seen here. We also saw Jeff Niemann, Mitch Talbot and Jason Hammel make starts. Hammel should be a starter, just not here. Niemann and Talbot could be swingmen or trade bait. We also were lucky here in that there were no major injuries and we basically saw the same five guys all year. That’s a great accomplishment for that reason and for the fact that all five guys performed well enough to stay in the rotation.
• The bullpen: The second most surprising turnaround to me. JP Howell went from prospect on the bubble to a dominating short inning reliever who has become invaluable to this team. I gotta admit, I didn’t see that one coming. Howell not only dominated lefty’s but he shut down righty’s as well. Dan Wheeler rebounded from his bad showing after getting him back from Houston last season and was very good at the setup and closer roles. Grant Balfour was unhittable after his early season demotion and Trevor Miller did enough to get by. Troy Percival was very good until his age and weight caught up with him and his career should be over now. Jason Hammel played the villain role as the mop up/long relief guy and was doing decent until the meltdown against the Yanks. Chad Braford was a nice late season acquisition who performed well in his first round with the team. We saw Juan Salas, Mitch Talbot, Scott Dohman and Kurt Birkins make appearances and we said goodbye to Gary Glover and Al Reyes (yay!). Again this historical improvement I attribute to maturing and the defense.
• The offense: The offense was average for the most part all year and did enough to win. Longoria should be rookie of the year, Pena performed as expected and Aki continued his transition into the leadoff role. We saw down seasons from Upton (until the playoffs) and Crawford, mostly due to injuries. We saw marked improvement from Navarro who finished with the highest batting average at .295 (not .300 though, sorry Cork) and Jason Bartlett. Both of these guys shut me up with authority and became two guys I really like having now. Aybar was awesome off the bench filling in when needed. Gross had some big hits that we didn’t count on out of him. Zobrist and Hinske were good for some bombs at the right times. Floyd was decent at the DH role. Gomes played his way back to the minors (hopefully out of town) and Riggans did what a backup catcher should do. This is the area of the team you could say disappointed and needs to be improved on in the off-season.

   Overall it was the best season we’ve had and looks to be the start of something very special here. These guys are young for the most part and are still learning. Much of the way Her Rays thinks now, maybe there’s something to the fact that this was my first year blogging, it was the first winning season in Rays history. I only hope that I can improve as much as these guys did. It was a season that was great for me as I said it was my first year doing this site, it was the first year my son really got into baseball and it has given us all a sense of excitement that we’ve never had here before. I’ve heard people telling me that they can’t wait for next year already, that’s never been said to me before! Thanks to everyone out there who supported me, especially Rays Index.  Great season guys!

Technorati Tags: Akinori Iwamura, Al Reyes, Andy Sonnanstine, Ben Zobrist, BJ Upton, Carl Crawford, Carlos Pena, Chad Bradford, Cliff Floyd, Dan Wheeler, David Price, Eric Hinske, Evan Longoria, Fernando Perez, Gabe Gross, Gary Glover, Grant Balfour, J.P. Howell, James Shields, Jason Bartlett, Jason Hammel, Jeff Niemann, Jonny Gomes, Juan Salas, Kurt Birkins, Matt Garza, Mitch Talbot, Nathan Haynes, Rocco Baldelli, Scott Dohman, Scott Kazmir, Shawn Riggans, Tampa Bay Rays, Trevor Miller, Troy Percival, Willy Aybar

There are numerous reasons to think the Rays will or won’t make the playoffs. We know them all down here. I have watched and been a fan of this team since it’s inception and I, along with everyone else here, have been waiting for that breakout year like the Bucs or the Lightning had. The Rays compare more to the Bucs for me as I believe this is the first of many years of relevance. The Lightning had a more of a flash and dash type of thing and have struggled to remain a power since their Stanley Cup victory. The Bucs have been up and down since their Super Bowl run yet were “almost” there many times before. It’s hard to predict what the Rays will be. Here are some reasons to think they won’t make the playoffs.

