Ever since B.J. Upton meekly popped up for the final out of of the Rays’ 2010 season, nearly every scribe,terrell suggs jersey, blogger, writer, and analyst following the team has penned his or her to the past seven months of Bay Area baseball. Some have written of , some of , and of . Yet they all convey the overall emotion of a fan’s love of both their team and the game of baseball. After every baseball season, whether good or bad, whether I rooted for a winner or team that lost hope after the second week of April,[DOWN ON THE FARM] Niamann To Make Second Start Since Demotion Rays Index, I am reminded of “”, a brilliant essay written by former Major League Commissioner A. Bartlett Giamatti. Although it is over 1,300 words, the first 91 are among the most poignant ever written about baseball. “It breaks your heart. It is designed to break your heart. The game begins in the spring, when everything else begins again, and it blossoms in the summer, filling the afternoons and evenings, and then as soon as the chill rains come, it stops and leaves you to face the fall alone. You count on it, rely on it to buffer the passage of time, to keep the memory of sunshine and high skies alive, and then just when the days are all twilight, when you need it most, it stops.” Giamatti’s essay discusses his passion for following the , a team that won 97 games yet finished 2.5 games behind the eventual World Series Champion New York Yankees. Giamatti goes into depth discussing their eventual elimination and how a simple fly ball to center drained the life and feeling from all of the New England faithful. (Note: if baseball had the wildcard in , Giamatti would have never written his piece. Boston would have made the playoffs thanks to winning the season series over a Baltimore Orioles team that also finished with 97 wins and 64 losses. In a 2010 world, the Sox would have clinched the wild card on the day prior to the one Giamatti wrote about and played the Kansas City Royals as the Yankees would have coincidentally played the Texas Rangers.) Of course, it is not only those in New England whose passion comes to an abrupt halt. In every region of America,Cheap Devils Jerseys, wherever fans follow their favorite team, wherever fathers and sons play catch, or wherever people pack stadiums or bars or living rooms, there is a feeling of emptiness every October. Even in Pittsburgh and Kansas City. For us here in the Tampa Bay area, it begins at FanFest, when we reawaken to baseball and explore the new facets of the upcoming season – whether it be a new player, new member of the announce team, or a new feature of the ballpark. There is a joy not unlike a family reunion, when you greet the friends and “family” you parted ways with the October before. You are together again for another season. (From 1999 to 2007 that exchange was not unlike in Return of the Jedi. Fan 1: Together again, huh? Fan 2: Wouldn’t miss it. Fan 1: How we doin’? Fan 2: Same as always. Fan 1: That bad, huh? Then of course came the “new hope” of 2008.) Following Fan Fest, we have the added advantage of seeing our team up close and personal during Spring Training. We are not as beholden as the rest of the baseball nation in relying on beat writers and bloggers to tell us who is winning a positional battle or who is going to make the team. We can make the short jaunt to Port Charlotte and see it with our own eyes. Then comes the magical moment of Opening Day – a day that should be a national holiday – where every fan has hope and everyone is in first place, if even for 24 hours. The real thrill,Cheap Cincinnati Bengals Jerseys, and one we are barely getting used to, is when our team remains in first, or at least in a battle for first from April to October. It is a fun ride. One of scoreboard watching and magic numbers*, wild cards and aces. One I will miss. One I shared with friends, family, and the entire Rays community,cheap matt ryan jersey 365djerseys.com Y2, both online and at the ballpark. Sure we’ve fought, we’ve argued, and we’ve blown a few gaskets, but that’s what a family does. And now that our summertime reunion is over, as Giamatti said, we are left to face the fall alone. (Isn’t it fitting that for most teams, “magic” numbers make hope disappear? Almost as if David Copperfield or David Blaine waves a wand and makes teams vanish from relevance.) As for me, I’d like to thank Cork for my midseason callup and now that the season is over I hope we can talk about extending my contract. Keeping it team friendly, of course.

This was set up for a glorious win by the Rays. Ailing Dirtbag comes off the bench to pinchhit Matt Joyce home to cap a threerun eighth for a 65 lead. Six outs by the solid bullpen seemed a pretty solid bet. But with one out in the eighth and Jack Wilson at first, Merlot Joe decides to use a Ted Williams shift on Jack Cust leaving the left side of the infield open. Wide open. Naturally, Cust fights off a J.P. Howell offspeed?pitch and hits the ball to the left side of the field,Skelton Jersey. What likely would have been an inningending double play instead opens the floodgates. Rather than leaving Howell in the game, Merlot Joe, likely bored, decides to bring in Joel Peralta, who has had a nasty habit of late of giving up the long ball. BOOM,cheap ray rice jersey 365djerseys.com I0! Miguel Olivo, thinking he is Tony Oliva,cheap matt schaub jersey, belts his third homer of the series and the game is over. This is what some folks would call “overmanaging.” Merlot Joe’s maddening (Maddoning?) mixing and maxing has more often than not worked this year, but when it blows up it really blows up and this was a baseball version of Dresden. Well, at least Derek Shelton’s forces came to play for a change. Speaking of Shelton, Hat tip to Kelly Shoppach?who drilled an 02 mistake by Erik Bedard for his first double of the season (ouch) and put the Rays on the board. In what nearly brought Joe to a complete vomit, before that at bat, the Rays radio team relayed a chat with Shelton, in which Shelton said he was baffled why Shoppach isn’t the same guy that hit 21 homers and .261 under Shelton’s tutelage in Cleveland back in 2008,Throwback Minnesota Wild Jerseys. Well there you have it,Carolina Panthers Jerseys 365djerseys.com A9. And there you have a nauseating loss that should have been a fantastic win.

