Sox fans are crying...

Hop over to Rays Index and check out this gem of a story about the whiny pukes who associate themselves with the Sox:

They can't be serious?

Jeff Niemann CG...

Admittedly I'm not as up to par on what's going on in the minors as I should be, but I did catch an interesting tidbit at the bottom of an article on TBO (which i found through a link on Rays Index):

Jeff Niemann struck out 12 in his first career complete game. Finally. First of all, any time you see that a pitcher rung-up 12 its a great sign, but that Niemann, who has struggled with consistancy and shoulder issues (inter-related I'm sure), was able to pitch the complete game is a great indication that he's progressing well.

Cheese & Whine: July 3

CHEESE & WHINE: VICTORY, SWEEP VICTORY!

RAYS: 7
Sox: 6

CHEESE:

• The Rays swept arch-rival Boston at the Trop, again, and now hold a 3.5 game lead in the East.
• Crawford and Longoria once again poured it on offensively. Each player went 3 for 4 with Longoria racking-up 3 more RBI, including a 2-run double to start the scoring in the bottom of the 7th.
• You know things are going well when Gary Glover gets the W, and actually deserves it. Glover's numbers aren't spectacular, but retiring Manny and Co. in the top of the 7th when it was starting to look like Boston was mounting a comeback was huge.
• Jason Bartlett played another solid game on both sides of the ball. If he keeps this up I may have to come up with a nicer nickname than Ol' Noodle-Arm. Bartlett was 2 for 3 with 2 RBI and another stolen base (18).
• BJ Upton finally showed some hustle in center and made a great catch with his back to the ball. Bossman also stole 2 bases and now has 25 steals for the season.

WHINE:

• I was all set to go crazy on Kaz's not being able to keep his pitch-count down again, but then the Rays went and swept the Sox, and I said "Screw It".

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be sure to visit Rays Index.

Setting The Standard

Well, I stumbled upon yet another example of a paid writer spitting out complete nonsense. In this case the error is mostly harmless, but I feel (as someone who doesn't get paid to write, but who spends a lot of time checking my facts) that a paid writer must be held to a higher standard.

Sports Illustrated has been running a feature all season called "Scouting Report", in which they profile a particular player and do exactly what the title implies. Today I happened upon their newest scouting report, on Chase Utley, and was quite interested to see what they had to say, but I didn't make it very far before stumbling onto a dubious mistake; basically as a preface to the player's ratings they show a scale of how they categorize the players and then give an example of another player in the league that corresponds with that category. It's easier to see it for yourself, so here is the "Catagorization scale" from the Chase Utley Scouting Report (verbatim):

CATEGORIZATION

Scale

• Elite: top player at his position (Joe Morgan)
• Premium: top five at his position (Robbie Alomar)
• Good: top 10 at his position; occasional All-Star
(Ian Kinsler)
• Average: everyday position player
• Key role: part-time or platoon player (Akinori Iwamura)

Do you see the obvious mistake in this scale?

When the hell was the last time you saw Akinori Iwamura in a situation where he was a "part-time or platoon player"? Of all the players in the league that actually do play part-time this chucklehead lists Aki as his example of a part-time player? And this guy gets paid? This is the kind of ridiculous stuff that stops people from taking internet writers seriously. There is no way this guy has watched a single play of Rays baseball over the last two years if he is delusional enough to write that Aki is a platoon player. Aki should be the freaking starting second baseman in the All-Star Game based on his stats, and someone within the Sports Illustrated organization releases an article to the whole world that lists him as a part-time player.

Unbelievable!

Unacceptable!

By the way, they listed Chase Utley in the "top 5 at his position" category... I say that that's fairly generous considering that outside of hitting he's just slightly above average at everything else, but what do I know- I don't get nice shiny checks from SI.

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check the article out for yourself here.

Can The Rays Sweep The Sox?

In a word, YES, but will they?

It all boils down to pitching.

Tonight's matchup features Kid-K v. Dice-K and either pitcher is capable of shutting down an opponent, so its hard to get a read on who'll get the better of the pitching duel.

Most baseball fans agree that if Kid-K is on his A-game he's as good as anyone in the game, but he has to last longer than 5 innings to be effective, an early call to the 'pen could spell disaster for the Rays. Don't get me wrong, I'm well aware of the fact that the bullpen has been one of the Rays bright spots this season, but against a talented BoSox team you want your starter on the hill as long as possible.
Kaz is 4-1 at home with an ERA of 1.24. Against Boston though, he is 0-1 with an ERA of 6.75 in his first game back off the DL (May 4th).

On the other side of the coin, Dice-K is an impressive 9-1 with a road record of 4-0 and an ERA of 2.20. He threw 5 shut-out innings against the Astros in his last outing.

I always look forward to watching Kid K pitch, but I just can't wrap my mind around sweeping Boston again, so I'm going to have to say that it certainly wouldn't surprise me to see the Rays win, but I'll say Boston gets away with one.

But hey, two out of three ain't bad... ask Meatloaf.

No More "Game Recap"....

Instead of doing the game-by-game hi-lites/low-lites segment which we had given the misnomer of "game recap:" We will now change the format and call it... drumroll, please...

"Cheese and Whine"

"Cheese" will detail the positive points that I drew from that particular game, while "Whine" is self-explanitory; I'll whine about what I didn't like... it's what i do best. I may even occassionally include a bonus section called "Crackers" which will just be facts/stats points to ponder, etc.