• The Pink Sox will make a run as they’ve been there before and have the firepower to overcome mediocre pitching.
• The Rays have yet to really slump yet this year. Aside from the losing streak going into the all-star break, they haven’t stumbled over themselves too much.
• Injuries have started to hit at the wrong time. Crawford, Longoria and Percival are down and the only one of those three I would really count on contributing down the stretch would be Longo.
• They have the toughest schedule in baseball in September with a horrific 9 game road trip going to Toronto, Boston and New York. They follow that up with Boston and Minnesota at home. Pretty scary!

Now for some reasons to think they will make the big show.

• They seem to win games that make no sense. They win with timely hits, quality pitching and great defense. Not that that doesn’t make sense but there are no guys putting up superstar like numbers and it’s a different guy every night getting it done. We’ve had clutch hits from reserve players like Aybar, Gross and Riggans. How can you count on that?
• They are winning without Longoria, Crawford and Percival. In this same note they’re winning while not getting the production they thought they would from guys like Upton, Crawford and Pena. Pena and Upton have been better lately along with Floyd and Hinske and you could argue that they all might get hot down the stretch. It also appears that Kazmir may be shaking off his recent struggles so that helps.
• They have a large enough lead at this point that they should at least get a wild card.

Let’s throw all that crap aside now and point out the number one reason that we should know that the Rays will make it to the playoffs. Skip Bayless has jumped off the bandwagon. That’s right, with this genius finally jumping off the Rays train we can all rest comfortably. This is the guy who picks against everything sane and goes with the most outrageous predictions he can find. I find Bayless entertaining and I’m sure part of his agenda is meant to be over the top, but if he picks against you then you are destined for great things. I will now prematurely congratulate the Rays on their playoff birth based on this alone!

Technorati Tags: BJ Upton, Carl Crawford, Carlos Pena, Cliff Floyd, Eric Hinske, Evan Longoria, Gabe Gross, Scott Kazmir, Shawn Riggans, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Tampa Bay Lightning, Tampa Bay Rays, Troy Percival, Willy Aybar

   A couple of Rays notes for the day. The snagged reliever Chad Bradford off of waivers from the Orioles and will be sending the infamous “player to be named later”. Bradford is a capable reliever who I can’t stand watching, but is effective. He is one of the few submarine style pitchers left in the game and is a groundball machine. I would expect to see him in those situations that require a double play ball and against tough right handed hitters. He’s having a good season to the tune of a 3-3 record with a 2.45 ERA. We can only speculate on who’s going to be the odd man out and I would have to guess Al Reyes. Rays Index thinks Jason Hammel may be gone (who they don’t seem to be a big fan of) but I gotta think that Hammel serves more of a purpose than Reyes and there isn’t anyone to really take his long relief spot. After watching the 85 mph balloons Reyes has been throwing lately I gotta think he’s on the way to the DL at least. In other news The Heater is also reporting that Carl Crawford will be back in the lineup tonight. He’s been having some leg problems and has not been nearly as aggressive on the basepaths. This is probably something that will linger for the rest of the year so I’m not gonna get too excited either way. It’s not looking as good for Jason Bartlett tonight though as he’s out of the lineup. His finger is probably still too swollen to throw so it may be another day or two before he’s back. I would assume when he’s back in the lineup then Rocco will be activated and Zobrist will be optioned. Back to work again.

Scott Brannelly

Source: The Heater

Technorati Tags: Al Reyes, Baltimore Orioles, Ben Zobrist, Carl Crawford, Chad Bradford, Jason Bartlett, Jason Hammel, Rocco Baldelli, Tampa Bay Rays