We wondered if Reid Brignac would still get some starts at shortstop even after the return of Jason Bartlett from the DL. And it looks like that is … Though SS Jason Bartlett was back in the lineup Wednesday after spending nearly three weeks on the disabled list, manager Joe Maddon said he is going to ease Bartlett back into his everyday role…Not pushing Bartlett could help the Rays with what Maddon considers a good problem: INFs Sean Rodriguez and Reid Brignac are playing so well, Maddon said,Wholesale Kevin Kolb Jersey 365djerseys.com Z8, “I’ve got to keep them active somehow.” The Rays have perfected the art of demoting players without actually demoting them,china nhl jerseys sale. Players don’t get sent to the minors,cheap womens bills jerseys. They go on the DL and extended rehab stints. Players don’t lose their starting jobs. Joe Maddon just wants to keep other players fresh. “Easing back into an everyday role,” sounds suspiciously like Briggy Baseball is still going to start against a lot of righties until he cools off or Bartlett heats up,wholesale robert griffin iii jersey 365djerseys.co,womens 49ers jerseys.

It is time for one of our favorite annual features, the AntiPennant Race,Chicago White Sox Jerseys, the race for the worst record in baseball. The reward for the “winner”,Wholesale Chris Wells Jersey 365djerseys.com S1; is the first pick in next year’s amateur draft,cheap new orleans hornets jerseys. This year is extra special as this marks the first time the Tampa Bay Rays are not in contention to win. In fact, last season the Rays became the first team to ever be awarded with the top pick in consecutive seasons (until recently, the top pick alternated between leagues),Phillies Jerseys, winning the AntiPennant in and . The first year this feature ran (2006), the top pick was not a sure thing, but David Price was the clear favorite. Last year, without an obvious favorite for the 2008 draft, we decided to name this feature after the inaugural namesake. Without further ado,cheap chicago bulls jerseys 365djerseys.com G8, we present the 3rd Annual David Price Sweepstakes and the race for the top pick in the 2008 draft! Notes on the AntiPennant Race…

Time to bring back the GBT – The Good, The Bad and The Telling sandwich, where The Bad is nice and lean and the The Telling is ripe. THE GOOD: Gold Gloves. Typical Rays D in the 3rd. Evan Longoria got a speedy Endy Chavez trying to drag bunt (right when the M’s announcers were trying to tell us that Longo is almost as good defensively as Adrian Beltre),Wholesale Alex Smith Jersey. Junior Griffey then grounded right into the shift, which was followed by Aki Iwamura making one of his patented plays on a ground ball behind second base. Just your typical 123 inning. THE BAD: BJ Upton’s quad. BJ missed last night’,cheap Ryan Jersey;s game with a sore quad,wholesale matt schaub jersey 365djerseys.com N8. He says there is nothing to worry about. We are worried…7 infielders,Panthers Jerseys From China 365djerseys.com R8. Really. 4 infielders is probably enough. Sometimes a 5th is called for. But the way routine fly balls keep landing in the outfield grass it is as if Joe Maddon is using 7 infielders. In the bottom of the 4th two triples got over the heads of Ben Zobrist and Gabe Kapler scoring 3. It took an amazing diving catch by Kapler or else it would have been 3 overthehead basehits. We think it might be time to doublecheck the math on that theory…Not Zorilla’s night. With 1 out in the 4th and Pat Burrell on first, Ben Zobrist hit a line drove double off the left field wall. Unfortunately, he hit it too hard. A little higher and it is a home run,cheap Minnesota Vikings Jerseys. A little softer and Burrell scored from first. Instead, The Bat is at third. Eventually the Rays loaded the bases, but failed to score. Later in the game, Zobrist hit a long drive to leftcenter that was caught just short of the wall. THE TELLING: The Mariners apparently rearranged their rotation to make sure Jarrod Washburn got a start in this series…What do you think goes through the head of every pitcher each time one of those flyballs lands 20 feet short of the wall without being caught? SUNBURST PLAYER OF THE GAME: Andy Sonnanstine. Kinda tought to give it to a pitcher that allows 4 runs, but his defense didn’t help on 3 of the runs and there really weren’t any other good options. Besides, 7 strike outs and only 1 walk is a good night and hopefully a sign of things to come from The Duke. DEVIL DOGS WEBTOPIA…

Marc Topkin is reporting that the Rays and Joel Peralta have agreed to terms on a new contract (),cheap colts nike jerseys. Topkin says there are no details yet on the new deal. However, there were reports earlier in the day out of the Dominican Republic that said it is a two year, $6 million contract,cheap peyton manning jersey, with a 2015 option for $2.5 million. Peralta will be 37 in 2013. And two guaranteed years would be unusual for the Rays, who typically give veterans, especially veteran pitchers, one year deals, or occasionally one year plus an option,Cheap Rockies Jerseys,Browns notes Montreal Alouettes coach Marc Trestman interviewing today in Berea - Cleveland Browns . The chances of getting two more,wholesale andre johnson jersey 365djerseys.com X1, much less three more, solid seasons out of Peralta at his age would seem like a longshot.

Bud Selig went on Sirius XM yesterday and to say about the Rays struggle to get a new stadium, which we think they still want. But really,Washington Redskins Jerseys, who knows at this point…,cheap new orleans hornets jerseys 365djerseys.com; “I like Stu Sternberg a lot, as you probably know…;I, too, am concerned about their attendance. I track attendance every day,Throwback Hurricanes Jerseys. He knows it. I’ve talked to him a lot. They are a wonderful organization, produced a terrific team this year and finished last in the American League in attendance. I’ll let you draw your own conclusion. That’,cheap washington wizards jerseys;s bad…;[Selig then asked if stadium situation is a "lost cause"]…;I can’t answer that yet but I’m usually an optimist and I don’t have any reason to be too optimistic.”,Brewers Jerseys 365djerseys.com Z8;

