Sunday Rewind: "Felt like 'Home' with Daughtry Last Night"

 

Sunday Rewind:


During the offseason I am going to go back into the Rays Renegade annuals and pull out some of the stuff I treasured during the last two seasons. It could be a game moment, or one like tonight, a concert event held after a Saturday night Rays game. I am going to use every Sunday as a day to reflect and remember classic moments and events that I have posted blogs about during the last two seasons. This blog entry originally was posted on August 2,2009 and is being re-posted today as my weekly  Rays memory selection.





This photo was actually given to me by a member of the Rays front office after the concert a few days later for some of the blogging and things I have done for the organization over the past few seasons. It was an unexpected surprise and one that is currently adorning the hallway along with the other 8x10 photos of Rays players and band I have met over the past 12 years. Aagin, I am so honored and proud to be a member of the Rays Republic and never expected such a great item to fall into my hands. To the person on the 3rd Floor who got me this gift, you know I am there for the team and your department if you ever need a volunteer... or anything else.  Thank you again!








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Okay, anyone who knows me  in any personal way knows I have a soft spot for rockers. It might be the lifestyle I grew up with,or it might be the lifestyle I always wanted in life, but a good hard rocking song can get me fired up everytime. So last night in the latest edition of the Rays Concert Series they invited former America Idol fan favorite Chris Daughtry and his band, Daughtry to the Trop. for  a FREE after the game concert. Also the idea that the two bars I go to after games always seems to drag me up to the Karaoke mic and for some reason they all want to hear me sing "Home" by Daughtry at some point in the night. 





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What was really  special about this Rays show is that this post-game concert will be the first "official" concert stop on their 2009 concert tour. The group has been in Hamilton, Ontario for the last two days ironing out a few kinks and bugs in the set list and was still doing their final prep work right before they got on a tour bus and headed to St. Petersburg, Florida for this initial concert of their tour. This is the third time they have been on tour after their original tour made an appearance in the smaller venue of the State Theatre in St. Petersburg, just about a mile from Tropicana Field just down Central Avenue.



During their second tour in 2008, the group were truly blessed to be the opening act for Bon Jovi on their World-wide tour that happened to be held during the Boston Red Sox series. I had a centerstage club level seat for that concert and a backstage pass thanks to some old friends at Pepsi who got me to meet Chris after his set. I actually found out we used to hang out in some of the same places when I lived in North Carolina, but as fate always has it, I never heard his band or met him while in N.C.





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The band spent the first part of the Rays game against the Kansas City Royals up in a suite just above the Maddon's Maniac logo above Section 136 in the right field section of the Trop. Chris Daughtry and his bandmates would occasionally come out to the rail and smile and wave to the fans below. A young Rays fan even threw up a blue cowbell for the band drummer Joey at one point during the game.



They also took in some of the rituals of the Trop such as the blue cotton candy that Joey had purchased during the game. It was especially funny to see the Trop vendor trying to get the blue cotton candy up into the suite since it was a good 20 feet straight up shot. Finally the candy made it to Joey and he gave the thumbs up before going into the suite to get a quick sugar fix.




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During last night's set list the band did a mixture of their second album's material and some of the great hits off their debut "Daughtry" album. The song "Crashed" had a different feel to it during last night performance, and wasa softer version of the previously recorded hit.  The band did end the night with the song that has come to identify the band with its fans for the last two years. "Home" also had a great vibe to it and he did throw some extra octaves and vocal scales into it and it instantly thrilled the crowd both on the stadium floor and in the stands.





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Some of the members of Daughtry did hang out after the concert and mingled with Rays fans before finally being whisked away to the Vinoy. The band will make their second appearance tonight at the House of Blues in Orlando. The only negative to the entire night, and I am going to give him a Mulligan on this is the fact he called St. Petersburg by the wrong name. He called out to the fans of the to the "city of Tampa" in his Twitter video last night.



But that might also be connected to the fact he was on the tour bus heading to O-town after the ahow and might have seen a "Tampa" sign along I-275 before he made the video. So let me end this short photo blog with the two Twitter videos sent out by the band before and after the concert last night. Hopefully the band will again hit Florida before they end this tour, and you know I will be there again. Hoping to maybe hear "Call My Name" done again in person. Rock on Chris, you guys did an awesome job and I wish you the best during your tour dates!















