How good is it to be Evan Longoria these days? Las Vegas Weekly reminds us...

Tampa Bay Devil Rays third baseman Evan Longoria took Hugh Hefner’s VIP table at the Playboy Club with his eight friends for two hours atop the Palms and enjoyed several games of blackjack in between his dance floor duties with fans.

Of course, by "fans" they mean random Vegas hotties. And by "dance floor duties" they mean being a lucky son of a biscuit.

Dirtbag. He puts his pants on just like us, one leg at a time. Of course, after he puts his pants on, he gets to sit at Hugh Hefner's VIP table and dance with "fans".

For those suffering from baseball withdrawal as we are, following the links we present video of Willy Aybar hitting a home run for Licey in the Dominican Winter League.

DEVIL DOGS WEBTOPIA...

• Rays pitching prospect Jino Gonzalez was arrested at Tampa International Airport after an unloaded gun was discovered in his carry-on bag. Gonzalez made 37 appearances (11 starts) for double-A Montgomery in 2008, posting a 5.44 ERA with 68 strike outs and 57 walks in 87.2 innings. The left-hander was originally drafted in the 46th round of the 2002 draft. [Fox Sports]
  
• The Rays resigned Michel Hernandez to a minor league deal with an invite to Spring Training. The spring invite is simply due to the need for extra catchers in camp with so many pitchers needing work each day. During the season, Hernandez is likely to serve as the Rays' "break glass only in case of emergency" catcher down at Durham. [The Heater]
  
• The Providence Journal caught up with Rhode Island native Dan Wheeler and spoke to him about his unusual rise to the big leagues. [Providence Journal]
  
• As usual Her Rays doesn't disappoint with the imagery. This time it is her "New Years Rays-o-lutions" and an attempt to stay pure and stop reading so much smut. [Her Rays]
• Last night was Joe Maddon's private dinner at the White House with President George Bush. [St. Pete Times]
  
• If you are interested, here is a news video clip featuring Joe Maddon's recent effort to help raise money for his former high school. At this rate, we have a feeling Papa Joe is going to still be wearing that Rays Santa cap in the dugout next season. [YouTube]
• The King of Lists is back and this time he has outdone himself. David Chalk is now counting down the top 177 Devil Rays of all-time, starting with Kevin Witt...Witt was like the backup quarterback. For a while he was the most popular guy in the organization, but proved to be a four-A player. Since then he went to Japan was never heard from again. We assume he joined the Yakuza. [Bugs and Cranks]
  
• Just speculation on his part, but Buster Olney sees Pat Burrell landing with the Rays. [MLB Trade Rumors]
• No surprise that the Rays are involved, but Jon Heyman is reporting that four other teams have expressed interest in Ken Griffey Jr. While Griffey may prefer to play close to his Orlando home, he is clearly just one name on the Rays' Plan B list for DH. [SI.com]
• The Examiner previews Carl Crawford. [Examiner]
  
• Peter Gammons has an interesting write up on baseball teams going young. [ESPN]
• ESPN includes BJ Upton on their list of players to watch in 2009. [ESPN]
  

DEVIL DOGS WEBTOPIA...

• CC Sabathia will sign with the Yankees for seven years and $160 million. Four or five games in 2009 just got a lot harder for the Rays. [MLB Trade Rumors]
  
• The Rays are adding a second rookie-level minor league team that will play in Port Charlotte as part of the Gulf Coast League. This gives the Rays seven minor league affiliates. The Rays have also hired a new hitting coach for the Durham Bulls to replace Gary Gaetti. Dave Myers played for eight seasons in the Mariners farm system, reaching as high as double-A before retiring in 1988. His most recent job was as a coach for the Mariners. [St. Pete Times]
  
• Andrew Friedman does not believe the reports of Jason Giambi signing with the A's are true, noting that Giambi would not be wasting his own time or the Rays' time...Our feeling is that Giambi plans on signing with the A's but is just keeping all options open until he signs a contract. At this time, the A's appear to have their priorities elsewhere but will get to Giambi eventually. [Tampa Tribune]
  
• For those that are old enough to remember, one of the most well-known baseball cards of the 1980s was the 1988 Fleer Billy Ripken with the unfortunate trademark on the knob of his bat. Ripken finally came clean to Darren Rovell of SportsBiz, about how the entire incident unfolded. How did Ripken first become aware of the baseball card? From the Rays' own VP of Communications Rick Vaughn, who was the PR guy for the Orioles at the time. (thanks Jordi) [SportsBiz]
• Evan Longoria will participate in the annual Hope Chrysler Classic celebrity golf tournament. [The Desert Sun]
  
• David Chalk of Bugs and Cranks is, how we say? Not happy about the prospect of the Rays signing Jason Giambi. [Bugs and Cranks]
  
• Andrew Friedman said they are not tied to acquiring a specific type of player, but if all else is equal they would prefer a power bat. [Tampa Tribune]
  

Earlier today Drays Bay compared Jason Bartlett's 2008 defensive metrics to previous years and wondered why he was "not as good as perceived" prior to the season.

Essentially every metric that had a crush on Bartlett prior to 2008 gave him the cold shoulder. That's bad, namely because those same metrics gave us hope that Bartlett was a defensive wizard, and while he looked good, he apparently was not as good as perceived. The problem for us, and the Rays, is deciding whether this is indicative of a true talent change or simply an anomaly.

Other than the obvious explanations, such as his shoulder injury in April and the knee injury late in the season, there is another simple explanation for the statistical drop-off in Bartlett's defense.

Evan Longoria.

Below you will see a graph representing Bartlett's 2007 "Probabilistic Model of Range" as presented by Baseball Musings.


A couple of quick notes on the graph...

• The far left portion of the graph represents the third base line, while the far right represents the first base line. "2B" represents the second base bag.
• The peak of the graph in essence represents where Bartlett would usually be positioned. So anything to the left of the peak represents groundballs that Bartlett would have to move to his right (towards third base) to field. While anything to the right of the peak represents groundballs that Bartlett would have to move towards the second base bag to field.