   I have to take a minute and get on B.J. Upton since no one else seems to want to. I’m completely sick of hearing the excuses being made for Upton by people saying he’s an “effortless athlete”. Let’s clear this up now. He is a very smooth athlete who CAN do things other can’t in a effortless manner. The problem is he is more of an athlete with no effort. I’m sick of watching him dog it down to first, make bonehead decisions and loaf after balls in the gap. More so though, I’m sick of no one doing anything about it. Grow a pair Maddon! The coddling of this whiny ass in CF has gotten out of control. We’re already in a situation where the Rays have no real candidate to play center and yank this jerk out of the lineup when he does this crap, but no one seems to want to let him know about it. Why did we sign Cliff Floyd again? Oh that’s right, as a “mentor” to our young players like Upton and Crawford. Do something Cliff! It’s so aggravating because B.J. IS so talented. This is what made me lose it in last night’s game. In the first inning Upton hit a ball up the middle to second and the second baseman Mark Grudzielanek couldn’t make the out at second and threw to first to get B.J. If Upton had ran hard down the line, like you’re taught to do, he would have easily beaten this out. This really got to me a couple innings later  when Grudzielanek made a throwing error to second and B.J. made a very heads up play and went to third. He showed on this play how freakin fast he is when he RUNS! There are only a handful of guys in the league that could’ve made it to third on that play, and Upton is one of them. I know that athletes are Prima Donna’s now and it’s hard to get in their face about this stuff but at least try. It’s a shitty thing to see a talented guy like Upton let his whiny punk ass attitude get in the way of his progress. This is why I would like to see a guy like Ruggiano or Fernando Perez on the big league club so there is someone you can put out there when you need to check this guy. This needs to stop. Grow some balls Rays and discipline this guy when he needs it!

Scott Brannelly

Technorati Tags: BJ Upton, Carl Crawford, Cliff Floyd, Fernando Perez, Joe Maddon, Justin Ruggiano, Mark Grudzielanek, Tampa Bay Rays

   Listening to Ron and Ian today they did an interview with Joe Maddon which was pretty good. The only thing Maddon said that I don’t agree with is that BJ Upton hustles “all the time” and that he never has mental lapses. Are you kidding me? Does he think we all listen to the games on the radio and never watch them? I’m glad he thinks we are so stupid. I don’t expect him to bash BJ or anything but don’t tell me that what I SEE isn’t true. Anyway, they reported on the radio that Maddon and Friedman had a 45 minute closed door session after the game. God I hope it’s discussing trad possibilities! I can’t watch Gomes anymore, I change the channel or look away at the games now when he hits. It is the ugliest spectacle I’ve ever seen. And Carlos Pena’s and Carl Crawford’s at-bats are almost as unbearable now too. It seems that everyone on the team is capable of at least one hideous at-bat every game and something needs to be done. I would love to see Nady here but I continue to hear that the asking price is too high. There isn’t alot out there to be had but I would like see the Rays take a chance and mortgage some of the future for it. The Yanks are down a little but that won’t last long. Boston is setup for a long run of success with a nice mix of young and veteran talent. This is our shot! Who knows how healthy this team will be next year? If a Holliday could be had for anything other than David price, do it! He could be a key in the middle that could put us over the top this year and maybe next before he walks. If, as reported, Jeff Niemann is holding up a Nady deal then someone should be shot in the Rays front office! I have to think that even Joe Maddon is rooting for an upgrade at this point. Team chemistry only goes so far before things need to change. Oh, to ramble a little more which is off the subject and something I never thought I would say, I MISS JASON BARTLETT! The rock that he’s become in the middle of this infield is astounding to me and I hate watching Benny Boo Boo (hat tip to Rays Index on that name)! Hopefully a deal gets done for a hitter or I think it will be the start of the downfall! By the way, what the hell is Crawford hitting third for now?! Hasn’t the Fat Catcher earned a shot in the three hole by now? Oh well, back to work.

Scott Brannelly

Technorati Tags: Andrew Friedman, Ben Zobrist, BJ Upton, Carl Crawford, Carlos Pena, David Price, Dioner Navarro, Jason Bartlett, Jeff Niemann, Joe Maddon, Jonny Gomes, Matt Holliday, Rays Index, Tampa Bay Rays, The Fat Catcher, Xavier Nady

   As I sit and watch this game tonight there appears to be something glaringly wrong with C.C. and Kaz. First off, Crawford has been on first twice tonight without even an bluff at taking second. I know he had a sore knee and had said he was “rejuvenated” when he came off his suspension. He isn’t looking so tonight. It really stuck out to me when I saw the homer that Freddy Sanchez hit. That looked like a ball Carl could’ve gotten to and he looked Uptonesque as he went after that ball. We’ll see there. I’m very concerned watching Kaz tonight though. He is looking very uncomfortable as he throws very timidly tonight. His slider is looking like a curveball and his fastball looks very average. He appears to be moving around gingerly as well. I’m very nervous watching this game. I hope my eyes are deceiving me and these guys aren’t hurt. We’ll see.