Rays need a Chant Tradition











Some people within the Internet ranks have stated recently that the Tampa Bay Rays fan base has a extreme case of inferiority complex compared to the fans of the New York region. I have to admit, that definitely was true back before 2006 when New York Yankee fans used to refer to Tropicana Field as "Yankee Stadium South" because of the over flow of pinstripes and "Jeter" jerseys patrolling the hallways before a Rays versus Yankees contest. But that is not been true since 2008.



During 2005, a typical Yankee versus Rays game had more opposition crowd noise to almost make it sound like a home game for the Yankees. But slowly and surely the Rays hometown crowd has begun to get behind their team and even began to turn the crowd towards wearing Rays gear, with a smattering of Red Sox jerseys for color. And that is  huge loyalty adjustment for this region based on its fickle transient ways. There is such a large geographic-based cultural divide in the Tampa Bay area that  most of the Northern transplants hail from somewhere within the Northeast sections of the United States.




And with that number of transplants increasing yearly, this merry band of baseball fanatics have brought with them a clash of baseball traditions and team loyalties. I have no problems with a person who was born even within an hour or so of New York City wearing Yankee stripes. I also can totally honor and respect the idea of someone from Maine following the Red Sox even if they had never even been to Boston. That regional love fest is a gimme and totally acceptable in my book.  Regional pride is a good thing.



Personally, I feel that this inferiority garbage is totally in the past. I am serious. if you have attended either a Red Sox or a Yankees series at Tropicana Field since the start of the 2007 season, you will have noticed a slow reversal of the crowd noise depicting a mostly Yankee/Red Sox vibe in the stands. I am not trying to evoke that Rays fans have started to outnumber their pinstripe or brethren with with the red "B" on their caps, but they have definitely gotten into the vocal chimes and crowd actions to silence the opposition in recent years.



And you have to also throw in that winning has brought out more people to exhibit Rays pride, and even some of the rival crowd has been converted. I know personally a few fans who used to flaunt their Northern colors, but now only do it when their home team is in town. The rest of the season they fly Rays colors to support the local team. And that reaction took years, not just two winning seasons for them to show loyalties to both teams.






I am not implying that there is a Rays revival meeting going on  somewhere around the Trop. during every home game, but the passion for this team can be infectious sometimes. As the Rays also establish winning traditions on the field, the crowd will also develop and transform their own sense upon the game from the stands. But until that revolution happens, the Rays front office (Fan Experience) has given the Rays fans the perfect tool to irritate and bring some rival chants to a complete halt.



Most visiting fans throw the main culprit of this Rays noise revolution onto the innocent cowbell. Yes, that  shiny metal object that that can produce a sound found so revolting to rival fans they sometimes cringe when people pull them out of their bags. This small musical weapon has been their instrument of choice to helping the Rays gain back their home stadium edge.



I know most people will insist that it is the large Latin Percussion cowbell ( I used to bang one prior to 2009) wielding fans have drown out most of the opposing noise, but 8,000 little cowbells still make a heck of a racket when they are used during games.  And you would be surprised how fast the Rays Team Store sells out of any type of specially insignia cowbell. This one item has been instrumental in recent years of squashing noise and chants within the walls of the Trop.



And how many times have you heard a rival fan, MLB blogger, or even a network sports announcer curse and admonish the Rays fans because  of those little noisemakers. The simple cowbell has become the weapon of choice for Rays fans who do not have the time honored traditions and ceremonial cheers  established for decades by our rivals. Give the Rays fans time, and you know they will develop another set of cheers, then the  mighty cowbells will slowly die down as the new Rays noise makers takes control of the stadium.






Last season, the Raysvision crew and the Rays Fan Experience department made a short animated video showing the Maddon's Maniac symbol Screamer mouthing the words and rhythms to the White Stripes "Seven Nation Army". This  song has been a traditional crowd favorite used all throughout the U.S. and Europe during soccer games and  seems to have caught on at Rays games in 2009. 