As we can see, Bartlett fielded more groundballs in 2007 than would be predicted. However, Bartlett was much better moving towards third base (left of the peak on the graph). Bartlett's actual outs were much higher than predicted on balls hit right at him and on groundballs to his right (towards third base). On groundballs hit to his left (towards second base) Bartlett was only average.

This is where Longoria comes in. Baseball Musings does not have Bartlett's graph for 2008 yet, but we can compare the Probabilistic Model of Range for Bartlett's third basemen in 2007 and 2008.

In 2007, Twins third basemen ranked 25th in baseball, making 13 fewer outs than predicted. On the other hand, in 2008, Longoria ranked 3rd in the majors in Probabilistic Model of Range for third basemen, making 17 more outs than expected. That is a difference of 30 outs by third basemen from 2007 to 2008.

This is important because a third baseman is closer to the batter and essentially has "dibs" on balls hit in the hole between the shortstop and third baseman. A third baseman with excellent range, like Longoria, means fewer balls are getting to the shortstop. And it is those groundballs that Bartlett feasted on in 2007.

A healthy Bartlett will go a long way towards reestablishing him as one of the premiere defensive shortstops in baseball (statistically), but as long as Longoria is manning the hot corner, Bartlett no longer has to be Superman.

On Bartlett's Defense [Drays Bay]
Probabilistic Model of Range, Third Basemen, 2007 [Baseball Musings]
Probabilistic Model of Range, 2008, Third Basemen [Baseball Musings]

This is short notice, but Evan Longoria will be on WFAN in New York City at 3:00 with host Mike Francessa, formerly of "Mike and the Mad Dog".

You can listen live HERE.

According to Danny Knobler of CBS Sportline, a baseball official says the Rays talked to the Twins about reacquiring Delmon Young.

...the Rays have also discussed trying to reacquire Delmon Young, the outfielder who they traded to the Twins last winter to get Bartlett and Matt Garza...It doesn't appear that the Young talks got very far, and neither did Tampa Bay's efforts to acquire Denard Span, another Twins outfielder.

It makes sense that the Rays would inquire about Young, as the Twins have an abundance of outfielders and have been rumored to be willing to move Young. However, a deal with the Rays seems unlikely as it would be an indictment of Twins' general manager Bill Smith. Trading Matt Garza and Jason Bartlett for Young was Smith's first major move as GM.

Knobler also notes that the Rays may be willing to include Bartlett in a deal this winter. This does not come as a surprise as Bartlett is arbitration-eligible for the first time and is in line for a large bump in salary. With Reid Brignac waiting in the wings, the Rays have a player who was voted the top defensive shortstop in the International League in 2008 and offers a higher upside than Bartlett with the bat at a much lower cost.

And if Brignac is not ready to handle an everyday job in the big leagues, the Rays could conceivably move rookie of the year Evan Longoria to shortstop and start Willy Aybar at third base. This last scenario offers the Rays a vast improvement offensively with only a slight downgrade defensively.

[CBS Sportsline]

DEVIL DOGS WEBTOPIA...

• Despite earlier reports that Trever Miller had signed with the Cardinals, the deal is not yet finalized but is expected to get done eventually. [MLB Trade Rumors]
  
• U.S.S. Mariner takes a look at some of the better players left available for the Rule 5 draft including Eddie Morlan. [U.S.S. Mariner]
  
• Bleeding Blue and Teal looks at Eddie Morlan as one player the Mariners may target in the Rule 5 draft. [Bleeding Blue and Teal]
  
• John Harper of the New York Daily News wonders if the Mets might have to offer Ryan Church and a prospect in order to acquire Edwin Jackson. [Daily News]
  
• Bay News 9 is reporting that Albert Whitted Airport is once again being considered as a location for the Rays proposed stadium. However, as the article points out, there are still a number of obstacles that would need to be addressed. [Bay News 9]
• Evan Longoria was named to the Topps All-Rookie Team. [MLB]
• Rays Prospects have the winter league stats for Rays prospects, updated through last Thursday. [Rays Prospects]
• Tyler's Articles interviewed Jonah Keri from Baseball Between the Numbers about the Rays off-season plans. [Tyler's Articles]
• Rays Prospects takes a look at some of the Rays top hitting prospects. [Rays Prospects]
  
• Tom Jones has a Q&A with Joe Magrane who is leaving the Rays TV booth for a position with the new MLB network. [St. Pete Times]
• David Chalk of Bugs and Cranks is back with their latest "Your Sportsmen Ain't S#!t" compared to Joe Maddon. [Bugs and Cranks]
  
• Really? [MLB Shop]
• David Chalk of Bugs and Cranks takes exception to who Brian Knobbs has chosen to hang out with during the off-season. [Bugs and Cranks]
  

For the second consecutive season Carlos Pena has finished 9th in the American League MVP voting. Dustin Pedroia of the Boston Red Sox took home the award with 16 of the 28 first place votes. Evan Longoria and Jason Bartlett each received votes. Longoria placed 11th after being named the unanimous winner of the AL Rookie of the Year award. Bartlett, who was named the Rays' team MVP, finished 18th.

Pena received a single third place vote and appeared on 13 of the 28 ballots. Longoria's highest votes were two sixth place votes and he appeared on 12 ballots. Bartlett received a single 5th place vote, the only ballot he appeared on.

Pena's 9th place showing in 2007 was the highest finish in the MVP voting in franchise history. The previous high was Aubrey Huff, who finished 24th in 2003. Carl Crawford finished 26th in 2006 and Jorge Cantu finished 27th in 2005, the only other Rays to receive MVP consideration.

Pedroia named AL MVP [MLB]
Carlos Pena 9th Most Valuable American Leaguer [Rays Index]

DEVIL DOGS WEBTOPIA...