Bon Apetit.

Cheese & Whine: July 1

CHEESE & WHINE: Leavin' Em in our Wake(field)

RAYS: 3
Sox: 1

CHEESE:

• Matt Garza picked up his seventh win pitching another gem. Garza lasted 7 innings, allowing just 1 unearned run off of 5 hits. He started the day off by retiring the first 9 Sox that he faced. Garza'a ERA is now a very respectable 3.47
• Navi was 2 for 4 on the night recording 2 of the Rays 3 RBI and is now hitting a solid .316. Navarro continues to perform at an all-star level day-in and day-out, and its a shame that he won't get the credit he deserves to make the 'All-Popularity' team.
• Grant Balfour came in with 2 men on in the top of the 8th and got out of a jam. He then put on his "closer-hat" in the top of the 9th and proceeded to become nearly unhittable; allowing one hit and striking out 3 to end the game.
• Even Longoria's defensive play continues to shine. In the top of the 7th Dirtbag made yet another fabulous diving catch then, as if it were second nature, threw to first from his knees to record the out. Amazing.

WHINE:

• The errors (3 last night) are starting to add up. Give me a game in which the Rays commit 3 errors against the Sox and 9 times out of 10 I'll show you a loss. The Rays have gotten this far with solid D they need to make sure that they stay focused and nip these mental mistakes in the bud.

Rays Index Says its Navi, I Say They're Wrong!

The fellas over at Rays Index think that Navi is the Rays first-half MVP, and at first blush I was inclined to agree (I find its safer to agree with those guys than to argue), but on second thought I decided that they are wrong.

They (the Rays Index) did list Dirtbag, AKA Evan Longoria, as a possible candidate, and I agree that he's been even better-than-advertised. I think he's running away with Rookie of the Year honors, should recieve a Gold Glove, and at least a few votes for MVP if he can get his batting average up around .300, but in terms of the player who has single-handedly changed the face of the Rays season so far...

..that goes to a guy who was absolutely horrible last year; but had an open mind, was very-coachable, and has made an amazing transition into his new role as long-reliever:

JP Howell.

Howell has been a great surprise thus far this season, and has shown exactly zero signs that his fast start is a hoax. He has consistantly eaten up innings and batters with some nasty stuff. With Scott Kazmir rarely making it through 6, and the endless struggles of Jackson coupled with the inconsistancy of Garza, JP has been exactly what the doctor ordered to "keep the wheels-on" all season long. Howell has recorded a 3.0 ERA over 51 innings (spread over 30 games) so far this season, allowing just 36 hits and 17 earned runs while striking out 45.

He's the glue that's holding this team together and that's precisely what a team MVP is (see fig 1):

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*fig 1

Team MVP (proper noun):

1.the glue that holds a team together.

2. James Phillip Howell

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...see i told ya.

Oops, I was wrong...

Several weeks ago I thought that I saw the wheels coming off the Rays victory wagon. In one of my posts I said that the Sox had built a nice little lead atop the division and that the Rays had enjoyed a nice run, but were headed back to mediocrity... I was wrong, and I couldn't be more excited about it.

The Rays have re-captured the Al East division lead, and with a victory last night reminded themselves that David does beat Goliath. God loves underdogs and so do we... Go Rays.

If the Rays take 2 out of 3 in this series I believe it will be quite possible to head into the break with a 3 game lead in the division (the Rays have series with the Royals, Yankees, and Indians while the Sox get the Yankees, Twins and O's before the break).

We'll see, I 've been wrong before.

Game Recap: My Shields & My Strength

June 30, 2008

RAYS: 5

Sox: 4

HIGH-LITES:

There were more Rays fans than Sox fans at the Trop. To the outside world that might not seem like a big deal, but to us (Rays fans) its a tear-jerkingly beautiful happening.

James Shields recorded his 6th win, allowing just 2 runs on 5 hits in 6 1/3, striking out 5 and walking one. Shields started the game on fire, but ran into some trouble in the 4th. He showed mental toughness and rebounded nicely; allowing just one run in the 4th and 1 in the 6th (a solo homer by JD Drew- that chased Shields from the game). James the Greater (as the good folks over at Rays Index have dubbed him) threw 104 pitches, 66 of which were strikes.

BJ Upton went yard on the first pitch of the night (for the Rays) and set the tempo for the game.

Gabe Gross went 2 for 2 with a homerun. He also walked twice. Gross continues to be, (in my opinion) far and away, the best choice for RF day in and day out, but apparently Mr. Maddon doesn't agree.

LOW-LITES:

The top half of the lineup (Upton, Crawford, Aybar, Pena, Dirtbag) went a combined 3 for 16. I understand that occassionallly a pitcher is going to have a good game and that's just part of baseball, but what I left out above is that the 6 and 7 batters (Hinske and Navi (and later Gomes as a pinch hitter)) combined for an amazing 0 for 6- that's the one thru seven batters going a combined 3 for 22 against a pitcher who wasn't looking especially nasty. The Rays can't have off days offensively against a beefed-up lineup like Boston and expect to win.

Troy Percival hurt his hammy again. I love Percy as much as the next guy, but what good is he if we have to wheel him out with his walker everytime he takes the hill, and then he's only healthy enough to pitch once a month... pure frustration.