There has been a noticeable lack of minor league coverage on this site considering . This obviously annoyed Mitch Talbot and Evan Longoria. On Saturday night,http://www.cheap-patriots-nike-jerseys.ewebsite.com/, the two of them got together and realized that being up 2 games to none in a bestoffive series was not good enough and decided to take it up a level. So what did they do to get our attention? Talbot, the Rays minor league pitcher of the month for August, pitched a complete game 5hit shutout. Not enough to impress us? Also consider he struck out 14 (!) and walked none (!!). Not bad for a playoff game. Then in the bottom of the ninth, Longoria came through with his half, hitting a 2out, 2run walkoff home run to complete the . Still, it was Talbot’s performance that has us completely in awe. Remember, this is the “other” guy in the trade that sent Aubrey Huff to Houston,Carolina Panthers Nike Jerseys 365djerseys.com X2. All of the sudden this trade is looking decidedly onesided. Huff is a free agent to be and Houston is still on the outside of the playoff chase. Ben Zobrist has already been promoted to majors and is looking like he can be a very dependable major league player for years to come. Talbot came to the Rays with mixed reviews,http://cheap-throwback-nhl-jerseys.weebly.com/. He was decent with Corpus Christi the first half of the season, but there was no indication that he would be the pitcher that he has been in the second half for Montgomery. Including his playoff start,Cheap Ben Tate Jersey, Tobot is now 53 with a 1.67 ERA in 11 starts since the trade. Baseball is a long season and the advancement to the majors is a long process so we find it hard to imagine that there will ever be very many games that could cause a player to jump significantly in our . However, Mitch Talbot’s performance on Saturday is one of those rare games. To step up like that in a playoff game and so thoroughly dominate a good team is an amazing accomplishment. Montgomery will now face Huntsville in the bestof5 championship series starting Wednesday. The Devil Rays’,ed reed jersey 365djerseys.com T0; other minor league playoff team is the Visalia Oaks. After losing their opening game in convincing fashion, the Oaks c to win the bestof3 series against Stockton in the first round of the California League playoffs. The Oaks are now facing the San Jose Giants in the championship round. They lost the opener on Friday, but rebounded on Saturday to even the series with a win. The series now moves to Visalia tonight for game 3 and tomorrow for game 4.

The Rays and JP Howell have agreed to a 1year, $1.35 million contract,49ers Gore Jersey, avoiding arbitration (). , so the Rays may have saved a couple of dollars by avoiding the arbitration process. The Rays still have four players that are eligible for arbitration, including David Price, BJ Upton, Jeff Niemann, and recently acquired reliever Burke Badenhop. If those players do not agree to a contract extension by tomorrow,bengals jerseys 365djerseys.com X7,Cheap Wild Jerseys,boston celtics jerseys 365djerseys.com T6, the Rays will have their 2012 salaries determined by an arbitrator. If tomorrow’s deadline passes, there is still the possibility that the players could avoid arbitration by signing a multiyear deal. However, the Rays will not grant anymore 1year deals to the arbeligible players,http://cheap-raiders-jerseys.webs.com/, per team policy.