• Joe Magrane is leaving the Rays TV booth and will join the new MLB Network. [The Heater]
• The Rays have raised ticket prices for the 2009 season. [St. Pete Times]
  
• Bobby Fenton of 1010 Sports pointed out that all the changes to ticket and parking prices (ie. day of game surcharge) are designed to increase the number of season ticket holders. He also feels that many Bay Area fans are more likely to walk up day of the game and wonders if the day of game surcharge might backfire. [The Free Stretch]
  
• UmpBump is running an offseason series looking at what every team needs. They have now published the Rays' needs. [UmpBump]
• In the upcoming "Bill James Handbook", James ranks the top 25 young major leaguers under the age of 29. Evan Longoria is #17. Only Longoria and Felix Hernandez (#15) are under the age of 23...Also, the Rays are ranked third in terms of young talent on the major league roster, behind only the Twins and D-Backs. Of course, this does not include David Price. [Baseball Analysts]
  
• In the same piece, we see that in the upcoming "Bill James Handbook", one formula ranks Dioner Navarro as the worst baserunner in baseball. In the formula a baserunner, among other things, gets 1 point for a stolen base and -2 points for a caught stealing. Navi was 0-4 on the year. How many of those do you think were straight steals as opposed to missed hit-and-runs?...On a side note it really should be -3 points for a caught stealing. It has been shown that stealing bases only has a positive effect on the offense if successful about 75% of the time. Anything less and it costs the team runs. [Baseball Analysts]
• David Chalk of Bugs and Cranks doesn't care if Dioner Navarro is a bad baserunner. [Bugs and Cranks]
  
• Baseball Happenings thinks baseball can work in the Bay Area. [Baseball Happenings]
• Examiner takes a closer look at prospect JT Hall. [Examiner]
  

Some sobering news today. Via RaysProspects we learn that Wade Townsend has been shut down in the Arizona Fall League due to a shoulder injury that is expected to "sideline him for an indefinite period of time into 2009."

This is a huge setback for Townsend, who will be 25 in February, and only has two starts above single-A. We can't imagine he will be full strength again until 2010, when he will be 26 and likely back at single-A. The bitter irony is of course that Townsend suffered his first major injury in the Arizona Fall League back in 2005 when he blew out his elbow and needed Tommy John Surgery. We have to wonder if this latest injury will mark the end to Townsend's career in the Rays organization.

On a personal level, this is especially difficult because Mrs. Professor and her sisters grew up with Wade and we have to deliver almost weekly reports on his progress to the in-laws. We are not looking forward to that part of dinner this weekend.

Rays Notes [RaysProspects]
Rays boast deepest system in Majors [MLB]

DEVIL DOGS WEBTOPIA...

• That story we posted yesterday about Evan Longoria and his offseason in Long Beach? Well, during the interview a waitress interrupted to tell Longoria that she would be attending an upcoming party hosted by Longoria. Thanks to some stalking nifty interweb research by 'Duk over at Big League Stew, we now know that the young lady in question, Paloma Soto-Castillo, was a contestant on the latest season of "Survivor". And there is a picture...Is there anything Dirtbag can't do well? Nice pull kid. [Big League Stew]
• Evan Longoria as Brad Pitt? Fine. But "Mr. and Mrs. Smith" as a "chick flick"? Not even close. Listen. We have no problem with "chick flicks". They serve a purpose. Some are even good. We have over 300 DVDs and there are more than a few "chick flicks" in there that we would never admit to owning in public. The problem with "chick flicks" is the plot has to be very, very good. If the plot sucks, the movie has nothing to fall back on. On the other hand, take a typical guy movie. If the plot sucks, it is not the end of the world. There will still be explosions and car chases and aliens and girls in lingerie. In other words, there are plenty of distractions from a disastrous plot. And that is what "Mr. and Mrs. Smith" offers. Plenty of distractions. Love story? Sure. But there are enough explosions and gun fire to distract you from the sappy parts. Not to mention, the use of the song "Mondo Bongo" in the climatic fight scene is one of the great movie song/scene combinations ev-ER. Besides, can it be a "chick flick" if the filming led to one actor cheating on his wife? But we like where Her Rays is going with this. [Her Rays]
  
• MVN Outsider plays the role of Andrew Friedman and looks at a few moves the Rays should make this offseason. The big suggestion is trading Andy Sonnanstine and Chad Bradford for Andre Ethier...Not terrible, but the Rays would prefer to add a right-handed bat and would probably like to avoid an arbitration-eligible player that comes without cost-certainty. [MVN Outsider]
  
• David Chalk writes a guest piece over at Big League Stew breaking down the World Series odds for various teams in 2009 and let's you know how stupid it would be to wager on the Yankees. Really, really, really stupid. [Big League Stew]
  

Doug Krikorian of the Long Beach Press-Telegram sat down with Evan Longoria in Long Beach the day after winning the AL Rookie of the Year award. Of the topics covered:

• His preference for Monarch Clothes: "They have great stuff."
• Facial hair: "don't have any blades at the residence..."
• Dating: "he doesn't have a girlfriend at the present time."
• The World Series: "Picked a nice time to go into a slump..."
• Phillies fans: "the Philly fans get more personal with you than those from other cities...It's unbelievable the things they say to you. They must go to Facebook and find out about who you've dated..."
• Buying a home in SoCal: "he likes to entertain large groups of friends..."
• Rock Band and Guitar Hero: "I can do that at home for hours..."

DEVIL DOGS WEBTOPIA...

