Rays Magic Number Is Now 32
DEVIL RAYS WEBTOPIA...
- Troy Percival will throw from a mound on Monday and said he could pitch now but will throw a couple of bullpen sessions until the team deems him ready. [St. Pete Times]
- Joe Maddon's managerial style is certainly unique. John Romano says Maddon has "ignored the safer, obvious choices to do what he felt was right." Brian Anderson adds Papa Joe is "not afraid, and that's the thing I love about watching him manage." [St. Pete Times]
- Gerry Fraley of the Sporting News says the Rays could lose the rest of their games and Joe Maddon would still win AL Manager of the Year. [Sporting News]
- Gordon Edes of Yahoo! Sports looks at the relationship between Joe Maddon and Mike Scioscia. [Yahoo! Sports]
- In a bold statement *sarcasm*, Mike Bauman says the Rays could win the World Series if they make the playoffs...In other news Barack Obama has a shot to win the presidential election if he is nominated by the Democratic Party. [MLB]
- John Romano says umpires need to be held accountable, wishing that some umpires weren't "so stinking arrogant." [St. Pete Times]
- The Big Lead doesn't know the full name of the Rays (see title) and says Bud Selig, FOX and TBS are all rooting against the Rays. The reasoning is the Rays are bad for ratings and hence bad for baseball should they make it that far...Funny. The Marlins have won 2 of the last 10 world series, and MLB seems to be doing just fine. [The Big Lead]
- One writer is finally willing to admit that the Rays are better than the Yankees...What gave it away? The 10-game lead in the standings? [Bugs and Cranks]
- Mark Feinsand of the New York Daily News writes that locking up the young players has paid off for the Rays and they should be able to contend for several years. [Daily News]
- Roger Mooney says that the Rays biggest strength could be "locker room harmony."...We prefer to think that winning breeds harmony, not the other way around. [Bradenton Herald]
- The Mets have signed Al Reyes to a minor league deal...This of course raises the question as to why Reyes turned down a minor league job with the Rays? [New York Post]
- Fangraphs takes a look at Scott Kazmir's pitch selection and notes that he is throwing more fastballs this season. Outs Per Swing made this same observation earlier. [Fangraphs]
Labels: Al Reyes, Barrack Obama, Bud Selig, Joe Maddon, Mike Scioscia, Scott Kazmir, Troy Percival
posted by The Professor at 2:06 PM
2 Comments:
I shouldn't be, but I was a tad disappointed with last night's ending. Boston lost, that was great, we still have a 4.5 game lead, no one got hurt for whatever reason they would, the energy there was great for it being less than 20,000, but my heart sank as low as it could when Aki didn't come up with that ground ball.
I don't blame him for not coming up with it, because I understand it was a tough play, but you see him make these kinds of tough plays a lot. This one was crucial and he didn't get it. I felt horrible after that, for him, for the team, for the fans, and the fact that it was all in front of the ESPN2 cameras (and Erin Andrews). I guess it could be worse, because he could have completely missed it and 2 runs would have scored.
I just don't want them to lose on ESPN/ESPN2. It feels wrong.
Take away the top of the 4th and it was a very well played game by our guys against the toughest team in the AL.
I think Troy Percival could have even caught that ball that Ruggiano didn't, but apparently Ruggiano did the right thing because letting it fall was supposed to set up a DP for the next batter, who was Vlad?
Yes indeed - "team chemistry" is the reason the Rays are winning. We can ignore the vastly improved defense and better pitching - the fact that virtually every reliever from last year is gone. And certainly getting rid of Young who was no team player (regardless of the fact he was overrated) and problem child Dukes (again we simply assume his 700 OPS had little to do with the quality of play). In 2008, o course the Rays have one guy who occasionally calls in on plays, two other guys who have thrown fists at each other and had to be separated on multiple times, and a couple pitchers who have thrown fits on the mound when the manager showed up. Funny, I wouldn't call that a tight ship. ... guess its called club house harmony.
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