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…

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: James Shields. Don’t get us wrong. We love the complete games and shutouts. But we can’t expect those very often. If Shields is indeed better this year, we need to see a lot of games like this: 7 ip, 2 runs, 7 Ks, 1 bb and one very solo home run that didn’t come until the Rays were up 50. Vintage Shields…Pickoffs. Shields helped himself out a little with two pickoffs,http://womens-49ers-jerseys.webs.com/. Even more important than both pickoffs ending innings,cheap Arizona Cardinals Jerseys 365djerseys.com S0, they helped keep Shields’ pitch count in check, by saving him 68 pitches. He probably doesn’t make it through the 7th without those pickoffs…Casey Kotchman. It is easy to dismiss what he has done so far because he has never been this good and it has been a while since he has even been close. But if you just say he has been lucky so far,Cheap Dallas Cowboys Jerseys, you are assuming that all the other variables are unchanged and he is the same batter he has always been. But what if the work he had done on his eyes does make a big difference,Toronto Maple Leafs Jerseys? Is he still the same batter then? And if he is not the same batter, then what he did in the past means less than it would otherwise. Is he this good? No,superbowl Colin Kaepernick Jersey 365djerseys.com K8. But he may be productive after all…The Prof. That’s right! If I am going to take the blame for jinxing the bullpen in the first game of this series, then I get to take credit for the reversejinx on Reid Brignac who had his first extrabase in 55 games. It was a 2run double in the Rays 4run 2nd inning. Briggy was so surprised, he stood at the plate for a second before running. It would have been ironic if he had been thrown out at second base. THE BAD: Brushbacks. Back in the day, the brushback pitch was actually a brushback pitch. If you thought a guy was crowding the plate or was too comfortable, you threw one up and in. Close, but you didn’t hit the guy. Hitting a batter was what you did if he needed to be taught a lesson. In his autobiography, Carl Yastrzemski said he ended up on his butt about once a game. And yet Yaz was never hit more than 4 times in a single season. In just this 3game series, Evan Longoria was hit twice. And that is just wrong. THE TELLING: The Rays are now alone in first base, 1 game ahead of the Yankees and 5 games ahead of the Red Sox. They have won 21 of their last 28 games…The Rays are now 114 when playing outside this season, and 1111 in Domes…James Shields now has 5 pickoffs on the year, a new careerhigh. The team record for pickoffs is 7 by Joe Kennedy in 2002. THE JUNKYARD DOGS WEBTOPIA… DOWN ON THE FARM…

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?

,lions jerseys 365djerseys.com C1. Mitch Talbot struggled but picked up the win after giving up 4 runs in 5 innings on 5 hits and 4 walks…Reid Brignac was 34 and now has his average over .300 (.302). He hit his 9th double and stole his first base…,http://cheap-nordiques-jerseys.weebly.com/;Matt Joyce was 24 with a 2run home run, his third,Frustrated Justin Tuck cant explain his or Giants woes this season NJ.com, and 4 RBI…Justin Ruggiano was 04 with a walk. . Aneury Rodriguez dropped to 05 after giving up 5 runs (4 earned) on 4 hits and 4 walks in 5 innings…Eddie Morlan pitched a perfect inning of relief…Desmond Jennings was 03,http://nhl-all-star-jerseys.weebly.com/. . Alex Cobb picked up his first win, allowing only 1 run in 6 innings,Dolphins Jerseys for sale. He struck out 3 and walked 1…Greg Sexton drove in 3. . Michael Jarman picked up his second win with 7 innings of 3run ball…Tim Beckham was 05…Mike McCormick hit his second home run and drove in 2. Notes from Down on the Farm…