Scott Brannelly

Technorati Tags: Carl Crawford, Scott Brannelly, Scott Kazmir, Tampa Bay Rays

   All hell started to break loose now in Boston. After the incident with Crisp and Joe Maddon last night we all knew something would happen. Well here it is. James Shields hit Dustin Pedroia in the first which I thought would be it, but no! Shields came back in the second and hit Coco Crisp who then charged the mound. Shields took a wild swing at him and missed, after which TFC pulled Crisp to the ground where Jonny Gomes and Carl Crawford went to work on Crisp. It was a pretty brawl as far as Baseball fights go, yet Aki showed us all that is an absolute wuss! Aki stood quietly in the middle of the field being restrained (not really) by one of the Red Sox coaches. I will have a hard time respecting this guy as a man from this point on. Earlier today I pointed out that Aki has not fought his own battles here, now he stands pat while the ENTIRE TEAM fights. There is no excuse for this at all. How can you just stand there while every guy you play with is involved in a brawl? Right or wrong, you NEVER stand pat when your friends, team mates, family or whatever fight! Never! maybe I’m over-reacting to this, but if I was in that locker room with him I would not let this go quietly. I’ll still pull for Aki on the field and that’s it. Time to turn in your package Aki, you no longer require one.

Scott Brannelly

Technorati Tags: Akinori Iwamura, Carl Crawford, James Shields, Jonny Gomes, Tampa Bay Rays, TFC

   First thing to say here is that the players on the field are getting it done. All the credit in the world belongs to the guys on the field doing what needs to be done. No doubt about it. I am getting very frustrated with our idiot Manager now though. It seems at the moment that the players are winning in spite of what Mr. Maddon does. This creates a problem because Maddon isn’t going to try and correct what seems to be working even though it won’t continue to work. At the game today there a some things that stuck out to me.

•   First thing is a glaring issue. What the hell was Jason Bartlett doing batting sixth? Is a guy swinging a rubber bat (who’s BA, SLG and OBP were all under .300 to start the day) really going to protect Evan Longoria? In the first inning they walked Longoria intentionally to get to Bartlett and JB grounded out. I hope this was just an attempt at something different and doesn’t become some sort of new wave crap Maddon wants to try.
•    We don’t bunt enough! This is the main thing that bothers me where the players are overcoming stupid decisions. In the 5th inning today there was a perfect example. Riggans singled to lead off. Hot shot Ben Zobrist should’ve been bunting then but didn’t and luckily walked. Next up was Aki and he should’ve been bunting but again wasn’t. Aki got a hit and everything turned out ok but it’s not the right thing to do. This team strikes out a lot and they hit into a lot of double plays too. They are not putting themselves in the best spot to win. That’s what a manager is supposed to do. We are getting away with it now but it won’t hold up.
•    Crawford and Bartlett should be switched. Carl, as much as I love him, is no number two hitter. He is hurting more than helping in the two spot. He is way too chaotic at the plate and his bat control is not good enough for this spot. For someone who is a slap hitter (and he shouldn’t be) he doesn’t bunt enough and K’s too much. Bartlett is much better suited for the two hole as he should be sacrificing at bats more than anyone else. He should be trained to bunt, bunt, bunt! Carl is pressing hard and should be moved down as the alternative leadoff man in the nine hole.
•    And finally I’ll question the decision to leave Garza in for the eighth. Garza pitched very well today but this made me nervous. It worried me because this is a guy who has been on the DL already this year with arm trouble and I don’t see a need to try to stretch him out over 100 pitches in a game like this when you have Wheeler for the eighth and a day off tomorrow.

   Maybe I’m being a little nit picky with everything but I want this team to compete all year. What do you think?

