HER RAYS!

I’ve been pretty busy the last couple of days, so I haven’t been able to sit down and really take in the games.  However I have been doing some drive by baseball viewing.  You know, where you have the game on in the background.  You peek at it every time you walk through the room.  You run in when you hear the crowd cheer or you hear Staats raise his voice.

I feel a little guilty when I don’t give the Rays my full attention but in my defense they are playing the A’s.  The A’s are blah.  I don’t hate them, but I don’t like them either.  I really dislike their uniforms, especially the shoes.  White shoes might look okay with their home white pants, but on the road with gray pants and green socks?  Yuck.  It was nice to see Gabe Gross, and Ryan Sweeney is super cute, but I didn’t know any of the other guys.

How ’bout them Rays?  They just keep rolling along.  The starting pitching has been good and when they make a mistake the offense is there to pick them up.  They even gave James Shields run support.  It’s been a really fun way to start the season.  I’m like the drunk guy at a party going around hugging everyone and slurring “I love you guys.”

See you tomorrow night.  Go Rays!

Close, yet so far away.

I got home late tonight, so I didn’t see the first five innings.  The last four innings were pretty eventful though.

Top of 6th – Shields was cruising along but hit a road block when Longo biffed a throw.  He was able to get two outs, but he also walked two.  Result – bases loaded two outs.

Lance Cormier was brought in to take care of business.  Result – grand slam, aka four runs.  This was especially painful for me because Lance is one of my favorites.  That’s impressive because as a Rays fan my favorites don’t tend to come from the bullpen.

Bottom 6th – Barty starts it off with a base hit.  I loved him last year, but I really love him now that he’s all hitty.  Longo doubled.  Love him too.  Then BennyZ hits a three run homer!  The Rays are right back in it.

Top 7th – Cormier walks the first two batters.  I’m a little worried about him.  I hope it’s just an off night.  Springer is brought in for relief, but alas it’s not to be had.  Three runs are what’s to be had, and the Rays are right back out of it.  Grrrr.

Bottom 7th – The Rays go down one, two, three.  Not good.

Top 8th – Choate doesn’t choke.

Bottom 8th – Crawford singles.  Longo grounds into a double play…except Wiggy booted it.  Oh sweet justice.  Pat the Bat singles and moves the runners.  Gross ground in one run, and Pena doubles in two more to make it 8-7.  I thought Zaun and his mighty mullet might tie it up but not tonight.

Top 9th – Choate and Wheels sit them down.

Bottom 9th – BJ, BJ, BJ what the hell was that, and was it your own idea?  He pop bunted to the pitcher.  Bartlett singled, then stole second.  Crawford grounded out and moved him over.  Man on third, Evan Longoria in to save the day.  Not this time folks.  It’s crazy that it was even this close of a game what with the handing out of homeruns with runners on.

Now it’s time to make up that game with a few games of Texas hold’em.  Go Rays!! 

All in all that was not a bad road trip.  It wasn’t pretty, but it could have been much worse.

Saturday I got home right in the middle of the Rays comeback.  That was fine by me because I missed all the bad stuff, and it hurts my heart when David Price doesn’t do well.  However my heart likes it very much when Barty drives in winning runs.

The game today stunk, but I really think the guys just want to come home.  So tonight they get to sleep in their own beds and catch up with their families.  Let’s hope that recharges them and they show up to the park happy and ready to play, because it’s crunch time.

The big bad Yankees are coming to town.  They are coming off a hella good homestand, so they need to be brought back down to earth a little bit.  That’s right, they must be crushed.  None of these super comebacks.  Well, if it’s necessary to come back then by all means, but the preferred method of winning would be showing no mercy right from the beginning.   It’s time to gain some ground in this division.  Do not let those bombers get comfortable.  Make them sweat.

Does anyone know how I can get a couple of notes to the dugout? 

Gabe Gross,
Fire up your cannon.  They’re used to pop ups to right being home runs.
Thanks.

James Shields,
Pitching to contact might not be the best idea against this line-up.
Best Wishes.

Pat the Bat,
Quit being so picky and hit the damn ball.
Sincerely.

Longo,
How you doin?
xoxo

Go Rays!

The Rays didn’t seem to have any problems with the altitude.  Everybody was hitting and they easily put a stop to the Rockies hot streak.  If someone could beat the stinkin Red Sox, the Rays might finally gain some ground!

Anyway that was a fun game, in that it seemed like a sure thing.  What do you suppose was the source of Rays power?  I believe Mr. Maddon gets the credit once again.  You see he required Western wear for the road trip.