Click on above images to be taken to full standings, box scores or schedule… THE GOOD: Matt Garza. Only fitting that we start with the ALCS MVP. 7 innings, 2 hits, 1 run and 1 huge pair of cajones. And Joe Maddon had the guts to stick with Garza in the 7th inning, despite 99 pitches heading into the inning. And even more guts to stick with Garza after 2 batters reached base with only 1 out. Garza would get Mark Kotsay to fly out to right and then struck out Jason Varitek…Evan Longoria. The Rays didn’t have a single base runner in the first 3 innings and it was beginning to look as if Jon Lester was back to his unbeatable ways. But with 2 outs and Carlos Pena on first, Evan Longoria stroked a double down the right field line. Pena is slow, but he was just fast enough to beat the relay throw and get the Rays on the board…The Strike ‘em outThrow ‘em out. With 1 out in the 6th and Dustin Pedroia on first and David Ortiz at the plate,cheap jaguars jerseys, Matt Garza gets Big Papi swinging. As our house erupted in cheers, I was screaming that Pedroia was running. Dioner Navarro made an absolutely perfect throw to beat Pedroia by 5 feet…Willy Aybar. His home run was the biggest hit of the game. You could almost feel the pressure lift a little off of the players once that ball left the bat giving the Rays a 2run lead…David Price. Only fitting that we end with King David. The favored son appeared late in the battle and slayed Goliath to lead the Rays past the Philistines Red Sox. Seriously? A guy that started the year in singleA, earns his first career savea 4out savein game 7 of the ALCS against the Boston Red Sox. Think King David might see some similar situations in the World Series? THE BAD: Getting lucky in the 4th inning. When Evan Longoria flipped the double down the right field line, it nearly bounced over the short wall in foul territory near the foul pole, hitting the wall about 6 inches from the top. If that ball goes over, Carlos Pena would have been forced to stop at third base on the groundrule double…,http://nhl-all-star-jerseys.weebly.com/;Getting lucky in the 8th inning. With runners on first and second and David Ortiz coming up, Joe Maddon went to JP Howell. Howell got Ortiz to ground slowly to Aki Iwamura. Rather than take the sure out at first, Aki went to second. Coco Crisp would have been safe if he slid for the bag. Instead, he chose to slide at Bartlett to break up the doubleplay and never touched the bag and was forced out…Joe Maddon went with Gabe Gross as a lateinning defensive replacement in right field. Gross is a good right fielder. Fernando Perez is better. THE TELLING: When David Price came back out for the 9th inning, our first reaction was to **** our pants. But strangely,Dolphins Jerseys for sale, once we changed our diaper, we weren’t worried,milwaukee bucks jerseys 365djerseys.com N1,http://cheap-nordiques-jerseys.weebly.com/. The kid is that good…David Ortiz came to the plate with runners on base three times. He was 03 with 2 strike outs and a force out…Anybody from Red Sox Nation care to explain once again how winning the division didn’t mean anything? Any chance the Red Sox would have preferred to play game 7 at home?…Winning the ALCS in 5 games would have been sweet, but giving Red Sox Nation false hope and then crushing it with a 700pound fat lady singing at the top of her lungs, made it all the more sweet…, the Rays now have a 100% chance of winning the ALCS. We think they are underestimating the magic of the Red Sox. The Rays have a 53.5% chance of winning the World Series which is basically the home field advantage…Look for Scott Kazmir to take the ball for game 1 on Wednesday against Cole Hammels, with James Shields coming back on normal rest for game 2 and Matt Garza in game 3. DEVIL DOGS WEBTOPIA…

The GBT – The Good, The Bad and The Telling sandwich, where The Bad is nice and lean and the The Telling is ripe,http://cheap-vikings-jerseys.webs.com/. THE GOOD: James Shields. Things fell apart a it in the 8th, but by that time Shields had tossed 7 shutout innings with only 3 hits and no walks. In the first six innings,http://cheap-sharks-jerseys.weebly.com/, he faced one over the minimum and allowed only 1 leadoff hitter on base…Ben Zobrist,cheap jets nike jerseys. Zorilla provided the big blast,Oakland Raiders Jerseys 365djerseys.com E2, a 3run home run in the 3rd. THE BAD: Diesel Running Low. Rough night for Shawn Riggans who went 04 with 2 strikeouts and left 5 runners on base. THE TELLING: Russ Springer’s save last night gives the Rays 9 different pitchers with at least one save…Last night’s win clinches a winning season for the Rays…,Florida Marlins Jerseys 365djerseys.com D2;Playing in the tough AL East has not been a problem for the Rays this season as they are 3830 against East foes. SUNBURST PLAYER OF THE GAME: James Shields DEVIL DOGS WEBTOPIA…