Not to say this will  translate into anything like the "official" Rays chant, but it is a starting point beyond swinging metal cowbells for 9 innings. But I have to admit, hearing the Rays crowd do the "Seven Nations Army" chant does make a perfectly awesome sound when you get at least 4,000 people voicing it over and over again during  the opposing pitching changes. Traditions take time to get  a foundation and to get firmly implanted in our minds and routinely followed by a team's faithful fans.



I totally respect the Yankee Bleacher Creatures for their "Roll Call" chants during Yankee home games. It is a way for the fans and the players to interact without interfering directly with the game action. And that custom was developed over time. Sure one guy or a group of fans started it the first time, but with time it has grown into an honored Yankee tradition. And the Rays need to establish their own signature chant or cheer.  And with time, and trail and error, the Rays fans will find that perfect vocal response during games. And with that perfection will spawn more traditions.






Over the last few years the Rays have used a number of ways for the fans to react during games, and the one that seems to have gained some  ground floor sentiment is the "Feel the Heat" campaign. During Rays big plays . the Raysvision crew has popped up the short and concise chant and Rays fans have adopted and even added a twist to it. People have begun to throw up  the classic surfer "Hang 10" sign and turned it horizontal to look like a ray swimming. Sure it might be a bit quirky, and some say "totally ripped off", but it is an honest start to establishing a lasting Rays tradition. 




So the Rays really do not have an inferiority complex, but a lack of a solid tradition and team personality that other teams have evolved and change for more than 100 years. This is not to say that within a year or maybe two the Rays will have an overpowering chant,cheer or even a stadium crowd event that will overwhelm rival teams fans.  But the machine is in motion, and with the off season comes a chance to experiment and maybe redefine Rays traditions.



When Stuart Sternberg and his crew took over the team they changes the logo, uniform colors and the general feel of the franchise from the ground up. This quick transition in November 2007 might have also stunted the growth of solid traditions for the team, but the newly established Rays franchise was evoking winning and a change of attitude from within the organization outward to the fans. It has been a success so far, and the future looks bright to see more exciting changes with the Rays fan base.





The first person who ever did "The Wave" must have had the people in the seating section next to him thinking he was an escaped mental patient, but slowly the crowd action caught on and it is now an International crowd event. When was the last time you went to any sporting event and someone did not try and start a "Wave"?


Oh, and for those people in the northeast regions of this country who hate those pesky cowbells. How soon you forget that the tradition started in the state of New York at Brooklyn Dodger baseball games by a little old lady who sat in the outfield used to ring her cowbell to show support for her team. Some traditions fall, some traditions linger. But the best traditions are the ones that get people excited and eager to participate every time someone starts them.





Could Pena be gone in 2010?

 


Mike Carlson / AP




It is kind of weird to think of this Tampa Bay Rays squad without a few of its veteran players gone before the 2010 season. It is not like with the Free Agent market ready to heat up on Friday the Rays are looking to unload or even sign someone of extreme value to replace a current Rays player, but would you see the Tampa Bay Rays in the same powerful light if they were missing a player like Carlos Pena? 



When I remember back over the last two seasons for memorable Rays moments, or game changing plays, Pena's name seems to be one of the first ones to pop into my mind every time. His style of cool,calm and collected attitude during the game has taken both himself and this team to new heights since the Rays signed him to a minor league deal several years ago. And Pena's  laid-back style both at the plate and in the field has risen  his game to extreme heights while he has been here. 



He has been the upbeat and soft-spoken leader of this Rays clubhouse ever since he stepped into it back in 2007. Who can forget his finest moment of upbeat personality  when even after he was told by Rays Manager Joe Maddon that he was being optioned to the minor leagues before the end of Spring Training in 2007, Pena remained focused and clear that he would soon see his Rays teammates. And who can ever forget when Pena disclosed his revelation of a premonition during a night time dream of him being on that charter flight with his Rays teammates to New York to start the 2007 season.



That in itself tells me that this Rays team might have been his squad all along, and we were just passengers on his ride to the top. From the beginning of his rebirth in the MLB by winning the 2007 Comeback Player of the Year award, to his first Gold Glove and Silver Slugger Award, the Rays GQ-styled first baseman has gained not only the respect of the fans, but of MLB players throughout the league. And I have a feeling his 2009 All Star selection is not the last time we will see Pena accepting an award.....not by a long shot.