Here we are for the first ever Devil Rays live game blog. We are now in the Belly of the Beast. We are in New York City, a stone’s throw from Yankee Stadium. We will be “broadcasting” from the comfort of a couch, a computer, a big TV, and a fridge stocked with beer. We really have no idea what we are doing. We kinda feel naked here. Who knows, if we drink enough, maybe we will be. So whether you are stuck at work or at home, follow along AFTER THE JUMP as the Devil Rays take their first step towards .500 and the 2010 World Series! We will also keep an eye on the RedsCubs game as Josh Hamilton will be making his major league debut. OPENING DAY 2007 DEVIL RAYS YANKEES LIVE GAME BLOG OK, here we go. We are less than half a mile from yankee stadium. We were tempted to find a bar near the stadium with wireless access. But then we realized that may not be so smart in the south Bronx with a bunch of drunken Yankees fans. We would probably end up with a shaved head, a Yankees tattoo and one less laptop. Here are today’s lineups. No surprises. Carl Crawford, lf Ben Zobrist, ss Rocco Baldelli, DH Ty Wigginton, 1b Delmon Young, rf Akinori Iwamura, 3b Dioner Navarro, c Elijah Dukes, cf B.J. Upton, 2B Scott Kazmir, p We love BenZo in the #2 spot. He could really flourish there in a Jay Bellmold. Getting on base a lot. Working pitchers. Taking pitches to give C C plenty of chances to steal. Lot of moving runners over with bunts or ground balls to the right side. We are a little surprised that Delmon is in the #5 hole, but who else was Papa Joe going to put there? BJ Upton in the #9 hole basically gives the Rays two lead off hitters. Yankees Matt Damon, cf Derek Jeter, ss Bobby Abreu, rf Alex Rodriguez, 3b Jason Giambi, dh Hideki Matsui, lf Jorge Posada, c Robinson Cano, 2B Josh Phelps, 1b Carl Pavano, p Basically an allstar at every position. I thought about giving you everybody’s 2007 salary to show you the disparity between the Rays and Yanks, but by the time I got done with the Yankees, the Zero key on my keyboard would be broken. We will just say that ARod makes almost as much as the entire Rays 40man roster 12:59 PM Andrew Friedman was interviewed by Carl Ravich of ESPN a little bit ago. I am now convinced more than ever that he is 12. During the interview they had a graphic that says the Rays pitching staff has 14 career saves. Mo Rivera could do that with his left arm. Andrew Friedman stated that team wouldn’t ask to move out of AL East. Nobody thinks the team can compete, but the players and franchise accept the challenge of proving them wrong. He called it “entrepreneurial”. We call it crazy. Also said that they will never be able to keep all the players (past free agency) but hopefully there will be enough young talent that the team CAN’T keep everybody. Need to continue having one of the best development systems in baseball. Most players enter free agency around their age 28 season, which is the middle of their prime. Hopefully the Rays can get some more of their players to sign long term deals at least past their first year or two of free agency. It will stink to see a player grow and develop for 6 years as a Ray, only to jump ship. 1:06 We are going to start with the local Yankee broadcast. We thought about going with the Rays radio with the game on mute, but i always love hearing what other teams announcers have to say about the Rays. Carl Pavano is walking out and he hasnt pitched in a major league game in over 600 days. Surprising i didnt hear any boos as he was walking in from bullpen 1:09 MLB.com has a their gameday revamped and looks pretty nice. TOP OF THE FIRST First pitch is a ball to Carl Crawford and we are under way! CC took the pitch to left and it goes in the books as a single, but lets just call it a double. CC took off on the second pitch and there wasnt even a throw BenZo has worked the count full…Fouled one off…Swing and a miss and BenZo is down on strikes. (1 out) Nice to see Rocco (AKA Bubble Boy) in the opening day lineup for the first time since 2004. Long drive to left center, tracked down by Matsui. Crawford tags to third. Wiggy is up and he pops up to third in foul territory. AND AROD DROPS IT! And the boo birds are out already. Wiggy bounces a 11 pitch back to the mound, and he is retired. (END OF THE FIRST) Bottom of the first Arod has the option to opt out of his contract and he said a few weeks ago that he would let the fans decide if he was staying. Id say he is in a new uniform next season Kid K takes the mound…announcers are commenting on how too many strike outs is bad for Kazmir Leadoff hitter, Damon gets a basehit to right Joe Girardi just said he cant consider Kaz an ace because he throws too many pitches and desnt work deep enough in games. Arrggg Jeter, AROD’s boyfriend, flies out to Delmon (where the hell is the beer man?) Abreu singles to right…Arod walks to the plate to a mixture of boos and cheers Yankees are wearing black arm bands for Corey Lidle. They just showed a fan in the stands with an ARod jersey. it has always bugged me that Yankees fans have the pinstripe jerseys with the name on the back when the team doesnt have names on their jerseys. How is that authentic? or even a replica? Kaz is already up to 17 pitches as the count is full to Arod Runners go and Arod strikes out. No throw from Navi. and the boos are getting louder for Arod. 2 outs, 2nd and third Kaz looks a little bigger this year. His face looks like it has aged about 5 years. He finally looks his age. Giambino just got a 2run single. Well that was deflating. I think that is 19 pitches for Kaz. Looks like we will be seeing the bullpen by the 6th inning. thats not good. its quickly 30 on Matsui sorry…that is now 29!! pitches for Kaz. and #30 walks Matsui. Let me correct that earlier statement. We will be seeing our revamped bullpen by the 5th inning. The announcers just predicted 1000 runs for the Yankees this season. In comparison, the Rays scored 689 in 2006. Our first shot of Joe Maddon. We love day baseball games for a lot of reasons. Mainly it gives an excuse to start drinking in the afternoon. But we also love that Papa Joe puts his eyeglasses away and brings out the much better looking sunglasses. Of course, it is an overcast day here in NYC, so not sure why he needs them. Kaz, finally gets out of the first by getting Georgie Posada to pop up to our new second baseman BJ “dont call me Melvin” Upton. TOP OF THE SECOND final tally for Kid K in the first. 35 pitches (18 stries, 17 balls) Delmon young who never saw a pitch he didnt like, hacks at the first and flies out to Johnny Damon Holy little people! Akinori Iwamura is a tiny guy. I’m talking Ecksteinsmall. I dont care how small the Japanese ba llparks are, how did he ever hit 40 home runs. MuuRah is on first after a throwing error by Jeter. rod looks at Jeter as if to say “you suck, i could have had that” Navi is up, a former top prospect for the Yankees. flies out to center. and here is the Man…Elijah Dukes and here we go with the usual..”world of talent…attitude problems” it amazes me that pitchers throw Delmon Young first pitch strikes, and Dukes they pitch around. he works the count full and gets a walk. Dukes has great plate discipline and here is BJ Upton…all 120 pounds of him…BASEHIT! up the middle under Jeters mitt. MuuRah comes around to score and Dukes goes to third and Upton goes to second on throw. Crawford flies out to center to end the frame,cheap dallas mavericks jerseys 365djerseys.com S5. but it feels good to get the first run on the board. BOTTOM OF THE SECOND (Yankees 21) Thank you to those that pointed out that the JUMP wasnt working. I think we got it fixed. Robbie Cano is up. must be rough to have a guy who almost won a batting title, batting 8th in the order. Kaz gets him on strikes. Former Rays first baseman Josh Phelps is up. Wasnt given much of a chance of making team but hit over .400 in spring to earn opening day nod over Mientiviecz or whatver that guys name is. Kaz walks Phelps. another long count Jesus just popeed out to Wiggy in front of the plate Jeter is hit by pitch. Kaz is struggling with his control. cant tell if its nerves of opening day in Yankee stadium or the weather. maybe a bit of both. Abreu grounds out on a slow roller to third and MuuRahs first chance is a good play but the throw was a little off. Kaz is out of the inning without any damage. Only 14 pitches that inning, but he is up to 49 already TOP OF THE THIRD Bobby Murcer is in the booth. Murcer, a former yankee slugger and current yankees announcer suffered from a brain tumor this offseason, but all signs are that he is going to be ok. one of the great voices in baseball. BenZo grounds out to Jeter and amazingly he didnt boot it. Rocco pops up to Josh Phelps and Wiggy grounds his seond offering to Arod. That was quick. BOTTOM OF THE THIRD Arod grounds out to BenZo and he is now one more plate appearance away from opting out of his contract at teh end of the year. Although the boos were lessened that time. Crowd is starting to get bored booing him The Giambino went down on strikes Matsui grounds out to first. Kid K’s first 1,2,3 inning. Only 14 pitches that frame. but he up to 63 for the game. Not good. looks like he will be 5 innings and out today. Hopefully the Rays will score 20 more runs before we have to unleash the fury of our bullpen. TOP OF THE FOURTH (YANKS 21) The weather still hasn’t cleared up. Overcast and chilly. Delmon Young is up and I wouldnt have believed it if i didnt see it, but he took a Ball! Delmon had one walk in 128 plate appearances in 2006. And this time he goes down on strikes. The Japanese David Eckstein is up…also known as Aki Iwamura. MuuRah draws a walk and Navi promtly grounds into an inning ending double play. For a guy who hasnt pitched in 14 years, the rays sure are helping him look good today. BOTTOM OF THE FOURTH (YANKS 21) Where is that beer man? Georgie Posada is up, and he just hit his 199th career home run to right field. 31 Yanks. It was a change up that just didnt get down. I like to call those 400foot strikes. Robbie Cano is up and he pops out to left. Beer man…make it two. Josh Phelps is up again. Not sure about Phelps. He has shown promise before. But he usually disappoints. If i had to guess, Phelps will be down on the farm by the allstar break and the more slick fielding Doug Mientjfoijfoijfijij will be manning the bag on the right side of the infield. Phelps walks Jesus walks JOSH HAMILTON is NOT in the lineup today for the Reds. We will keep an out to see if he pinch hits at any point. Kaz now has 4 walks and a hit batter and Jim Hickey just made his first visit to the mound as a Rays pitching coach. Boy he has his work cut out for him this season Jeter goes down looking. thats Kid K’s 4th strikeout. Abreu grounds out to end the inning TOP OF THE FIFTH (Yanks 31) Elijah DUKES HOME RUN!!!! his first major league hit is a home run at Yankee Stadium. Dukes was the one player we were pumped to see play today and he is not dissapointing. He gave a big fist pump rounding first. You gotta love the emotion. Upton follows with a basehit Upton goes…and not even close. Thats what the Rays need from Bossman Junior. get on base. and wreck havoc with the speed. He has the talent to be Jose Reyes. We’ll see. CC is up with no outs. groundball through the right side. Upton comes home, Crawford gets cought in a pickle between first and second, but Phelps throws it into center. all tied up 33. Benny Boo Boo, he of the hot Christian rock singing wife, has a chance to give the Rays the lead for the first time. He is 02. BenZo tries to move CC over, but instead of just making sure the bunt was down, he tried to drag bump and the ball hits him after he was out of the box. Joe Maddoncomes out to argue but it looks like a good call. Zobrist is out,cheap minnesota timberwolves jerseys 365djerseys.com G4. Wait…Maddon argued a call? He must be a fembot. CC is almost picked off second. he is thinking third. Rocco drives a ball into left field and Crawford comes around to score. Rays are now up 43 and th boo birds come out for Pavano. Joe Torre is going to mound. That will be it. As he walks off the field, there is nice mix of boos and cheers. Brian Bruney comes on to pitch, proving that the Yankees do have somebody that makes less than $14 million per season. Rocco steals second. The rays third swipe of the day. Surprising as Rocco is the DH today bc he has a sore hamstring. Why is stealing bases if he is not healthy enough to play the field? Delmon young, obviously mad about not hitting first pitch last time, deposits the first pitch into left field for an RBI single. 53 Rays. with 2 outs, lets see if Delmon takes off for 2nd. and he does and he is thrown out by a mile. end of the inning. BOTTOM OF THE FIFTH (Rays 53) before we get too excited about taking the lead, Kaz has 84 pitches in 4 innings. He will go 5, but can he go 6? And just like that, Kid K puts the Yanks down 123 on only 10 pitches. The Rays needed that from their ace TOP OF THE SIXTH (Rays 53) Sean Penn comes on for the Yankees? Sorry…Sean HENN And Aki gets his first major league hit top left field. Aki predicted he wanted 40 stolen bases this year. lets see if Maddon trusts him Navi grounds into his second double play of the afternoon. and Dukes follows up his first major league home run by flying out to Abreu BOTTOM OF THE SIXTH (Rays 53) Shawn Camp is warming up in the pen, uh oh, Johnny Damon has come down with a case of Rocco Baldelliitus…he is out of the game with sore hamstrings…both of them? Melky cabrera take his place. Georgie Posada has Kazmir’s number today. basehit to left we are not th e first to say it, but for those of you that are not old enough, Robbie Cano’s swing looks an awful lot like Rod Carew. except for the angle he holds the bat. the actual swing is identical. and he does just what Carew loved to do. rifle a single to right field. that will be it for Kazmir. Here comes Shawn Camp. Well, the lead was nice while it lasted. Kid K’s final line 5 ip, 6 hits, 4 walks, 1 hit batter, 5 strike outs and 3 runs. but the most telling number was 107. the number of pitches it took him to go 5+ innings. its like deja vu all over again. with the righty on the mound…,cheap Skelton Jersey;Mientckdjfldkjf pinch hits for Josh Phelps and sacrifice bunts the runners over. 1 out, 2nd and 3rd. Not content with only two runners on base. Camp hits Melky Jim Hickey is back out to the mound. no word if anybody is warming. Check that, Brian Stokes is warming up. Sun is starting to come out…31 to Jeter and there are no empty bags basehit right up the middle and we are tied. Thats why Jeter is so great and so important. Big Papi is clutch with the late home runs, but I put mymoney on DJ every time. He is as clutch as it gets. Thats it for Camp. Here comes starterturnedrelieverbecausethe Rayshave nobodyelsethey candependon Brian Stokes. Still no sign of Hamilton in the Red game. Tough spot for Stokes in only his second major league relief appearance Stokes gets Abreu to fly out to Dukes and Melky stumbled faking a tag up and the Rays double him up. end of the inning. the Rays will have Upton/Crawford/Zobrist in the top of the 7th TOP OF THE SEVENTH (Tied 55) Luis Vizcaino is on the mound for the Yanks Upton fakes a bunt to bring ARod in a little more then flys out to center CC takes the first pitch to left field and flies out BenZo flies out to center and thats the end of the inning. BOTTOM OF THE SEVENTH (tied 55) Stokes is still out there with Arod leading off. he is 03 make that 14, as ARod drives one past Zobrist. Zobrist is lucky to still be alive after that one. to lefties coming up (Giambi and Matsui) and no lefties in the pen ARod just stole 2nd. Close throw by Navi. Apparently that one was on Stokes for not keeping him close. And Giambi drives a ball through the right side and a good throw by Delmon could have had ARod but it was offline and cut off by Wiggy. 65 Yankees. Matsui is up (02). He flies out to CC in left. 1out Georgie Posada is one Yankee sad to see Kazmir out of the game. He moves to the other side of the plate against Stokes. He is 23 with a home run he flies out to right, and Delmon almost doubled up Giambi off first. what a throw. Should I note now that the Rays have lost 31 of 34 on the road? I didnt think so. Cano pops up to Upton. end of inning. TOP OF THE EIGHTH (Yanks 65) Better score here or else it is Mo Rivera in the 9th and lights out. Kyle Farnsworth is on the mound and he is looking an awful lot like Britney Spears Rocco is up. He is 13 with a ribbie. Farnsworth gets him swinging. 1 out Wiggy is 03 and he gets his first hit of the season. a line drive up the middle Delmon Young is up. 13. and of course he swings at the first pitch. We read somehwere that he wung at the first pitch 67% of the time in 2006. Thats amazing. Aki is up. 12 with a run scored. And he grounds out to second to end the inning. Do we have to play the 9th inning? BOTTOM OF THE EIGHTH (Yanks 65) Doug Mientjsd;lfkjija gets an infield single off of new Rays pitcher Ruddy Lugo. could have been error on Upton,Green Bay Packers Jerseys. he tried to bare hand it and probably didnt have to. Melky is up and he bunts Dougie Baseball over to second. Papa Joe is out of the dugout and thats it for Lugo. We were just taken aback a bit. our stat page said we have had over 1000 unique visitors since the beginning of the game. that seemed an awful lot for a love blog. then we realized we were j. Juan Salas comes on to face Jeter who is 13 with the tying and goahead RBI. Salas apparently didnt shy away from the allyoucaneat buffet this offseason Jeter grounds out to Iwamura Abreu is up. He is 14. Abreu singles to left. doug mientsdfvsrev scores from 2nd. a good throw from CC and he is out. And ARod just destroyed a pitch to center field. 2run home run. 95 yankees. might as well warm up Frank Sinatra. Yankees fans crack me up,Minnesota Vikings Jerseys. They have booed ARod all day and now they give him a standing ovation. What have you done for me lately? The Giambino flied out to Dukes. end of inning. Enter Sandman? with a 4runlead? Tomorrow is an offday. TOP OF THE NINTH (Yankees 95) And here comes the Sandman. The single most valuable player in baseball in the last 15 years. Navi goes down swinging. And Big Mo made him look bad. 02 to Dukes. The crowd is on their feet. and he goes down swinging. Upton is 23 with a run and an RBI. And he goes down looking. Never had a chance. Thats the game. 95 Yankees. Feel free to check back here every little while over the next hour. We are switching over to the Reds game to see if Josh Hamilton gets an AB today. Thanks for stopping by. It’s been fun and a learning experience. BOTTOM OF THE 8th in Cincinnati. Reds up 51 and Josh Hamilton is making his major league debut. Huge Standing ovation, and Lou Piniella is icing Josh by just now going out to change the pitcher. #33 steps in we are rooting hard for Josh line drive to left, and Murton makes a sliding catch. Welcome to the big leagues Josh. big hug from Griffey. And a huge smile on his face