Yep, those are your Tampa Bay Rays.  That is genius!  The Heater has a better look at the picture, and for more individual looks check out FSflorida’s facebook page.

A few comments:
I don’t know why I’m surprised, but BJ even makes western look good.  Mmmm.
James Shield’s belt buckle is ginormous.  I feel like maybe he’s trying to compensate for something since Joe Nelson entered the locker room.
Todd Kalas should win an award.  I think he stole his jacket from Anne Hathaway’s character in Brokeback Mountain.
Sonny looks like a dangerous cowboy.  The Duke!
Gabe Gross seems like he just pulled that flag shirt out of his closet.  It suits him.
It’s funny how a couple of the guys have matching shirts.
Matt Garza starring in Hollywood Cowboy.
Where in the hell did they find huge and enormous chaps for Niemann?  I have to admit, I’m a little frightened.
Who’s wearing the 15 gallon hat?

Let’s hope they can harness this power and take down the Rockies again tonight.  Go Rays!

Thanks Karen!

but we’ll take it.  Rays win!

There were a few positives:

Niemann did work his way out of trouble a couple of times, although 3.2 innings is the opposite of stellar.
The bullpen actually did what they are paid to do.  Shocker, I know. 
Carlos Pena looked way better.  He even hit a home run to the opposite field.  Keep it up big guy.
Zobrist, Gross, and Aybar were raking.
Navi did something the Rays have not been great at.  Situational Hitting.  Hallelujah, thank you ‘lil Pudge.  Now spread the word.
BJ had a nice hit and a stolen base.  I’ll try not to focus on him striking out looking with runners on, or throwing home with no chance instead of preventing the other runner from getting into scoring position.
Longo still looks gimpy, but his last fly ball to right center was promising.

Definitley something to build on.  Let’s hope Price can shut those Angels down tonight.  Go Rays!!

Is it my fault? 

I wanted the Rays to find a way to get Aybar’s bat in the line-up, and Pat the Bat got a kink in the neck.
I wanted Price to be brought up, and Kazmir got hurt.
I wanted Percy gone, and now he is.
I wanted Zobrist to get more playing time, and Aki got the Tom Brady treatment.
I’ve always wanted to see Brignac in action, and now Barty is gone.  Barty.  Excuse me while I wipe the tears off my face.

Yes I’m aware that the world doesn’t revolve around me, but just in case here are some other things I want.

The Rays starting pitching to find their groove.  Price is so good that when Kazmir comes back all fixed the Rays will have a tough decision between Niemann and Sonny for the 5th spot.
Navi becomes a doubles machine again.
Brignac fills in so nicely that when Barty returns and keeps putting up insane numbers, Reid slides over and becomes the starting second baseman.
Longo goes on a tear again.
Pat comes back with a hot bat.
CC keeps stealing bags and scoring runs.
BJ gets it going on offense.  Making the Rays 1 thru 4 pretty unstoppable.
Zobrist and Gross keep the magic alive, sending Kapler packing.
The bullpen isn’t orthodox, but they hold and save games.

Wow that would be like winning the lottery.  Kind of like last year.  C’mon Rays!

Oh and I also want them to get the hell out of Cleveland, where they are obviously cursed.

This game was frustrating because the Rays really seemed to outplay the A’s.  It just felt like they would put that run up there first.  Let’s play the blame game.

James Shields pitched a helluva game, but his offense couldn’t help him out.  They deserve the lions share of the blame.  They had a runner on third in three separate innings with only one out, but there was not one single measly ground ball or sac fly in sight.  The 3 and 4 hitters put up zeros.

Jason Bartlett had a very untimely error in the 11th.  I blame this on Staats and Kennedy for going on and on about how great he is.  Yes he has been supremely awesome this year, but let him quietly go about his business.  Just because I write poems about him…

I guess Nelson deserves a little bit of the blame since he threw the meatball that Holliday put in the seats.

I would also like to give a big fat slice of blame to Joe Maddon.  What possessed him to bring in Navi?  That was the turning point in the game.  Gross struck out, and then all of a sudden Shields couldn’t find the strike-zone.  I understand that those things could have happened with Herny in the game but…I think he messed up the flow you know.

Oh JP and Willy don’t deserve any blame.  JP shut them down, and Willy is really looking good.  The Rays need to find him a starting job.  Oh, and I’ll take Zobrist over Kapler any day of the week. 

Tough loss but they aren’t going to win every game and there are quite a few more.  Go Rays!