Scott Brannelly

Technorati Tags: Akinori Iwamura, Ben Zobrist, Carl Crawford, Evan Longoria, Jason Bartlett, Joe Maddon, Matt Garza, Shawn Riggans, Tampa Bay Rays

    After a weekend series in St. Louis there are still some problems that need immediate attention.

• The baserunning is terrible. There are still way too many mistakes being made on the basepaths that are unforgivable. There is no excuse for the mistakes that are being made. It would be one thing if they were just being over aggressive sometimes or the occasional blunder but these are little league mistakes. These are things guys should know by the time they’re in high school much less the major leagues. I’m tired of hearing what a great “teacher of kids” when these guys are making little league mistakes. This needs to be fixed.
• Still too many strikeouts! They are second in the A.L. in strikeouts and it is aggravating. I know I keep beating a dead horse here but it is so frustrating to watch guys take so many good pitches and leave themselves in horrible hitters counts. If someone could possibly teach B.J. Upton to cut down his swing with two strikes or even teach him it’s ok to swing at a fastball down the middle early in the count it wouldn’t be near as bad. Carlos Pena needs to flatten out his golf swing a little or pitchers will keep abusing him above the knees. Carl Crawford, blah blah blah… I’ve been through this way too much and I can’t let it go. Someone help them please!
• The pitching is starting to level out. I hear everyone complaining about Wheeler blowing a couple games and oh no! Gary Glover. These guys aren’t bad and things will get a little worse but they are fine. The defense is holding them in games and guys are improving, namely Howell and Sonnanstine, so all will be good here but they can’t carry the load all year. The offense needs to show up.

   All the bitching will commence when these guys drop a few more games but they are improved and I would just like to see them expect a little more from themselves now. The Rays need not settle now on being better, they need to improve on what they’re doing. It’s still all good in Rays land though, have fun boys.

Scott Brannelly

Source: ESPN

Technorati Tags: Andy Sonnanstine, BJ Upton, Carl Crawford, Carlos Pena, Dan Wheeler, Gary Glover, J.P. Howell, Tampa Bay Rays

   The boys over at Rays Index have issued a challenge to all Tampa Bay area blogs and sites to vote Carl Crawford as an all-star game starter. I gladly accept this and support all efforts to get our boys in there. Here is the excerpt from there site

”

   I am creating a link to the right called “All-Star Vote”. This will take you to the site. I will also add that B.J Upton deserves your votes also. Let’s make it happen. I’m heading out to the game tonight so I’ll try to put some notes together on the Yankers fans. If all of you out there can’t find time to go to the games at least show support by voting!

MLB All-Star Voting

Technorati Tags: BJ Upton, Carl Crawford, Tampa Bay Rays

   I’m confused by the lack of attendance at the Rays games. The Rays have yet to start hitting yet they win. You could go watch Shields, Kazmir and Sonnanstine. You don’t have to see the crap that was continuously rotated out of the bullpen last year. You can see one of the best defense’s in baseball every night. Every game seems to be close and for the first time in our history they are winning more than they are losing. Where is everyone? I know it’s too much too ask for people to go every night, hell I can’t do that, but is it too much to ask for more than 12,000 people to come see our second place Rays? There are no more excuses for you right now. It’s still easy to find parking. It’s not a long drive for anyone from Tampa to Sarasota. What’s your excuse people? Every day I hear on the radio people calling in to the local shows and they say “when they win I’ll go”. They’re winning now so where are you? It’s time for the fans to stop making excuses. We can still bitch and moan about the dumb moves our retard of a manager makes and the stupid moves the ownership group makes but they’re winning in spite of it. I’m not saying we’re going to make the playoffs this year but it’s not out of the question either. Sternberg and his crew have assembled a quality team here. They seem to be poised for a good run as well also. Think about it for a second. The bullpen is pitching way above expectations and when they come down to earth the bats might come alive and save them. We have yet to see the real Carlos Pena, Carl Crawford, B.J. Upton and even the real Evan Longoria. It looks as if the Rays might get so lucky that when the arms start faltering the bats might save them. At this point you couldn’t ask for more from this over-achieving team right now so GO WATCH THEM!!!!