. JP Howell was roughed up for 9 runs (7 earned) in only 4 innings. Calvin Medlock pitched 3 shutout innings, with no hits, but did walk 2 and struck out none. Evan Longoria hit his third home run since being promoted to AAA to account for the Bulls only run. He also committed his second error. (11 innings). Chris Nowak walked with the bases loaded in the 11 inning to give the Biscuits the victory. The win pulls Montgomery within 1 game of the South division leader Jacksonville (anybody else find it strange that the Southern League has North and South divisions? No? Just us. Ok.). Nowak finished 34 and hit his 5th home run. . Mike Wlodarczyk gave up 5 runs in 6 innings, but got enough run support to improve to 85 on the year. He struck out 2 and walked 1 while giving up 7 hits,cheap washington wizards jerseys 365djerseys.com L. Patrick Cottrell was 35 with 2 doubles and 2 RBI. . Woods Fines pitched 5 shutout innings, allowing only 2 hits. He struck out 2. Ryan Royster was 03. . Maiko Loyola and Stephen Vogt each collected 2 hits, the only hits for the ‘Gades on the evening. Vogt hit his 4th home run,cheap bills jerseys 365djerseys.com P6. (game 1). Tyree Hayes gave up 5 runs (3 earned) in 5 innings to drop to 36. He struck out 4. Dustin Biell, the 5th round selection in this year’s draft, was 22 with an RBI. (game 2). Matt Moore, the Rays 8th round pick, struck out 6 and allowed only 2 hits and a run in 2.2 innings, but walked 4. Dustin Biell, went 22 and was 44 in the doubleheader. NOTES FROM DOWN ON THE FARM… Entering Thursday, Brignac led Southern League shortstops in total chances, assists and errors. “,Islanders Jerseys;He’s really established himself as a quality shortstop,” manager Billy Gardner said,Cheap nba jerseys. “;He’,wholesale tom brady jersey;s really, to me, improved a great deal at shortstop.”