So when a fellow Rays blog mentioned that maybe it was time for the Rays to consider trading Pena before his contract is up at the end of 2010, it kind of shocked me that we might be seeing the end to another era here in Tampa Bay. That after all the growth we have seen by Pena and this team, we might end up seeing him traded away late in the 2010 season, or maybe even packing up and saying goodbye at this time next season.




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And right now both those notions do not seem like a logical, rationale thing to happen, but the reality is that Pena is in the last year of his contract ( $10.125 million), and his agent is Scott Boras who is renowned to being hard pressed to seeing even a dollar squeeze past his clients. That at some point from today on we might have to consider that Pena might not start, or even finish the 2010 season wearing a Rays jersey.



It is an unfortunate fact of baseball life that players leave or get traded at points in their careers. But you got the feeling here that maybe Pena might have finally found a comfortable spot to place his glove and bat every day, and maybe selfishly I wanted him to retire a Ray. But the stark reality is that Pena has a few years left in his tank, and maybe he will not be within the Rays budget restrictions in 2011. Just like Crawford, it might be an instant reality check that the team will have to find options and create fluid change if Pena were to leave the squad.



But is this the right time to be considering such a drastic change like this? I mean the guy is about to finally get that cast and those pins pulled from his hand and begin some initial hitting drills. Can he have any real high-side trade value before he reports to Spring Training? And even if a team did consider him before the 2010 season, isn't his $ 10 million contract a monetary distraction to most teams?



But considering the offensive awards and the defensive accolades Pena has received the last few seasons, his contract might be considerably an extreme value right now in comparison with his colleagues around the Major Leagues. I would think Boras for one thinks Pena's current worth is "out of whack" when considering his talent level and potential.



Pena rebuilt his baseball career when he signed with the Rays in 2007. He came to us as a player who was released by the Yankees and Boston farm systems as a secondary player, and maybe both of those franchises at the time felt Pena might not reach his potential again. But the stark reality is the correlation of Pena and the Rays up-surge happened at the same time. Both the player and the team began to excel and blast past expectations.  Ahh, what a difference a year can make in a players career.



I do not want to consider a 2010 season without Pena's solid defense at first base. No disrespect to Rays players Willy Aybar or Ben Zobrist, but it is hard to replace a diamond with cubic zurconia and feel the same sparkle off the ring. Zorilla could be a solution, and could grow into the position in 2010, but why test fate now? Why would you consider trading the top offensive weapon on your team the last few years when the corner has finally been taken by the Rays.



And hasn't Pena been a great piece of the puzzle to put in the lineup behind Evan Longoria and make teams pitch to the young star. If Pena was not in the Rays lineup, would Longoria get the same pitches if Zobrist or even Burrell followed him in the lineup? I would think Pena was the perfect piece to put in that spot because of his potential to turn on any pitch and send it deep.



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I really hope that at some point in the 2010 season I do not have to write a blog telling people why I am going to miss Pena. But we all know with the realities of this baseball business, anyone can be replaced in a moments notice. 2010 is not even here yet and I can feel the winds of change in the air. This coming season is an important one in the Rays development. Changes is in the air, but hopefully it will be later and not earlier in the season.



But in this ever changing business of baseball these days, you never know what will happen. And with the completion of the fast and furious trade of Rays veteran starting pitcher Scott Kazmir right before the end of August 2009, we know that no one is safe, not even an offensive/defensive weapon like Pena. But hopefully we will be able to say goodbye this time. Hopefully if something was to happen and Pena was to leave the Rays before the end of 2010, we will get to see that smile and maybe even see Pena do that dance one more time.





Credible Blogging begins with Leg Work

 





I remember back during my Mass Communication class in High School when my school newspaper advisor told us during a class lecture that at some time in our writing future, the subject of naming or not naming your "sources" for stories would turn our journalistic integrity into a slippery slope towards the negative, and the background work of our judgments to name or not name a source would play directly on our credibility as writers. Journalist have gone to prison and even been banished as if they had the Black Plague for misinformation and dishonesty in their writings.