Bill Chastain has his in which he previews the 2008 Tampa Bay Rays “positions”. This time it is the outfielders. The most telling statement in the piece is a quote from Joe Maddon in which he states that he would prefer to not use Cliff Floyd in right field very often. “If Rocco is well, that really relieves a lot of outfield pressure,” Maddon said. “That defines that. Rocco backs up in left, Rocco backs up in center, Rocco DHs, then you feel comfortable with Gomes, because you don’t want to put Cliff out there too often, from what I understand. It just doesn’t sound like the wise thing to do [based on his injury history].” So let’s say that Gomes and Rocco start every game against a lefthanded pitcher, and Floyd starts every game versus a righthanded pitcher, with Gomes and Rocco splitting time against righthanders,http://cheap-diamondbacks-jerseys.weebly.com/. In 2007 the Devil Rays played 46 games in which the opposing team’s starting pitcher was lefthanded, and 116 games versus righthanded pitchers. If all three players remain healthy all season (I know, I know…just appease me for a second) this suggests that the triumvirate will make the following number of starts in 2008… PlayervRHPvLHPTOTALRocco Baldelli5846104Cliff Floyd1160116Jonny Gomes5846104 Of course that can (and probably will) be affected by various leg ailments during the season, but the benefit of this situation is that, in theory, none of the players would have to play in the field for more than approximately 60 games, slightly more for Baldelli and/or Gomes if Maddon does limit Floyd to DH duties. Just prior to the Cliff Floyd signing, what that would mean for the Rays’ right field production in 2008. In that assessment we excluded Baldelli. Now let’s project all three players stats, based on their averages from the past three seasons,Dolphins Jerseys for sale. In the case of Floyd we will use his averages versus righthanded pitchers and for Baldelli and Gomes we will weight the averages based on the expected number of starts versus lefties and righties. PlayerBAHRRBIOBPSLGOPSRocco Baldelli.2701759.317.484.801Cliff Floyd.2812067.368.472.840Jonny Gomes.2582157.353.491.844 What is interesting about splitting the at bats up in this manner is how similar the stat lines are for all three players,http://cheap-edmonton-oilers-jerseys.weebly.com/. Outside of Baldelli’s OBP, the numbers are nearly identical. When we originally started playing with these numbers, we assumed that in the long run, we could see Baldelli stealing at bats from Gomes, but the numbers show that Gomes would actually post slightly better numbers than the other two. In the end it appears as though we can expect approximately 58 home runs, 183 RBI and a .829 OPS from two positions. In 2007 Devil Rays’ right fielders and DHs did not fair so well…,Minnesota Vikings Jerseys 365djerseys.com R0; PositionBAHRRBIOBPSLGOPSDH (2007).2411663.329.378.707RF (2007).2811795.314.421.736RF/DH (2007).26233158.321.400.721RF/DH (2008 Proj.).27058183.347.482.829 This is not a knock on Delmon Young. We fully expect that Young would have improved his stat line in 2008 had he been manning right field for the Rays. Rather we are just trying to guestimate the level of improvement that the 2008 Tampa Bay Rays RF/DH will have over the 2007 Tampa Bay Devil Rays RF/DH. And if the players remain healthy and perform to their norms, the improvement will be significant. Or more likely Baldelli will pull a hamstring while sleeping and will miss most of the season,cheap bears nike jerseys 365djerseys.com N7. Yeah. Nevermind. Around the Horn: Outfielders []