The St. Pete Times has an update on the Rays’ pursuit of a new stadium. The group that is researching potential sites that could be a new home for the Rays is expected to have something to report on potential sites in June. In other words, in three months we won’t know much more than we do now about a new stadium for the Rays. The snail’s pace of the group, “A Baseball Community” is not what caught our attention,buccaneers jerseys. Rather it was the revelation that another possibility is being explored by the Rays: Staying at The Trop. The group said it also hopes to address the possibility of renovating the Rays’ current home, Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg. The Rays hired stadium architect HOK Sport of Kansas City, Mo.,? to evaluate renovating Tropicana Field. A report could be available next month,Tigers Jerseys, Rays senior vice president Michael Kalt said Tuesday. As many of you may know, HOK is the leading architectural firm in the country when it comes to building stadiums (my dad, a retired architect, worked for HOK for several years),china nhl jerseys,wholesale anquan boldin jersey 365djerseys.com D1. We have long heard that the site The Trop sits on is a potential home for a new stadium, but this is the first we heard that the Rays are considering a future in The Trop. While no other details were provided, we have to believe that the only way the Rays would consider remaining in The Trop is if the stadium could be renovated as an openair stadium or with a retractable roof. We just can’t see a team named after sunlight plaing in a domed stadium any longer than they have to,Carolina Panthers Jerseys 365djerseys.com V2. Group may have something to report by June []