• BJ Upton had successful surgery on the labrum in his shoulder and expected to be 100% by the time Spring Training rolls around. Joe Smith also reports that it is still not known if Troy Percival will require surgery on his back and/or knee. [The Heater]
• Joe Maddon had to interrupt his honeymoon in Italy to hold a conference call with the media about winning the AL Manager of the Year award...Poor Jaye. [MLB]
  
• Jon Heyman of SI.com has nominated Joe Maddon for Sports Illustrated's "Sportsman of the Year". [SI.com]
  
• Baseball America has released their Rays' "Top 10 Prospects" list. No surprises in the top 5. A little surprised to see two 19 year olds without any experience above short-season (Matt Moore, Nick Barnese), ranked ahead of Jeremy Hellickson. [Baseball America]
• Rise of the Rays has their list of Top 10 prospects (scroll past the Baseball America list). [Rise of the Rays]
  
• Fangraphs review a few of the Rays top minor leaguers from this past season and take a look at who is on the rise, who has fallen and who could breakout in 2009. [Fangraphs]
• Joe Smith has a response from the Cleveland writer that gave the lone first place vote to somebody other than Joe Maddon. [The Heater]
  
• David Chalk at Bugs and Cranks is none-too-happy that Joe Maddon was not a unanimous choice for AL Manager of the Year. [Bugs and Cranks]
• Even a Red Sox site was amazed that Joe Maddon was not a unanimous choice. [Sully Baseball]
  
• The Orioles will have "Baltimore" on their road unis in 2009. That leaves the Rays as one of only five ballclubs that will not have their locality (Tampa Bay) represented on their home or road jerseys. [Big League Stew]
• The Hardball Times takes a look at why pitchers like Chad Bradford are effective as sidearm pitchers. [The Hardball Times]
  

DEVIL DOGS WEBTOPIA...

• We mentioned last week that David Price was one of the four nominees for ESPN the Magazine's "Next" honor. Now you can vote for the winner of the top honor and the cover of the annual "Next" issue. [ESPN]
• John Romano reflects on Evan Longoria's Rookie of the Year season and ponders what is yet to come. [St. Pete Times]
  
• Minor League Ball has their first list of the Rays' top 20 prospects...Once we get a couple more of these we will start our 2009 Meta-Analysis of Rays Prospects. [Minor League Ball]
• 9=8 takes a look at some options for the Rays in right field for 2009. [9=8]
  
• We can now scratch Matt Holliday off of our 2009 wishlist. He has been traded to the A's. [SI.com]
• Would you trade Jeff Niemann and either Andy Sonnanstine or Edwin Jackson for Ryan Ludwick or Rick Ankiel? Ludwick seems like the obvious choice as a right-handed bat, but even though he is only arbitration-eligible this year for the first time, he will be 29 next season. [Baseball America]
  
• Sean McAdam previews the Rays' offseason for ESPN. [ESPN]
  

Joe Smith of the St. Pete Times is reporting that Evan Longoria has won the AL Rookie of the Year award. The vote was unanimous.

Longoria was listed first on all 28 ballots submitted by two writers in each league city for a perfect total of 140 points. White Sox second baseman Alexei Ramirez, who hit 21 home runs (including four grand slams), finished second in the voting with 59 points, and Boston Red Sox outfielder Jacoby Ellsbury (.280, 9 HR, 47 RBI, 50 SB, 98 R) was third at 26 points.

Longoria is the first Rays player to win the award, and seventh player to win the award with a unanimous vote. Delmon Young finished second last season.

Tampa Bay Rays' Evan Longoria wins AL Rookie of the Year [The Heater]

Click on above images to be taken to full standings, box scores or schedule...

THE GOOD: The Rays have been here before. July 18. Rays enter second-half losers of 7 straight. A loss out of the break and the season is over. The Rays win. September 9. Rays have lost 4 in a row including series opener in Boston. Lead in the AL East is down to half-game. Experts say one more (inevitable) loss and season is over. Rays win. September 16. Rays have lost 3 in a row and lead is down to percentage points. Experts say one more (inevitable) loss and the dream run is over. Rays win. Game 7 of the ALCS. The Rays have lost 2 in a row to the Sox and one more (inevitable) loss and the Rays go home. Rays win. It is now game 5 of the World Series. One more loss and the season is over. Of course, one more win and the Rays suddenly have home-field advantage in the World Series again...This must be killing the Red Sox and their Pink Hat Nation. They had to play the Rays while the Phillies somehow get the Devil Rays.

THE BAD: We don't know this team. Nothing is working in Philly. If it is just the Phillies playing well, then we tip our cap. But if it is because the Rays are playing tight then we would like to tip our foot up their asses...Andy Sonnanstine. Whether it be the 12-day layoff or the nerves of pitching in the World Series or a combination of both, Sonnanstine was not being Sonnnanstine. Of his first 14 pitches, 10 were balls. His 3 walks matched a career-high at any level. Of course the 6 hits in 4 innings is nothing new. We have always said, when Sonny is good, he can be very good. But when he is bad, he is very hittable. For Sonnanstine, he has to be near-perfect to get by with only a mid-80s fastball. Last night he was not...Edwin Jackson. Really? The pitcher? Jackson should be ashamed and embarrassed. And if he ever pitches in a Rays uniform again it will be too soon. The pitcher? *banging head on desk*...Joe Maddon. And why is Edwin Jackson in the game at all. Shit on top of shit is just more shit...The offense. 3 of the Rays 5 hits came from the 9-spot in the lineup...Carlos Pena and Evan Longoria. 0-29 with 15 Ks. Longoria is back to guessing. In the 6th inning he swung at a first-pitch breaking ball that was 6 inches outside. Instead of looking for pitches to attack, he has made up his mind to swing at anything and hope for the best...The Defense. 10 errors in last 8 games...Phillies leadoff hitters. On base 16 times in the first 3 games and they were on 4 more times last night.

THE TELLING: Cliff Floyd was removed from the World Series roster due to an injured shoulder and replaced by Eric Hinske...Ben Zobrist, or "The Good Christian" as Mrs. Professor likes to call him, got the start in right field over Gabe Gross, "The Shitty Christian" (The "Good" and "Shitty" of course refer to how she feels about their play, not their particular religious beliefs)...According to CoolStandings.com the Rays have a 13.5% chance of winning the World Series. According to the national media it is a 0.0% chance...After hearing the "Rocky" theme 36 thousand times last night, we are burning all of our "Rocky" DVDs today. Of course, we probably should have burned "5" a while ago.