And that simple premise of "watching your back" seems to make a lot of sense in today's fast paced, electronic world of libel and slander where even a tongue-in-cheek reference can land you deep within a mountain of litigation, and then quickly, you and your writing integrity  could be sent sliding down the dark side like a mudslide even if you are totally right. Because that is essence of the culture today.  Injury someone emotionally or physically and some of the first words out of the mouth of the general public is "I will sue you!". 




So dotting your "i's" and crossing your "t's" takes on a bigger role in the 5-second media world we have today. This weekend I was reading a very sordid and tangled web of "sources" and "unnamed sources" in a small series of blog postings by the New York Baseball Digest blog posting by Mike Silva. And while I was reading this account out of the New York area, that class discussion over 32 years ago  about sources came quickly to mind.



I was brought up on the old A P style book of journalism. Heck, back then it was the bible every Evening Independent Sports Correspondent and staffers used as a foundation for our story stylings.  And it suddenly came to my mind the old teaching of where if you make a statement associated with a source without credible sources or information, your stories foundation might crumble and not withstand a storm of controversy. 






One of the first thing I remember being taught was the fact that when you name sources or people with knowledge of an event, it is in your best interest to have two solid forms of evidence or information before even quoting one of them in your story. The reasoning for this method is to give your information a solid foundation so if you are questioned or receive a nice little legal writ, you have a secondary source that adds to your credibility on the subject matter.



Accuracy and credibility are the two of the founding cornerstones of retaining a loyal band of readers online. If they can get a sense of trusting your writings as the truth, then you gain readers and hopefully more web views of your postings. And maybe that is why it is so upsetting when I see a blog with half-baked writing principles and mis-guided information you know are half-truths at best.



Most of this simple misguided energy can be corrected with a simple credible source for your information. Some guy named "Joe Schmoe" who tended bar in such and such a club and overheard a conversation by player "A" and "B" about an event or something in regards to the Rays is considered "hearsay" at best unless you have a second person who heard or saw the same event.





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An great example of the right way to document and solidify your sources was with the rumor I heard from a Rays player about the Tampa Bay Rays using their old 1998-99 Devilrays multi-colored logo jerseys during the Sunday July 12th afternoon game against the Oakland Athletics. I first heard a hint of this rumor back in late May 2009 by a player after a game, and I decided to dig a bit deeper into it before bringing it out into the light. Just because I now had one source doesn't make the rumor a "truth" yet.



I first got a confirmation from a member of the Rays  field staff and another player as an additional source, but decided it might not be good to use them as my source. I do not like to use players as sources of information because they could decide to "clam up" and I might not ever hear another good morsel of information to track down. So I contacted someone within the Rays front office who deals directly with marketing and promotions and asked them to simply confirm or deny the spreading rumor. As soon as he  got back to me, that rumor quickly transformed into a fact, and I posted a Tweet about the upcoming event.



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And because I had more than two sources to verify the possibility of the old "Rainbow Devilrays" uniforms were going to make an appearance again in that July contest. This in-depth  fact checking into the rumor gave me credibility about the event. And that is the one thing most people forget when they write online. Sure I can say almost anything about anyone on the team and maybe no one will call BS on me, but that is not the issue. Staying within the truths and admonishing the lies is the job of publications like the National Enquirer or Star Magazine, not the general blogging public.



If NYBD want to idolize those publications and style themselves in that realm of journalism, then go for it. But they have to be reminded that there are hundreds of websites like that all jockeying for the same morsels of media fodder. With every slight of hand missed fact and negative comment posted, the negative mountain is building around them. I know I would rather be the guy who will give his honest opinion and facts about an event, and I do shy from some of the "hot topic" stories around the league at time because I do not want to be 1 of the 2,000 people writing about the same thing day in, and day out.



We hear almost daily about some blogger somewhere who has given "fake" or mis-guided information and it in turn tends to affect all of our credibilities. But that doesn't mean the "mainstream media" always follows the Golden Rule either. With the advent of sites like Twitter and the other social networks, fans can get  a snippet of information in the flash of a camera bulb and minutes before the "paid" media.



And that can be a slap in their faces at times. I posted a Twitpic of Pat Burrell's new 70's butch mustache during the 2009 season and also few "first" pictures of new Rays reliever, Jeff Bennett before the local media even reported it online. Here I am an unpaid and unsolicited fan got the scoop.