Late last night,mercilus jersey, the Tampa Bay Rays traded James Shields and Wade Davis to the Royals for Wil Myers and three other prospects. In addition to Myers, who was the Minor League Player of the Year, the Rays also received two other players ranked among ESPN,Cheap Astros Jerseys.com’s?top 100 prospects, including lefty Mike Montgomery (#52) and righthanded pitcher Jake Odorizzi (#71). And before we get to what others are saying, here are a few thoughts… Overall, the package is stronger than the bounty the Rays received in the Matt Garza deal. But it also took both James Shields and Wade Davis to make it happen,bears jerseys 365djerseys.com P7. And while Shields was expensive and will be a free agent after two more years, Davis can be an averagetoabove average starting pitcher and has five more years on his deal. So the Royals got seven years worth of big league starting pitchers. And that’s a lot. Of course, Davis was just a middle reliever with the Rays. And those are replaceable. On the other hand, the Rays got the big bat they desperately needed with little or no risk involved. While he is a prospect, and there are no guarantees, top prospects that are position players rarely fail completely,cheap 49ers jerseys 365djerseys.com D4. Usually, the worstcase scenario for a top prospect position player is that they never develop into an allstar. But at the very least, they almost always develop into an everyday player. Myers is probably ready for the big leagues right now, but don’t be surprised if he spends the first few weeks in the minors. There is still the issue of service time that the Rays can’t ignore with a talent like Myers. And saving a few weeks up front means big money saved down the road. As for the Rays as a team, many are already wondering what the Rays will do with the $13 million they just saved on the 2013 payroll. And unfortunately, the answer is probably, “not much.” They will add a relief pitcher or two. And they need to add a DH or two. But I can’t see the Rays spending a lot of money on any of the players,cheap redskins jerseys. Maybe they will spend $45 million on a primary DH. But the others will be cheap. Other odds and ends…

Joe is back with his postgame thoughts… Thank God Desmond Jennings is back. Well, at least for one game,Wells Jersey 365djerseys.com E7. With the Rays in dire need of a guy to put the team on his shoulders until (if?) Dirtbag returns, thanks goodness it was Jennings, who just about singlehandedly carried the Rays to a 42 win over the Tigers,49ers Willis Jersey 365djerseys.com K4. Yes, two solo blasts to mediumrange left field was nice,patriots jerseys, and in fact, the difference in the game,Wholesale White Sox Jerseys. But how about him going Superman, diving headfirst like Joe at a free beer fest into the those wooden chairs along the left field line. Joe didn’t know whether to cringe in agony or scream for joy! It helped that David Price pitched like a stud tonight, holding the dangerous Tigers to five hits while fanning seven. Nice job there,cheap los angeles clippers jerseys, man. If the Rays are to get back into the division race without Dirtbag, it will need more spectacular games like Jennings turned in tonight.