DEVIL DOGS WEBTOPIA...

• Why is "lack of experience" suddenly a problem for the Rays? It wasn't a problem when they were playing in Chicago or Boston? And exactly how many current Phillies were on the 1980 and 1993 World Series teams? [USA Today]
  
• Joe Maddon spoke with the home plate umpire after the second inning about what he believed was pine tar on the cap of Joe Blanton. [MLB]
• John Romano says that the behavior of Phillies fans towards Rays family members and employees has been more suitable for a prison yard than a major league baseball game, going so far as to pour beer on a 9-year old boy...Stay classy Philadelphia. [St. Pete Times]
• Phillies fans were even throwing mustard packs at Joe Maddon's granddaughter...Strange. We expect better from Phi...Never mind. [LA Times]
• You can tell from Evan Longoria's quotes that he has no idea what he is doing right now. [Boston Herald]
• Jerry Crasnick takes a closer look at the struggles of Carlos Pena and Evan Longoria. [ESPN]
  
• Ken Rosenthal says the Rays hitters have lost command of the strike zone. [Fox Sports]
• Joe Smith takes a look at the rare errors committed by Akinoria Iwamura. [St. Pete Times]
  
• Gary Shelton says that even this is a lot to overcome for the Rays. [St. Pete Times]
  
• Who doesn't know what "WPA" is? Duh. Clearly the reason the Rays are losing the World Series is because they suck at wireless security. [DRays Bay]
• The Hardball Times takes a look at how both managers mismanaged game 3. [The Hardball Times]
• Just in case we didn't make it clear enough how awful Edwin Jackson was last night. [Sully Baseball]
• Joey Johnston takes a look at how the Rays bullpen handles hostile fans and each other. [Tampa Tribune]
  

Click on above images to be taken to full standings, box scores or schedule...

THE GOOD: Three games in Philly. Rays only have to win one. Winning two would be gravy but again, not necessary. The Rays now have 2 chances to get that one win in Philly...Bars in NYC are open until 4:00. And even then, 4:00am is more of a suggestion than a rule. With game 3 not ending until 2:00, it was nice and much needed to get out for a bit...Defense. Over he course of 5 outs in the 2nd and 3rd, the Rays made 4 incredible plays to keep the game close. A snag on a hot shot by Carlos Pena and a nice play up the middle by Jason Bartlett started the 2nd and then an inning later it was the Fat Catcher with a perfect throw to second to nail Jimmy Rollins who was 47-50 prior to this game followed by BJ Upton making one of his trademark "gliding" over-the-shoulder catches...JP Howell. Typical JP. Howell came in after a leadoff walk with the score tied in the 8th. He strikes out Chase Utley, picks Jayson Werth off second and gets Ryan Howard looking. He has been the Rays best and most consistent reliever all year and nothing has changed in the playoffs.

THE BAD: Dioner Navarro's golden brain fart. Ya gotta win that game. After being down 4-1 late, the Rays battled back to tie the game in the 8th. At that point you gotta find a way to win the game. And yet, in the top of the 9th the Rays go down 1-2-3 with an easy strike out, and two weak ground outs. And the bottom of the 9th? Don't get us started. Absolutely awful. We don't care how quickly that ball bounces back to Navarro on the wild pitch. He is not getting the runner at second if he tries a thousand times. So why take a chance on throwing one into the outfield when Navi doesn't even get a chance to get his body into throwing position? You can't let a runner go from first to third with no outs. What happens after that means nothing. The Rays lost the game on Navarro's brain fart...Getting beat by Carlos Ruiz. We don't mind the Chase Utley and Ryan Howard home runs. Great hitters. Tip your cap. But how does Matt Garza let a guy that hit 4 home runs in the regular season beat him for a home run in the World Series. You can't get beat by Ruiz. It just can't happen...Leadoff hitters. Phillies hitters leading off an inning were on base 10 times in the first 2 games. Last night it was worse. Batters that led off an inning were on base 6 times. 3 of those runners scored...The wind. With the Rays trailing 2-1 in the 6th, Evan Longoria hit a ball to left field that would have been 50 feet past the fence on a normal day, but last night, the ball stayed in the park...The Rays 1 extra base hit in the first two games was doubled in game 3. In other words, the Rays bats are quickly becoming the "Blackout of '08".

THE TELLING: Carl Crawford reached on a bunt single in the 7th. It was his first bunt attempt of any kind in 2008. He would later score. The Rays now have 22 stolen bases this postseason, 2 more than the previous record.

ONE MORE BAD: Can we stop with the umpiring bitch-fest please? After game 1 we noted that the Phillies caught some "breaks" in their win. Missed calls happen. It is part of the game. Did the umpire miss the call on Carl Crawford? Sure did. Was it a horrible call? Not even close. CC is out by about 6 inches. On TV in super-duper-HD-slow-mo-mo the distance looked bigger than the gap between John Kruk's ears. But in reality it was a bang-bang play in which the umpire got caught in a bad spot.

DEVIL DOGS WEBTOPIA...

• The Phillies were more than a little upset when the backups were not introduced prior to game 1. It should be noted that the Rays backups were not introduced either and did not have issue. This is a decision made by the TV network and backups have not been introduced since 2004. [ESPN]
• A season ticket holder since 1998 stands to win a lot of money if the Rays win the World Series. [The Big Lead]
• We find it just a little strange that a story on the disappearance of "The Heckler" is found in the Wall Street Journal...Is this where our economy is right now? [Wall Street Journal]
  

Because the best cure for a bad "Hangover" is a good "Happy Hour".

That cute little Rayhawked, bespectacled fella is part of the new logo over "The Heater", Marc Topkin's blog at the St. Pete Times.