Technorati Tags: Andy Sonnanstine, BJ Upton, Carl Crawford, Carlos Pena, Evan Longoria, James Shields, Scott Kazmir, Tampa Bay Rays

   The Rays lost their third straight to the Sox 7-3 and things are looking down now. Kazmir made his ‘08 debut and looked rusty as we thought he would. Kazmir is the type that needs reps and innings before he gets his location and mechanics in tune. This is not unusual. The bats look terrible right now though. Pena homered and the rest looked average. The approach this team has at the plate is what kills me. There are way too many guys slapping at pitches early in the count and way too many guys are taking good pitches. I see Crwaford flailing at pitches he is fooled on early in the count. What good is that? If you can’t put a good swing on the ball with less than 2 strikes, let it go. When you have 2 strikes you must protect the plate, Crawford is protecting the plate with no strikes and Upton is looking at strike three way too much. There is no plan to what these guys are doing. I’m tired of hearing that the team is trying to draw more walks and work the pitchers more. This will all happen if you simply have an approach to HIT the ball. I think it was Mike Piazza that said ‘you get three strikes per at bat and three at bats a game, therefore there should be no excuse for you not to hit at least one ball hard every game’. This worked for him and it should be good enough for anyone else. These guys are either being taught wrong or are doing things wrong on their own. I have loved Crawford but I just see a guy up there swinging with no idea how to hit and it is a huge waste of talent. He should not be taught to just make contact, he is way too strong for that. Upton shouldn’t be looking for walks, they will come when you scare the pitcher by HITTING! I’m not trying to just single out these two guys as the whole team has problems right now but these are two guys we count on to be a force within the lineup and they are not doing their job. I want more out of them because they are more than capable of it. I hope the Rays are working to correct these problems and not just waiting for guys to come out of it.

Technorati Tags: BJ Upton, Carl Crawford, Scott Kazmir, Tampa Bay Rays

   Let me give it to myself before I get shell shocked by Rays Index and the rest of them. Jason Bartlett is better than Brendan Harris. I judged Bartlett too quick and I have to retract my earlier statements. In the first few weeks of the season I was so unimpressed by the play of Jason Bartlett that I started speaking out of turn on some things. Bartlett still makes me miss Harris offensively at the moment but after seeing him play short the last few weeks, the defense is noticeably improved. At the moment Bartlett has seemed to put the throwing problems behind him but the range is there. He has made some great plays and I feel the need as a man to let everyone know that I have tasted my foot and have decided to remove it. I still have some complaints about some things on the defensive side but this is a much better team. We obviously miss Delmon Young is right field but Gross and Haynes seem to be fine out there. B.J. Upton still plays too shallow in center and whenever Hisnke or Gomes is in right is hold my breath. None of this is horrible though which leads me to Dioner Navarro. Navarro seems to be swinging the bat better so far this year but he is still a statue behind the plate. I have never understood the love affair with this guy. He stabs at too many balls instead of sliding his body, his arm is average at best and from what I can see he is still looking to the dugout to call a game. I think Shawn Riggans does a fine job behind the plate and would like to see him get more playing time but this is all minor. This team is light years ahead of last year as Longoria is as good if not better than Aki at third and Aki has translated nicely to second. Pena is one of the best I’ve seen at first and Crawford makes up for bad jumps with great speed. The right field platoon is working and Upton is slowly improving in center. The biggest difference is Bartlett. I’m not afraid to admit when I’m wrong and I’ll take my lumps for running my mouth. Bartlett has made a huge difference on defense and I’m glad he has. If Aki and Bartlett would start hitting I would be much happier but they are part of the solution right now and I’ll take whatever is given to me on this as I was WRONG!.