Yesterday,Cheap Jays Jerseys, AstroTurf and the Rays announced that Tropicana Field would be outfitted with AstroTurf for the 2011 season. Of course, when AstroTurf became the official turf of Major League Baseball. And it was confirmed by Marc Topkin (link,Wholesale White Sox Jerseys?) earlier this offseason,Texans Jerseys On Sale 365djerseys.com B7. The picture at right is of Tropicana Field yesterday morning and you can see that the renovations are already underway. The new turf shouldn’t get that shiny, “,Cheap New England Patriots Jerseys 365djerseys.com C0,Lightning Jerseys;dead” look that FieldTurf would have. However, if this turf is similar to the AstroTurf installed at the Rogers Centre in Toronto, it will be very bouncy. THE JUNKYARD DOGS WEBTOPIA…

. The entire evening you could sense the impending doom. It didn’t come in the first 6 innings as Edwin Jackson pitched his way around trouble with his third straight decent outing,Cheap Dallas Cowboys Jerseys. We were sure it would come in the 7th inning when Jay Witasick walked two batters but Casey Fossum was able to kill the rally by getting Travis Hafner to ground out to end the inning,Boston Red Sox Jerseys. We thought it might come in the 8th inning, when Gary Glover gave up a single after striking out the first two batters. But Glover got out of the inning by getting Josh Barfield to pop up to Ty Wigginton. But that was when the axe fell. We thought about who was left in the bullpen. Joe Maddon had already used three relievers. That meant that only three relievers were left in the ‘pen. With the Rays on the road, Al Reyes needed to be saved in case the Rays were to take the lead and a save opportunity arose. Maddon could have gone to Jason Hammel, but he faced 7 batters the night before and is not yet used to pitching on consecutive days. In addition, Maddon needed to keep Hammel in the back pocket in case the game went extra innings. This is why we hate the definition of a “quality start”. Six innings from your starting pitcher is NOT a quality start. A quality start should be a minimum of 7+1+1,cheap los angeles clippers jerseys 365djerseys.com S8, meaning the team gets 7 innings from the starter and then he hands the ball to the set up man for 1 and then to the closer for 1. With Jackson only going 6 innings, it forces the manager to use the entire bullpen to get through the game. In this case, if Maddon was going to pull Glover after one inning,Mariners Jerseys, that left one relief pitcher to come out for the ninth inning. Shawn Bleepin’ Camp. As soon as we saw Camp come into the game,Cheap Aldon Smith Jersey 365djerseys.com E0, our heads dropped and we heard millions hundreds of Rays fans everywhere scream out in pain. The game was over, the players just didn’t know it yet. Shawn Bleepin’ Camp. He makes us want to hurt baby stuffed animals. DEVIL RAYS WEBTOPIA… But, Maddon said, Leyland hadn’t learned the elected players’ names by the time the two spoke Friday afternoon. So the phone call didn’t necessarily mean the Rays had no players elected.

The GBT – The Good, The Bad and The Telling sandwich, where The Bad is nice and lean and the The Telling is ripe. Orioles 1, RAYS 0 () THE GOOD: James Shields,Cheap New Orleans Saints Jerseys. How good was James Shields? He had a career high (and club record) 15 strikeouts,Watt Jersey, walked none, and gave up just 2 hits. And according to ESPN, Shields’ start produced a game score of 94 (measures a pitchers performance). That is the highest ever for a losing pitcher in a 9inning game in the Live Ball Era. EVER! And Shields was amped up last night. His fastball which is typically not a very good pitch, was dominant. He regularly hit 9596, and even hit 95 on the gun in the 9th inning. And by the end of the night he had a whopping 10 swingandmisses on his fastball alone. That is a huge number. THE BAD: Just Imagine,Peyton Manning carries Broncos past Chiefs, Denver has No. 1 seed for playoffs - The Denver Post. Can you imagine what it would have felt like if this was the game that eliminated the Rays from the playoffs? Holy Cow! And yet, in some ways,Colts Nike Jerseys, it would have been perfect. A dominant pitching performance combined with an offense that did absolutely nothing,Baltimore Ravens Jerseys 365djerseys.com J2. THE TELLING: Fernando Rodney in voting by the local chapter of the Baseball Writers’ Association. Matt Moore was named the top rookie. THE JUNKYARD DOGS WEBTOPIA…

that the Rays have signed 1B/OF Leslie Anderson to a 4year, $3.75 million deal. Anderson, 27,cheap womens 49ers jerseys 365djerseys.com K7, a Cuban defector, tried out for 9 teams in February. Two of the scouts left the tryout “unimpressed” which likely kept the Rays in the bidding,buccaneers jerseys 365djerseys.com O9. From : Leslie Anderson has been the best hitter for Camagüey. The versatile Anderson was used as a center fielder and then was moved to first base once Loidel Chapellí retired. Anderson has played RF for the national team. Anderson has gap power. He is not your typical slugger like Ryan Howard or Albert Pujols. Anderson could hit between 1520 home runs at the Major League level if given the chance. He is a gold glove type first baseman, but I believe his value is in CF a position that requires less power than first base and in his overall versatility,cheap Atlanta Falcons Jerseys. And here is of his workout in February: “Leslie showed a below average arm while throwing from centerfield and first base. He ran badly from home to first base. During batting practice he hit several line drives, but showed no power,julio jones jersey. Defensively, he’ll need to play either first base or left field and hit with a very high average and lots of home runs, and right now I don’t project that he could.” Hmmm? So the Rays first sign Hank Blalock and then give a Cuban first baseman $4 million? Anybody still think the Rays will resign Carlos Pena? And yes, our first reaction to news that the Rays had signed “,cheap superbowl ravens jerseys;Leslie Anderson” was: He’s from Cuba?

