Tuesday, February 27, 2007

The Hangover: Akinori Iwamura, 20-40 Guy. Muu-RAH!
  • One of the biggest questions entering the 2007 season is how well Akinori Iwamura will adjust to Major League pitching. Most believe that his average will drop slightly, but his power will take a big hit. What nobody has speculated on is his base stealing totals. Well, despite a career high of 15, Muu-Rah believes he can steal 40 in the majors. If you can't read Japanese (shame on you) don't fret, the fine folks over at Roto Authority have used their Babbelfish to translate the page. According to Roto Authority Muu-Rah wants to be a 20-40 guy and win the Rookie of the Year. Sounds like Muu-Rah realizes that he won't be the same power hitter he has been in Japan and sees a need to enhance other parts of his game.
  • James Shields will start the spring opener for the Rays on Friday against the Spankees with Scott Kazmir taking the mound on Saturday versus the Grey Jays.
  • Casey Fossum is the only pitcher that has yet to throw batting practice. That does not bode well for his chance of being ready for the opening week of the regular season. For all the talk of the open fifth spot in the rotation. The team may have two open spots if the Flop can't go.
  • Carlos Pena, who is battling for a roster spot, says that he wasn't loved during his stints in Detroit, New York and Boston last season. If he can cut down on his strikeouts, we are sure that Joe Maddon will be willing to coddle him.
  • The Hardball Times has named "The Best Young Shortstops of 2007" and Reid Brignac is on the list.
  • Surprise, surprise...The weed that got Elijah Dukes arrested earlier this year, wasn't his. Well, that clears that up.
  • The new Israel Baseball League will debut this year with six teams. One of those teams appear to have some sort of Ray for a mascot (as seen at the top of this page), although we are unsure which team it is. Best we can tell it is either the Modi'in Miracle or the Ra'anana Express. Personally, we would have liked to see the Ra'anana franchise called the Ba'ananas, but what do we know. Using basic kindergarten analytical skills, we were able to eliminate the Blue Sox, the Pioneers, the Lightning and the Tigers as possible sources of the Rays logo.
  • ....over and over and over. If they keep this up, we are going to start referring to them as DRickyHendersons. We kid because we care...we kid because its true.

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