Back in the day, in the prehistoric preDevil Raysian era of 1991, aspiring hiphop producer Robert Diggs (aka the RZA) brought together nine rappers under the banner of the WuTang Clan and revolutionized the hiphop genre. In his book “”,Cheap NFl jerseys,http://cheap-bears-jerseys.webs.com/ 365djerseys.c, Diggs discussed his method of utilizing each individual voice for a particular part of a song. He used certain rappers for their tenor flows, others for their bass tone, and the remainder for their soprano key. (Note: I don’t know music terminology very well. Those are his words, not mine. So if I got the distinct sound of the voices wrong, I apologize.) The same techniques used by the RZA are also used by Joe Maddon as he moseys along his wellbeaten path to the pitcher’s mound to replace one bullpen moundsman with another. Whereas Diggs perfected situation usage in hiphop, Maddon’s methodology emerged on the baseball mound in the late 1980s when living legend (and Tampa native son) Tony LaRussa shattered the traditional conception of the bullpen and reorganized it in an almost Henry Fordesque assembly line fashion, with each man filling a particular role on the line to victory. For LaRussa and his Oakland A’s, no longer were nonstarters the roamers, wanderers, nomads, and vagabonds of the baseball community. They were lateinning assassins, arms ready and willing to provide reinforcement when necessary. Under LaRussa, former starter Rick Honeycutt, who started over 200 games from 1978 to 1988, became one of the best oneinning relievers in baseball and Dennis Eckersley was transformed from 20game winner to Hall of Fame closer. What was once revolutionary is now the norm. To the chagrin of baseball fogies and a small segment of irrelevant traditionalists, bullpen arms are absolutely essential to victory, and hence are no longer selected haphazardly – like arrows in a quill – but are brought into the game with an almost scientific precision, like a golfer selecting a club or a military general picking a force to exploit a hole in the enemy’s line. Whereas other sports are increasingly celebrating the multipositional flexibility of their athletes, with and quarterbacks doubling as running backs and vice versa in football,cheap buccaneers nike jerseys 365djerseys.com U1, relief pitching in baseball is now one of the least free form of any sports positions and is not probably most akin to field goal kicking. And like field goal kicking and other positions of strict utility, bullpen pitching now comes with a high personnel liquidity. Whereas the greats of the position are stable in their roles and uniform, the average bullpen pitcher, like the average field goal kicker, borders so close to replaceable that with one too many errant appearances, he becomes just that – replaceable. For all his modernity and nonconformist ways, as I mentioned earlier, Joe Maddon executes his bullpen operations similar to the other 29 managers in baseball. If anything, with the support of the Rays’ top secret hovel of sabermetric Keebler elves, Maddon is even more exaggerated in his actions than his peers – more Kasparov than Queen of Hearts. When used properly, forms together like the classic kid’s cartoon hero Voltron, with each piece combining to create an unstoppable giant sum. And the Rays’ pen is no different. With Maddon at the helm, each member of the Rays relief corps brings a unique style similar to . As the Rays are one of the best bullpens around, it is only fair to compare them to one of the most famous kungfu classics of alltime. “”: Choate,cheap cardinals nike jerseys, Wheeler – toad style. Immensely powerful, and when properly used, almost invincible,julio jones jersey. Sonnanstine, Cormier, Qualls – snake style. Masters of control and best when staying down. Balfour – lizard style. The lizard relies on speed and is a fitting animal for the Australian. Side note: One of the things I find interesting about Balfour is that usually guys who light up the radar gun on the field have eccentric personalities off the mound. Pitchers such as Rob Dibble, Joel Zuyama, and all made throwing hard an offshoot of their overall lives. Balfour, on the other hand, doesn’t seem to fit that mold. He is the quiet Dr. Jekyll off the field (wrestling experiment with Jim Hickey aside) but becomes Mr. Hyde when on the bump – as Orlando Cabrera can attest. Benoit – centipede style. Quick and strikes fast. Soriano – scorpion style.? When bit by the scorpion, your life (or the game) is over.? The scorpion is also the only style represented in the constellations, as was the only member of the bullpen represented in the Anaheim during the midsummer classic. When working together, these styles provide an almost impenetrable security net over any lead, a force stronger and more celebrated than the assembled sum of any amalgamation of martial masters. As Madden sits back like the old kungfu abbot, his “students” stroll in from the bullpen and eliminate their opponents onebyone, making a night at the Trop like an afternoon at the kungfu cinema. If only we can get the RZA to create a dub track for Kevin Kennedy’s voice.

Earlier this season, David Price was noticeably upset after being pulled from the game with two outs in the ninth inning. Turns out, Price probably shouldn’t have been pitching in the 9th inning at all. If you go back and look at , there is one number that sticks out that we didn’t mention previously. David Price has a WPA of 0.02, which suggests Price has been just a bad as he has been good. On the surface, that seems strange. Even if Price hasn’,Blue Jays Jerseys;t been as dominant as 2010, he has still been a good pitcher. So why the 0.02 WPA? Well, one thing working against starting pitchers in WPA is that outs get more valuable later in the game (if it is a close game). And as starting pitchers get tired, they tend to be less effective when the outs are more important. If a starting pitcher has good numbers, but a poor WPA, it could mean that the manager is leaving that pitcher in the game too long. And that appears to be exactly what is happening with Price. Price’s ERA this season is 3.70. If we break down by time of game, we see that in the first three innings of the game, his ERA is 3.47, and the middle three innings, his ERA is 3.44. But when Price is still in the game for innings 79, his ERA balloons to 5.03. It is even worse if look at individual innings. Nine times Price has pitched in the 8th inning,Bills Jerseys From china. His ERA in that frame is 8,http://cheap-raiders-jerseys.webs.com/ 365djerseys.59. And the two times he was still in the game in the 9th inning, his ERA is 27.00. Compare that to James Shields, who has a 2.64 ERA during the 9th inning. So, does Price have an endurance problem? No. So far this season Price’s fastball has averaged 94.8 mph. The 49 fastballs that he has thrown in the 8th or 9th innings have averaged 94.8 mph. That is consistency. Price’s problem is not stuff, it is variety. More specifically, Price has a onepitch problem. We all know Price has a great fastball. But no matter how great it is, if big league hitters know it is coming, they will eventually catch up. And that appears to be what is happening. Take a look at the OPS of hitters based on how many times the batter has faced Price or Shields in a game. Price and Shields are essentially the same pitcher the first two times through the order. But by the time a batter comes up a third time, you can start to see where Price is becoming less effective. And if there is a fourth time through the order,http://www.cheap-colts-nike-jerseys.ewebsite.com/, Price is in big trouble, and yet, Shields appears to be getting stronger. Price is a great pitcher. But until he develops another pitch to keep the hitters guessing, he will never be a dominant pitcher,Lions Calvin Johnson named All-Pro one vote shy of unanimous Detroit Lions Detroit Free Press . And in the meantime, Price is a 6inning pitcher and should never see the back end of a game.