This post, which will appear before every game,Cheap Carolina Panthers Jerseys, will include starting lineups (when we learn them) and during the game will include a Game Graph that will constantly update the percent chance the Rays have of winning this particular game,Ben Tate Jersey 365djerseys.com X9. Game Graph… Source: Playing A Little Pepper… Don’t sugarcoat it,Buffalo Bills Jerseys. Give it to us straight. How bad is it Doc? Oh, it’s pretty bad. Consider that the pitching staff has a 3.19 ERA in the last 10 games, and yet the Rays are just 37 during that stretch. And that’s because the batters are averaging just 5 hits and 2 walks per game,Cheap Baltimore Ravens Jerseys 365djerseys.com O9. They are hitting ,Aldon Smith Jersey.167 and a .223 OBP…NOT LETHAL, JUST VOMITINDUCING Lineup… Song to get you pumped up…

The GBT – The Good, The Bad and The Telling sandwich, where The Bad is nice and lean and the The Telling is ripe. Royals 1, RAYS 0 (10) () THE GOOD: David Price. Brutal. For the second time this month, David Price was on the losing end of a 10 ballgame. And this time he was even better,Cheap Watt Jersey 365djerseys.com W3, striking out 8 and walking none in 8 innings. THE BAD:?Knocking The Ball Down. It was an ugly play on many levels. With 2 outs in the bottom of the 10th, the inning should have ended on a groundball to Ben Zobrist. But his throw was wide,Cheap Diamondbacks Jerseys. And Carlos Pena, was unable to knock down the throw as he may have been distracted by the runner who was clearly inside the baseline. The result was a runner on second base instead of first, who would then score on a weak single…There Are Still Gonna Be Days Like This. Only 2 hits in 10 innings, and the second didn’t come until 2 outs in the 9th. In fact, only twice did the Rays have a runner on base with less than 2 outs. And one of those, Matt Joyce, was picked off first base. And Luke Hochevar? C’mon! It is just the 2nd time this season he has pitched 8 innings. The other? When he shutout the Rays back in June…Anybody Want To Jump Back On The ‘Fire Derek Shelton’ Train? This was the 17th 10 loss in Rays history and 7 have occurred since the start of the 2010 season. Also, this was the 5th 10 loss in extra innings, and 3 have happened in the last 13 months. To be fair, it takes good pitching to lose 10, something the Rays did not have early in their existence. But still, it also takes an offense capable of putrid things. And I am not saying the offense is bad. But it is capable of taking a dump the Trop’s turf a little more often than most teams. THE TELLING: Evan Longoria started at third base for the first time since April…Luke Scott was back in the lineup at DH and doubled…The Rays are 6855, and remain 4 games behind the Yankees and 1 game in front of the Orioles,Arizona Cardinals Jerseys. THE JUNKYARD DOGS WEBTOPIA… DOWN ON THE FARM… . Lance Pendleton struck out 6 and walked 3 in 6 innings. He allowed 1 run on 5 hits…3B Cole Figueroa had 3 hits including a double…RF Rich Thompson was 13 with a walk and is hitting ,cheap colts jerseys.310…LF Leslie Anderson hit his 13th home run…DH Henry Wrigley was 04 and is just 7 for his last 40 (.175)…SS Reid Brignac had a single and a double and is now hitting .237…2B Tim Beckham had a double in 4 at bats. . Kyle Lobstein struck out 7 in 6 shutout innings. He walked 2 and gave up just 2 hits…RF Mikie Mahtook was 14 with an RBI…Derek Dietrich went 06 with 3 Ks in the doubleheader. . Matt Buschmann tossed a 7inning complete game, striking out 3 and walking 4…C Mayo Acosta drove in 2 including a solo home run, his 4th…RF Mikie Mahtook went 03 with a strikeout. He’s hitting .252. CHARLOTTE Palm Beach. postponed . RF Drew Vettleson was 13 with a walk and is now hitting .288…1B Jeff Malm was 03 with a walk and 2 strikeouts. . Jesse Hahn tossed 5 shutout innings, giving up just 1 hit and a walk. He struck out 6…2B Thomas Coyle hit his 3rd home run of the season. ,flacco jersey 365djerseys.com Z2. DH Omar Narvaez was 33 with a walk. He’s hitting .331.

Fox Sports recently spent the day with JP Howell, and the video below was the result. While most of the video involves Howell playing video games, there is an interesting moment when pitching coach Jim Hickey calls and Howell ignores it (while playing a video game of course). After ignoring the phone call, Howell says Hickey “,cheap jaguars nike jerseys 365djerseys.com I6,Cowboys Jerseys;knows how to calm me down somehow.”,cheap patriots jerseys; But then follows that up with an odd comment, saying the most important thing about a pitching coach “,cheap atlanta hawks jerseys 365djerseys.com R0;pretty much just staying out of the way.”; The entire sequence is odd and I am not sure Howell even knows what he is saying…,Blackhawks Jerseys;

It’s clear that Gary Sheffield blames the Rays for his career ending earlier than he would have liked. And that bitterness shines through in an interview with Sports On Earth, in which Sheffield talks about his postplaying career as an agent…,new york knicks jerseys; Other Tampa natives, like Tino Martinez and Fred McGriff, had played their twilight years near home, and Sheffield wanted to do the same. So before the 2010 season he had dinner with manager Joe Maddon…,Cheap Baltimore Ravens Jerseys 365djerseys.com N3;He never heard back…,St.Louis Rams Jerseys;.His dinner with Maddon was not pleasant,golden state warriors jerseys 365djerseys.com U6. “I was getting disrespected by an organization that had feared me when I stepped up to the plate against their team. They started giving me names of reasons why they couldn’t bring me to the team.” (Sheffield declined to say which comparison to a veteran Ray angered him, but a peek at Tampa’s 2010 roster suggests that it may have been Pat Burrell.) When Sheffield saw that the Rays didn’t want him, he retired. But the veterans they brought in after turning him down amused him. “They turned around, right after they told me what they told me, and brought in Manny Ramirez, who quit on two teams, and Johnny Damon — to DH — and he doesn’t have the power that I have.” If the Rays did compare Sheffield with Burrell, it was likely just as much about their personalities as their bats. It was clear during his time with the Rays that Burrell just didn’t fit in. And while Johnny Damon may not have had the bat of a Sheffield, his clubhouse presence was infinitely better. Sheffield does go on to say that BJ Upton is the only Rays player he follows, but notes that he gets frustrated by Bossman (who doesn’t?), saying “He has the best tools in the game. I keep telling him, ‘You could be great.’”,new jersey nets jerseys; THE JUNKYARD DOGS WEBTOPIA…