He sure is cute. But he looks a little familiar. Hmmm? Where have we seen him before? What could it be? Is it that he has a more famous cousin?

DEVIL DOGS WEBTOPIA...

• Rocco Baldelli will start in right field tonight, while Cliff Floyd will be back at his customary DH slot. [Rays Report]
  
• Badsnap wonders if Derryl Cousins would be working the World Series if Boston had won the ALCS, noting that Cousins collarbone is only bruised and not broken. [Badsnap]
  
• Joe Maddon was named the Manager of the Year by the Sporting News. [The Heater]
  
• Some quotes from the Phillies suggest that Scott Kazmir was tipping his pickoff move. [Yahoo! Sports] [via Fanhouse]
  

“We saw some things...We can put some pressure on teams if they give us something to key off of." Davey Lopes

“I don’t want to say too much because we have games left...I will say with Davey, we’re an aggressive baserunning team.” Jayson Werth

• On a side note: For the younger crowd that are not familiar with Davey Lopes, just look at his career numbers to get a clear indication as to how differently the game is played these days on the basepaths. The dude once stole 77 bases and was 47 of 51 at the age of 40! Amazing. And having watched Lopes (at least towards the end of his career) he was not that fast. [Baseball-Reference]
  
• Jon Heyman: "But for one night, in the biggest game of their lives, the 97-win Rays reverted to their previously sour history in their 3-2 Game 1 defeat to the Phillies." Huh-wha?!? Jon does know this is baseball right? Sometimes, even good teams lose a game. Or is this going to be the Heyman's mantra for the rest of time. Anytime the Rays lose a game, they will have "reverted to their previously sour history". Jesus Jon! They lost by 1 run to a one of the best lefties in baseball. The old Devil Rays would have lost that game 10-1. (thanks Charles) [SI.com]
• It seems a bit strange to use alcohol as the vehicle to celebrate the success of any athlete, but it is even more strange when the New York Times uses champagne and beer as a vehicle in a story about Willy Aybar, who once spent three months in alcohol rehabilitation. [New York Times]

Four drained bottles of booze in the locker of a recovering alcoholic would be cause for concern in most workplaces. In the Tampa Bay Rays clubhouse, the empty Champagne and wine containers in Willy Aybar’s cubicle are considered 100 percent proof of a rebirth, not a relapse.

• Ratings from game 1 were down 14% from last year but are comparable to the 2005 World Series between the White Sox and Astros. [Bloomberg]
  
• Hidden behind the "Insider" curtain, Buster Olney looks closer at Evan Longoria's at bats last night to see how Cole Hamels was able to dominate the Rays. [ESPN]

The first pitch that Evan Longoria saw from Cole Hamels, in Longoria's first at-bat of the World Series, was a changeup. And with a 1-1 count, Longoria saw another changeup, and then another, and he struck out swinging. Three changeups among the first four pitches, but what Longoria could not have known, as he walked back to the dugout, was that he would not see a changeup thrown by Hamels in his next at-bat at all.

We wanna be sedated...

Lots o' Linkety Goodness, so let's get right to it.

DEVIL DOGS WEBTOPIA...

• "Rays Index binging on caffeine" is back. This time we were asked by Deadspin "What the World Series means to us." [Deadspin]
  
• Game will mark the first time this season that the Phillies played a game on artificial turf. [Beerleaguer]
• Marc Topkin is reporting that the Rays will go with the same 25-man roster used in the ALCS. There is some speculation that Shawn Riggans and/or Eric Hinske could be added to the roster. Topkin says neither is likely. Also, as expected, Scott Kazmir will be the game 1 starter. [The Heater]
  
• Evan Longoria was named the AL Rookie of the Year by The Sporting News. [The Heater]
  
• Tim Welke will be the crew chief during the World Series. [MLB]
  
• An in depth statistical look at the World Series by Baseball Prospectus gives the edge to the Rays. (thanks Scot) [Baseball Prospectus]
  

For all of the detail above, I keep coming back to one point: the Rays are a much better baseball team than the Phillies are. The gap between the leagues is real, and when you adjust for it and other factors—as third-order wins do—you find that the Rays were actually ten games better than the Phillies this season. They’ve also beaten better teams to get to the Series. Compare the rosters, and while the Phillies have their share of frontline talent, perhaps even more than the Rays have, the Rays have almost no dead spots on the roster, and are much stronger towards the bottom of the lineup, the back of the rotation, the bullpen, and the bench...Three of the last four World Series have been AL sweeps. The presence of Hamels makes that result unlikely, but even he won’t be enough. Rays in six.

• A solid piece on ESPN.com looking at how the Rays were built for success. [ESPN]
  
• The Phillies are putting all their hopes on rubber duckies...OK, may be not all. [The Fightins]
• David Chalk makes a guest appearance at Walkoff Walk and in his usual unbiased manor, predicts a Rays win. [Walkoff Walk]
  
• Some tales of "wretchedness" from the Rays fanbase. [Deadspin]
  
• Big League Stew has a cool video of fans at Raymond James Stadium gathered around TVs watching the final inning of the ALCS game 7. [Big League Stew]
  
• A Rockies fan will be rooting for the Rays for selfish reasons...The odd thing is we used the exact same logic last season when we were rooting for the Rockies. [Bugs and Cranks]
  
• Yet another Red Sox blogger throws their support behind the Phillies...We wouldn't want it any other way. [Sully Baseball]
• In a classic example of "Like Team, Like Fan", one fan tries to run onto the field at Fenway and fails miserably (video). [Home Run Derby]
• Big League Stew ranks the Mohawks found in the Rays' clubhouse. [Big League Stew]
• Home Run Derby breaks down the Rays and Phillies cheer squads. [Home Run Derby]
• 31.5 reasons to watch the World Series...Our favorite is #31.5. [ESPN]
  

Just the links this morning. We should have more later.

DEVIL DOGS WEBTOPIA...