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…

Back in 2008 the woman inside the Raymond costume at The Trop for the previous five seasons. And now, four years later,http://cheap-braves-jerseys.weebly.com/, it looks like , this time as the Tampa Bay Lightning mascot “Thunderbug.” Late last week we showed you . That video went viral. And well, it turns out the team was not happy with what happened, and the lady inside the Thunderbug costume has been fired. ,http://cheap-texans-jerseys.webs.com/, the fan was allowed to return to his seat. After the game, the team said the incident with the fan “played a part in the team’s decision [to fire Thunderbug], but it wasn’t the only factor.” And it turns out (thanks to some sleuthing by ) the lady fired by the Lightning was likely the same lady fired by the Rays. . And according to her LinkedIn page, she was Thunderbug from September, 2009 through January, 2012,cheap panthers nike jerseys 365djerseys.com D3. The good news for Frank, is that she has yet to be fired by the Bucs,cheap saints jerseys,Cheap Cincinnati Bengals Jerseys 365djerseys.com W6. And based on the Bucs love of retreads and talent with questionable pasts, it would seem like a perfect fit.

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.

THE GOOD: Carlos Pena continues his torrid pace,cheap ray lewis jersey 365djerseys.com S9, hitting another home run, his 25th and 10th in last 22 games…BJ Upton returned to the lineup and took out his frustrations on the Rangers, hitting a line drive double down the left field line and following later with a home run to rightcenter,http://cheap-colts-jerseys.webs.com/ 365djerseys.c,Ryan Jersey. It was only his 2nd HR since the AllStar break. He drove in 3…Winning series. After getting shutout on Saturday by the worst pitching staff in baseball, the Rays bounced back to take the rubbermatch. The Rays are now 801 in series since the AllStar break and have stretched their lead in the East to 5 games in the allimportant loss column. Remember, the Rays were a halfgame behind the Red Sox at the AllStar break. So, while everybody has been predicting the imminent doom of the Rays, they have actually played 5 games better than the Sox in the last 29 games…Winning on the road. The Rays just finished their longest road trip of the year at 73 and are now 116 on the road since the AllStar break after finishing the firsthalf at 1925 away from the Trop. THE BAD: Unlike the rest of the league, the Rangers schedule Sunday home games at night, due to the unbearable heat of Texas in the Summer. But ironically, the high yesterday was only 88. But thanks to the scheduling,china throwback nhl jerseys, the Rays likely did not get home until about 5am…The Red Sox are on the road for the next 9 games, but unfortunately, they get the Orioles starting today, while the Rays must take on the best team in the AL,http://cheap-rockies-jerseys.weebly.com/. THE BATSHIT CRAZY: Joe Maddon deciding to walk Josh Hamilton with the bases loaded in the 9th inning. It was good because it worked. Dan Wheeler got Marlon Byrd to strike out. It was bad, because it brought the winning run to the plate in the form of a player that had just hit a walkoff grand slam against the Yankees two weeks ago. It was batshit crazy, because it was only the second time in 60+ years that a player had been intentionally walked with the bases loaded. Not to mention, for about 0.04 seconds we thought Grant Balfour was going to go kangaroo on Papa Joe when Maddon came out to the mound following the walk. THE TELLING: Juan Salas looks like he ate Troy Percival…Juan Salas is now the only member of the 2007 opening day bullpen that is still with the organization…BJ Upton was back in the lineup, and batted leadoff with Aki Iwamura getting a day off…Was anybody else worried about the safety of inanimate objects in the clubhouse after Joe Maddon pulled Grant Balfour?…The Rays now have a according to Baseball Prospectus, with a 74.0% chance of winning the division…Don’t look now, but the Rays are only 1.5 games behind the Angels for the best record in the AL…The Rays magic number for the playoffs is now 35 with the Red Sox, White Sox and Twins all sharing the same number of losses… DEVIL RAYS WEBTOPIA…