Technorati Tags: Akinori Iwamura, BJ Upton, Carl Crawford, Carlos Pena, Dioner Navarro, Eric Hinske, Evan Longoria, Gabe Gross, Jason Bartlett, Jonny Gomes, Nathan Haynes, Shawn Riggans, Tampa Bay Rays

   What a huge night for the Rays and their fans. Rays Index wrote today about how big this series actually is for the Rays and I’m in complete agreement on this. This series with Boston is a show a prove opportunity for the Rays. This is huge not just for the fans, who finally get to see how this team matches up against the big boys. It’s not just big for the league to see what the Rays are made of. It’s biggest for the players themselves. This is a chance to get out there and finally realize that they ARE good enough to compete with these guys. I’ve been a fan since day one here as this is my hometown and I am loyal to a fault and this is by far the best TEAM the Rays have fielded since their inception. I will now delve into tonight’s game with the most positive thought I have had of this team to date. I’ve been very critical of the team, players and so on. Sometimes it’s fair and sometimes not. There will be no negativity tonight. I saw something in this team tonight that has been rare in the past. They believed. They showed they believed and they showed they belonged. It was great to see it in their faces and in their body language. Sure there were guys still visibly tight and pressing in the pressure situations but that’s understandable. Their was a different look to these guys though, even the ones pressing. They didn’t look nervous like they did in the past like they were worried about being the guy to screw it up. They looked like they wanted to be the guy to get it done. In the past a situation like the one we saw with Dan Wheeler facing Ortiz, and then Manny Ramirez, us fans and players would be all but sure that something bad was going to happen. Even though the thought still may have been there (I admit I thought it) and Wheeler put it to bed with authority. Again in the 11th, Scott Dohman got a double play out of David Ortiz to shut the Sox down. This was a beautiful thing to watch. I was more excited watching this game tonight than any I game I can remember watching. I will say nothing negative about anyone this evening, not even Joe Maddon. I know I believe the Rays are closer than ever to competing, but the RAYS should now too. At this point in my post it’s in the bottom of the 11th and C.C. just stroked a single to left and stole second and I’m going insane so I need to get away from the computer. I hope everyone out there is as excited as I am about the Rays tonight, win or lose. 

Technorati Tags: Akinori Iwamura, BJ Upton, Carl Crawford, Carlos Pena, Dioner Navarro, Eric Hinske, Evan Longoria, James Shields, Jason Bartlett, Jonny Gomes, Matt Garza, Nathan Haynes, Tampa Bay Rays

   The Rays are now 6-0 in Disney’s Wide World of Sports Stadium and have gotten back to the .500 mark. There was some sketchy play on the field (Dioner Navarro) but the Rays overcame it behind Evan Longoria and Carl Crawford to finish off the Toronto Blue Jays. Surprisingly Troy Percival was used for a third straight day and Joe Maddon said in an interview with Todd Kalas after the game that Percival “will not be available” tomorrow regardless of the situation. That’s comforting with Boston coming to town. It was a great series for the Rays and they most definitely look improved over last years club all the way around.

Technorati Tags: Carl Crawford, Dioner Navarro, Evan Longoria, Tampa Bay Rays, Troy Percival

   Well it happened again. B.J. Upton tried to steal third base with nobody out and two men on with Eric Hinske at the plate. Oh wait it gets worse. The next thing that happened sent me running home from the game screaming and cussing. As Upton walked into the dugout after being stupid again no one said anything to him. What?! No one has anything to say?! Great managing Maddon. Great mentoring Floyd. Nice all the way around. The worst part of this whole post is I have been officially announced as the dumbest fan in baseball. That’s right, I must rip myself. After my tantrum sent me home, I walk in my house, turn the game on and Crawford hits a two run homer. Oh wait, it gets better. Next B.J. Upton atones for his mistake by blasting a two run homerun. Wait there’s more. Next, my new man crush, Evan Longoria hits his first as a Ray. So the bottom line here as the game goes on is that I need to control my temper over things I can’t control and all the talent in the world can’t fix stupid! Upton may have hit a homerun to help the comeback but nothing can forgive this type of stupidity. The coaching staff should be fined and beaten along with Upton. There is no excuse for any of the stupidity described in this post, even for myself. So congrats to B.J. Upton and Scott Brannelly, the two dumbest men in St. Pete tonight.

Technorati Tags: BJ Upton, Carl Crawford, Cliff Floyd, Eric Hinske, Evan Longoria, Tampa Bay Rays