• Just in case you missed all the links in our "Happy Hour" edition yesterday afternoon, here is the link. [Rays Index]
• Joe Maddon still hasn't announced the rotation for the World Series, but look for Scott Kazmir to get the game 1 start followed by James Shields and Matt Garza. [MLB]
• Charlie Manuel first tough decision in picking a DH for game 1, which could affect the postseason roster. [Beerleaguer]
  
• The RAYSHEAD Army is growing and we couldn't be more proud. [Newsday]
  
• ALCS game 7 was the most watched baseball game ever to be shown on a cable network. [Awful Announcing]
• Bob Ryan of the Boston Globe tries desperately to find a silver lining for Red Sox fans. Ryan wants Red Sox fans to realize that the team overcame a lot just to get to game 7 of the ALCS...That is all fine and dandy, but that means nothing right now. it might mean something in a few months, but not now. The truth is, the Red Sox were in game 7 and they lost. End of story. It doesn't matter how they got there. The Red Sox had one shot at glory and flushed it down the toilet. [Boston Globe]
• Sox and Pinstripes takes a fairly even-handed look back at the ALCS. [Sox and Pinstripes]
• The Hardball Times looks at why the Rays beat the Red Sox. [The Hardball Times]
  
• Cliff Corcoran of SI.com takes a look at 4 things we learned about the Rays in the ALCS. [SI.com]
• Marc Lancaster says there is a sense in Philadelphia that the Phillies caught a break when the Red Sox lost. [Tampa Tribune]
• John Romano puts the Rays season in a historical context. [St. Pete Times]
  
• One Red Sox writer lost a bet on the ALCS and is now sporting a beautiful Rayhawk. [Bugs and Cranks]
• Gary Shelton says it had to be the Phillies. It is only fitting that the Rays go for their first World Series title against a team from Philadelphia. [St. Pete Times]
  
• The Joe Maddon song of the week, should be song of the year. [the somewhat manly nerd]
• Last week one Red Sox site tried to compare the Red Sox to Rocky. That one was lost on us. This week David Chalk compares members of the Phillies to characters from Rocky movies. This one makes more sense. [Bugs and Cranks]
  
• Mark Gonzales of the Chicago Tribune joins the growing wave of national media that recognizes the Rays are not going to be a one-hit wonder. [Chicago Tribune]
• Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel also looks at the future and says Evan Longoria was a big part of the "master plan". [Orlando Sentinel]
  
• Several members of the Rays chat it up in "The Dugout" after winning the ALCS. [Fanhouse]
• SI.com wonders if the economy can have a positive impact on the World Series ratings. [SI.com]
• The Boston Herald talks about David Price's role in the ALCS and preparing for the World Series. [Boston Herald]
• One of the writers from Oh, It's THOSE Girls guest posts at Bugs and Cranks on the struggle of rooting for two of her former Twinkies, Jason Bartlett and Matt Garza...Speaking of which. Not sure where we first heard this, but shouldn't Garza's sports psychologist have been named the ALCS MVP? Maybe he/she deserves a playoff share? [Bugs and Cranks]
  
• Another article trying to convince baseball fans that Phillies and Rays is a good series including "The Greatest Team Turnaround Story in the History of Modern Sports." [ESPN]
• After losing to Tampa Bay squads twice before in quest for championships, a Phillies fan is hoping the third time is a charm...Or as we like to say, three is a pattern. [Bugs and Cranks]
  
• One Cleveland Indians fan is jumping on the Rays Bandwagon. [Kanka's Sports Page]
  
• The Rays have released Jorge Velandia from the Durham Bulls. Velandia appeared in 14 games for the Devil Rays in 2007. [Baseball America]
• Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe says the Red Sox may have gone to the World Series with Manny Ramirez, but that trading him was the right thing to do for the "greater good"...If by "greater good" he means bringing the Pink Hat Nation back down a peg, then we completely agree. [Boston Globe]

We have been in a bit of a funk for the last 36 hours. Not so much despondent as we are angry. With about 7 hours to go before game 6 at The Trop tonight, we needed a pick-us-up and Joe Bucs Fan delivered big time.

As Joe is sure Bucs fans are aware, the Glazer Boys finally relented and will add a Ring of Fame to honor greats in Bucs history. The team also break out the orange jerseys in 2009 to honor the team’s fourth decade.

We have been a little distracted this week and somehow missed this. But both ideas put a hugE with a capital E, smile on our face.

For the ring of honor we would want Lee Roy Selmon, Doug Williams, Mike Alstott and Paul Gruber.

As for the throwbacks, we only hope that they will be more like the "pure orange" of the 70s and 80s and not the "creamsicle", neon orange of the early 90s.

And to keep this somewhat tied to the Rays...Joe Bucs Fan also has a picture of the "0 for 4" girl that Evan Longoria has been hanging out with. And she happens to be a Bucs cheerleader. Well played. Well played indeed.


Ring of Fame and Orange Unis [Joe Bucs Fan]
Well Done Mr. Longoria [Joe Bucs Fan]

Just a few links to get you through the next couple of hours...Word is there is a light rain at Fenway, but no delay is expected...Anybody else getting that funny feeling that Scott Kazmir is going to pitch a gem tonight?

DEVIL DOGS WEBTOPIA...