Yesterday we wrote about Ken Rosenthal’,cheap Ryan Jersey 365djerseys.com D2;s “thought” that wondered if the Rays should sign Vladimir Guerrero,http://cheap-jays-jerseys.weebly.com/, have him DH, let Manny Ramirez play left field everyday and make Johnny Damon the starting first baseman. Of course,Dallas Cowboys Jerseys 365djerseys.com D4, this idea was shot down by a lot of people who know more about the Rays than Rosenthal. Then Rosenthal got defensive. He even snapped at me on Twitter for mentioning that I had also considered the notion for a brief moment before laughing it off. Well, later in the day, Rosenthal spoke with somebody that told him ,womens 49ers jerseys. At all. And then I laughed again,Dallas Cowboys Jerseys. THE JUNKYARD DOGS WEBTOPIA…

It looks like it might be oneanddone for Rocco Baldell in Boston. from Theo Epstein that sounds an awful lot like the team has already decided to move in another direction. “He was a fantastic guy to have around. He’s just a terrific human being and teammate. It was a pleasure having him here this year,” said Red Sox general manager Theo Epstein. “We knew it would be a challenge for him and the organization to balance health, availability and contributions…,Athletics Jerseys,SuperBowl NaVorro Bowman Jersey 365djerseys.com N7;It was a shame what happened at the end, he wasn’t available, because I think he would have been a bit of a weapon for us, especially against the lefthanded pitchers in the first round,http://cheap-rams-jerseys.webs.com/. We’ll sit down and talk about what the fit looks like next year –– if there is one.” It was tough seeing the Woonsocket Rocket in a Red Sox uniform,http://cheap-texans-jerseys.webs.com/,ed reed jersey 365djerseys.com L9, but in the back of our minds we always knew it was going to happen some day. What is going to be really strange is seeing Rocco in a [insert random AL team here] uniform next season. DEVIL DOGS WEBTOPIA…

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…

The GBT – The Good, The Bad and The Telling sandwich, where The Bad is nice and lean and the The Telling is ripe. Twins 5, RAYS? 3() THE GOOD: Jeremy Hellickson. We are not going to say Hellboy was in midseason form. It was just two innings. But in those two frames, he needed just 22 pitches (only 6 n the 2nd inning), and? Sean Rodriguez. There are not a lot of questions to be answered with the roster this spring. One exception is shortstop with Reid Brignac and Sean Rodriguez battling for playing time (although we would be surprised if they weren’t platooning to start the season). Well, Rodriguez got off to a good start singling twice and reaching on a hitbypitch in three plate appearances…,throwback nhl jerseys sale;JP Howell. A nice 123 inning including a swinging strikeout. THE BAD: Bullpen Battles. Two guys with an outside shot at making the opening day roster are Burke Badenhop and Josh Lueke. Both served up 2run home runs in their spring debuts. Not exactly the start either needed…;David Price’s PreStart Routine. David Price said yesterday that he felt like he “got run over by a truck” despite pitching just one inning,Throwback Red Wings Jerseys. He blamed the soreness on playing “six hours of paintball” with Kyle Farnsworth on Friday. Needless to say, King David is probably going to scratch paintball from his between starts routine this season,cheap miami heat jerseys 365djerseys.com O7. THE TELLING: Luke Scott and Sam Fuld are both expected to make their spring debuts …;Carlos Pena could be in the lineup as soon …;Also, there is a small chance Evan Longoria will play today, but more likely, he will make his debut tomorrow…,http://cheap-saints-jerseys.webs.com/ 365djerseys.;Matt Moore said he felt “” during his bullpen session…;Today’,peyton manning jersey;s game is not on the radio. THE JUNKYARD DOGS WEBTOPIA…