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NYBD  made some critical errors when they did not get secondary sources checks on their quotes and information before posting it. Sometimes it is difficult to get that information, but if you can not prove it is 100
% true, then it is a rumor. Blogs take a beating every day from the Media sources throughout the country as being slanderous and libel within an inch of their collective lives. For us to gain the credibility and the trust of the readers, we sometimes have to take it a notch above and sweat a little more for our information.
Anyone can write a rumor.



Anyone can create a mis-truth and start to perpetuate a lie. But if you really want to be known for your writings, do the leg work, strain the eyes to see beyond the words and ask the simple questions. Some times, the answers you get from a source can make your day. Other times it can disappoint and frustrate you. But every once in a while you get a tasty morsel and you do the work and build it into a credible masterpiece and then you can bask in the limelight and know you did it right........the first time.




Sunday Rewind: "Rocco Baldelli Press Conference 2008"

 



Blogger's Note:

When I first stood there in that open hallway underneath the old Progress Energy Field, I had no idea what this quickly generated Press Conference was going to bring  to us. What ended up happening was seeing one of my Rays idols at his worst moment in life,not just baseball. But on this day (March 13,2008), you could see in Baldelli's eyes that he believed he had possibily played his last game EVER as a baseball player.

 

This is another weekly Sunday Rewind back into my blog's past to re-post some of the moments and events that shaped my memories and the Rays seasons. Every Sunday I will pick my personal favorites and bring them back for other to also either see for the first time, or revisit again. The writing style was different before the 2009 season.


Originally posted on March 13,2008.
Trivia Question:

When was the first match up between a deaf pitcher and a hitter in baseball, and who were the participants?
 
Answer at the bottom of the Blog.
 



Rocco Baldelli was once called "Joe's twin," by MLB Professional Scout Al LaMacchia. This of course, was referring to the great ex-Yankee Joe DiMaggio. Rocco had been compared to the Yankee legend ever since his prep days at Bishop Hendricken H.S. in Warwick, Rhode Island.


 
Baldelli began his 2007 Spring Training season on the Disabled List after pulling his hamstring. But the injury was healing slowly and while on a Minor League rehab assignment, Baldelli's injury became worse. Baldelli spent the rest of the year with the Rays inactive,but  was a very important part of the team. He could be seen on the bench either taking down the pitching stats,or purposely watching the opposing pitcher for signs of him tipping off his pitches or pitch outs to first base.


Rays Manager Joe Maddon felt that Baldelli had an special energy and an always positive attitude that was beneficial to his young squad and took him on away games for the rest of the season. During this time, Rays Head Trainer Ron Porterfield and the medical staff did multiple tests on Baldelli to try and pinpoint the situation and maybe finally get some positive results to reoccurring injuries.


During Spring Training in 2008, Baldelli was an early arrival to camp in St. Petersburg. He was out on the complex fields every day trying to get his body to function correctly so he could get back on the field with his comrades. He was used sparingly this Spring until on March12, 2008, Rocco released the following statement to the press:
 
 
This off season, because of the physical problems I've been having, I started along with the team's help to search them out and go see some doctors and try to find out what's going on.


I was having a lot of problems the last couple years with my muscles and muscle strains. I think a good way to describe it is literally muscle fatigue and cramping, way before my body should be feeling these things. I would go out there and I was pretty much incapable of doing basic baseball activities as far as running and hitting and throwing.


These were things that I had done my whole life pretty easily and at some point in the last two years - we're not exactly sure why - these things started to change. It was tough for me to deal with, but with the team's help, they sent me to specialists, basically flying me around all over the country to try to figure out what was going on.


What the doctors eventually found through all of this was I have some type of metabolic and/or mitochondrial abnormalities. Basically, somewhere along the line in my body - I don't want to get too deep into the medicine because it's not really my expertise, but either my body isn't making or producing or storing ATP the right way and therefore not allowing, apparently, my muscles to work as they should and, especially, recover on a day-to-day basis. So it becomes very difficult to get on the field every day and play.



When I say fatigue, I go out there and my body is literally spent after a very short amount of time out on the field, which makes it extremely frustrating and difficult, but it's something that's kind of a reality right now and something we're dealing with the best that we can.