• We will be back tonight with another edition of the Rays Index Live Blog-A-Baloo, ALCS-style.
• BJ Upton the next Eric Davis? Outs Per Swing looks at the similarity between the two and gets the opinion of several top baseball writers on the matter...Davis was one of the most exciting players we watched growing up and there are definitely similarities. But Davis got by on pure athleticism at a time when there weren't a lot of great athletes in the game. Upton is actually a much better hitter but plays in a time when opposing teams have a better idea how to minimize the advantage of physically gifted players. Defensively, they are identical. [Outs Per Swing]
  
• Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post has a column today about the Rockies decision to pass on Evan Longoria with the 2nd pick of the '06 draft...We touched on this previously when we learned that the Rays actually had a deal in place prior to the draft with Tim Lincecum. (Thanks Rumpy) [Denver Post]
  
• We love any and all references to Monty Python and we also love that Boston Dirt Dogs think "real fans" will show up at Fenway tonight...Actually, from the stories we have heard, there will be a significant presence of Rays fans in Fenway tonight. [Boston Dirt Dogs]
  
• The Guru prescribes cashmere for Scott Kazmir's woes...Couldn't hurt. [Her Rays]
• Sarah Palin panders to both Red Sox and Rays fans. [Bugs and Cranks]
• The Phillies are in need of support and they have turned to Sally Struthers. [Bugs and Cranks]
  
• Desmond Jennings saw his first action in the Arizona Fall League. [Tampa Bay Rays Prospects]
  

Click on above images to be taken to full standings, box scores or schedule...

How good was The Mad Australian this season? Grant Balfour put up some sick numbers this season. In 58.1 innings, Balfour allowed only 28 hits and 24 walks while striking out 82. He pitched to a 1.54 ERA. Certainly the best season by a relief pitcher in the short history of the Rays. But we wonder if there was a bigger context we could look at to see exactly how dominating he was this season.

We went to the "Play Index" at Baseball-Reference.com.

We did a search for every pitcher that has ever posted a season with at least 11 strike outs per 9 innings, while giving up less than 9 hits and walks combined per 9 innings with an ERA less than 1.70 (minimum 40 innings pitched). Three criteria for a dominating relief pitcher.

The results? The Mad Australian is just the 4th pitcher in the history of baseball to post such a dominating season out of the bullpen. The other three is a who's who of dominating closer performances, including Eric Gagne (2003), Billy Wagner (1999) and Joe Nathan (2006). Gagne won the Cy Young Award in '03, while Wagner finished 4th and Nathan finished 5th. The only difference between their seasons and Balfour's was the number of saves. They each recorded at least 36 saves, while Balfour only had 4.

We knew Balfour had a strong season, but we had no idea that it was one of the best in the history of baseball.

DEVIL DOGS WEBTOPIA...

• In case you missed it yesterday afternoon, we ran a bunch of "Webtopia" links in the evening "Happy Hour" feature. [Rays Index]
• Remember the Rays fan that ended up with the Evan Longoria home run ball above the Monster at Fenway in game 3? He was kind enough to answer a few questions about the incident. [Rays Index]
• Congratulations go out to Gabe Gross and his wife Kelly, who are expecting their first child in May. [Celebrity Baby Blog]
• Rocco Baldelli could get the start in right field tonight with Gabe Gross struggling...Also, Joe Maddon is not worried about the Red Sox history of comebacks noting that he would rather concentrate on executing their own gameplan. [St. Pete Times]
  
• Joe Smith says the key to Scott Kazmir is surviving the first inning. Smith points out that Kid K tends to settle down after long first innings and gains confidence as the game moves along. [St. Pete Times]
  
• The Phillies won the NLCS 3 games to 1...The Rays aren't there yet, but it is worth noting that every time a Tampa Bay franchise wins a championship they beat a Philadelphia team on the way. [The Fightins]
  
• This is worth pointing out again. 18 "experts" at ESPN.com predicted the World Series matchup prior to the playoffs. 2 picked the Rays to win the ALCS. None picked the Phillies. If the Rays win the ALCS, that will be 2 correct picks out of 36. Wow. [ESPN]
  
• Bugs and Cranks found a picture of the reverse mohawks from Fenway. [Bugs and Cranks]
  
• John Romano says Jim Hickey deserves much of the credit for the Rays success and points out that he came very close to losing his job last winter. [St. Pete Times]
• More evidence that the Red Sox Nation isn't as devoted as they would like you to believe. Tickets can be had for ALCS games in Fenway for below face value. [Boston Globe]
  
• Dave Sheinin of the Washington Post says the Red Sox are being betrayed by their age and are suddenly old news. The perfect metaphor for this series is the young, speedy Carl Crawford beating out an infield single with the old Tim Wakefield scrambling on the ground trying to throw out Crawford. [Washington Post]
• Wallace Matthews seems to think the Yankees paid for the Rays success...Bitter much? [Newsday]
  
• John Tomase of the Boston Herald points out that this incarnation of the Red Sox is much different than the teams that made postseason comebacks. [Boston Herald]
• Tonight could be the last game for Jason Varitek in a Red Sox uniform. [Boston Globe]
• Fire Brand of the American League points out 5 keys to the Red Sox winning game 5. [Fire Brand of the American League]
  
• Awful Announcing gets it. We will fully admit that a Rays-Phillies World Series would not be FOX TV's first choice. Thankfully, there is not a single mention of how Bud Selig is rooting for the Red Sox and the Dodgers. We have already pointed out how ridiculous that sentiment is. [Awful Announcing]
  
• The Rays signed four 16-year old players during the international free agent signing period. Among the players signed is a switch-hitting catcher from Venezuela named "Narvaez". Coincidence? [Tampa Bay Rays Prospects]
• Stay classy Pink Hat Nation...How Youz Doin Baseball? Did this blog get their name from a line in "Friends"? That's hot. Oh, and the only other Colby Alum we know is the guy in the bottom of THIS picture. We don't think we have ever seen somebody more afraid of a baseball that was no where near them. [How Youz Doin Baseball]
• We are not sure where this person did their research. It is yet another attempt at showing how the Rays roster was put together. Two problems. The list of players traded by the Rays is short about 6 names. And nobody in baseball is acquired for "FREE". What does that even mean? The Rays traded Josh Butler, a former 2nd round pick, for Gabe Gross. And Chad Bradford was acquired for a player to be named later. The Rays will likely send a player to Baltimore once the season ends. Cheap? Yes. But not "FREE". For the complete list, check here. [Beyond the Boxscore]
• Kevin Gengler stops by The Hardball Times and gives an in depth review of the Rays farm system. [The Hardball Times]