(photo Espn.com)

Okay I don’t know if Spring is in the air or what but that was so hot.  Mister Garza was damn near perfect.  The team really needed a charge and boy did he deliver.  He even proved that Pedroia can’t hit the high inside fast ball.  If only Jacoby Ellsbury wasn’t so bloody fast…  Barty made a great play on that ball and a slower man would have been toast.  Oh well it was still fantastic to watch.  Way to rock and fire Matt.

Mr. Hernandez deserves some credit tonight too.  After watching Navi’s horrible performance last night, Michel really looked like a pro.  He helped make Garza perfect, and he hit too.  What a concept.  Hopefully that’s the little prod that Navi needs.

I don’t know what turned these guys around but I hope it’s here to stay.  Everybody was hitting, even Gabe Gross.  I hope they saved some runs for the rest of the series!

Did anyone else notice the music as Josh Beckett was leaving the field?  So ya had a bad day…That cracked me up.

A couple more observations:
The Red Sox catcher Kottaras is very cute.
It still hurts my heart to see Rocco in the wrong dugout with the wrong clothes on.
Every team needs a Van Everything.  Where can we get one?  Can Zobrist pitch?

Hey Rays, how about winning two in a row. 

 
(photo ESPN.com)

and the winning is way more fun than the losing.

Someone needs to put it into writing.

The Tampa Bay Rays acknowledge that Benny Boo Boo Zobrist is the team’s official good luck charm.  With his new reddish beard, he even resembles an overgrown leprechaun.  He has a way of righting the ship.  Therefore as long as he doesn’t start sucking real bad he must remain with the team at all costs.  Management will review his good luck charm status on a regular basis.  Getting picked off of first is generally frowned upon, however due to the nature of the grand slam we will let him off with a warning this time.

Troy Percival and Dan Wheeler will be required to sit next to Ben in the dugout, listening to his wife’s music on their ipods, until they are needed in the bullpen.  The Gabe’s will be required to come up with a plethora of minor ailments so that Zobrist gets more starts.

Let’s ride this wave for all it’s worth.

Go Rays!!

The Rays home opener was quite a ride.  It started with the raising of the championship banners.  I bet there were big biker dudes all misty eyed in the stands.  It gave me goosebumps.  My only complaint is that they didn’t show the Yankees dugout at all.  I wanted to see their reactions.

Then the Rays gave their fans a true taste of how good they really are.  Kazmir started it off by shutting them down in the first inning.  Then the offense made sure Chien-Ming Wang was never comfortable. 

BJ is back!  He makes this team scary.  Tonight he was great in the lead-off spot.  He started with a walk, and then before Wang blinked he was on second.  Then CC gets hit by a pitch.  Do you realize how much fun it is going to be if those two can get on base together consistently?  Well fun for us, not the opposing teams!

The offense was great tonight.  I’m sure it had something to do with the Yankees pitching, but it was still nice to see the guys locked in.

Kazmir continued to pound the strikezone and his defense helped him out too.  BJ made a catch in center that probably made the guys at DRaysbay cream their jeans.  It was kind of orgasmic, and if that wasn’t enough Bossman laid down a perfect bunt in the second.  The only flaw in his performance tonight was his mustache.  What up?

Has Jason Bartlett been drinking muscle milk?  He jacked another one.

Okay does anyone else think that Maddon talking to the broadcasters during the inning totally jinxed Scott Kazmir?  The only thing cool about that was how Maddon called Longo ”the Joe Montana of the infield.” 

Can someone send Gabe Gross some chapstick.  I found out HD is not always good.  Have you seen his crusty lips in that tobacco free Florida commercial?  Ewww, gross.

So the Rays put the smack down on the Yanks, but after a while it just wasn’t fun anymore.  I actually felt sorry for some of them.  Jorge Posada must have thought he was stuck in some sort of nightmare.  Joe Girardi was hoping Calgon would take him away but no such luck.  He finally got so frustrated with his pitchers that he brought in his secret weapon, Nick Swisher.

Now if you’ve read this blog, I’m sure you know that I find Nick Swisher totally creepy, and in HD he is even more frightening.  I’ve even likened him to a ventriloquist doll.  However tonight he appealed to my soft side.  First he tipped his cap to Carl Crawford after a stellar catch.  Then he pitched a scoreless eighth.  You gotta wonder if he went in the dugout after the seventh and said “Okay this shit is getting old.  I can do better than that.”  At which point Girardi said “Go for it.  What am I going to do, get fired?”

He totally cracked me up.  I forgot for a little bit how icky he is.  I bet Kapler felt pretty crappy after the game.  He can’t even get a hit off of Nick Swisher.  Ouch.

Let’s hope we see more of that running game, more of that great pitching, more of that great defense and more of kicking Yankee butt tomorrow.  Go Rays!