As far as my baseball career, I'm not here to stand in front of you telling you I'm retiring. We're still going to pursue every avenue that we can to try to figure out what is going on, have a better understanding of what is going on. But at this time, throughout all of the extensive testing that we've done, we don't have a concrete answer.


The doctors' consensus is that these are the problems that I'm experiencing and there's a lot of medical proof of these things, but they've been unable to specifically identify an exact reason or an exact problem down to a specific name. That's kind of frustrating, but that's why we're going to continue along with the team's help to find out what's going on.



I feel comfortable about this because the team has been so good to me and supported me in every possible way I could imagine. Without that, I don't know really where I'd be right now, because this is as probably as difficult and frustrating a thing as I've ever had to deal with as a person. Like I said, we're going to do everything we can to fix and hopefully solve this problem, and that's pretty much where I'm at right now.

 
Rocco Baldelli announced that he has a mitochondrial metabolic abnormality during a press conference on Wednesday.
 

I put his  Baldelli's entire statement to the media here to reflect and hope that a possible solution or cure can be found for this promising player. I have personally chatted with Rocco on occasion, and I can tell you there is no better guy in the clubhouse than him. He knows what was expected of him on Day 1, and he will do whatever is needed to make it back onto the diamond.


The Rays' are in a bit of a pickle here tho. They were looking for Baldelli to be  the possible Centerfield back-up this season to give B J Upton some needed rest during the season. Maybe the Rays will look at their Minor leaguer's,or sign a veteran like Kenny Lofton to relieve B J, and Jonny Gomes through the year.


Here is a guy who could have rewritten a few passages in the Rays record books, and now might be done with his playing career because of a metabolic nightmare churning within his body. I hope the Rays Doctors' can find a solution soon, and we can report a positive prognosis soon so we can get this great talent back on the field.



I will miss not seeing Baldelli out there on the Rays Opening Day in Baltimore on March 31,2008 ,but his health is more important than the game right now.



The following is a short synapsis of the ailment that has effected the metabolism of Baldelli. This is a non-scientific guy writing about a medical condition, and I hope I can make it so everyone can understand it with some clarity and severity to the possible effects this will have on Baldelli's body.
 
For your muscles, in fact, for every cell in your body -- the source of energy that keeps everything going is called ATP. Adenosine triphosphate (ATP) is the biochemical way to store and use energy.

The entire reaction that turns ATP into energy is a bit complicated, but here is a good summary:

    Chemically, ATP is an adenine nucleotide bound to three phosphates.

    There is a lot of energy stored in the bond between the second and third phosphate groups that can be used to fuel chemical reactions.

    When a cell needs energy, it breaks this bond to form adenosine diphosphate (ADP) and a free phosphate molecule.

    In some instances, the second phosphate group can also be broken to form adenosine monophosphate (AMP).

    When the cell has excess energy, it stores this energy by forming ATP from ADP and phosphate.

ATP is required for the biochemical reactions involved in any muscle contraction. As the work of the muscle increases, more and more ATP gets consumed and must be replaced in order for the muscle to keep moving.


Because ATP is so important, the body has several different systems to create ATP. These systems work together in phases. The interesting thing is that different forms of exercise use different systems, so a sprinter is getting ATP in a completely different way from a marathon runner!
 
 

Trivia Question Answer:
 
It happened on may 16, 1902, featuring William Ellsworth "Dummy" Hoy of the Washington Nationals in the batters box, against New York Giant pitcher Luther "Dummy" Taylor.   the opponents greeted each other in sign language, then hoy knocked out a single against Taylor.

The wording in quotes above is the listing in the Baseball reference material I used for the Trivia question. I, in no manner, used the phrasing, "dummy" as a cruel reference or in a demeaning nature here concerning these fine ballplayers. 
 
 
 
 

Burrell/Bradley bring back 80's Deja Vu

 


RRCollections



I am starting to understand the slick marketing mojo of the record companies back in 80's that had big time players like MTV and FM radio pounding  musical nightmare tunes into our heads over and over again until we all collectively began to hum them or yearn for their stupid lyrics. And maybe their videos were childish and repetitive, but for some odd reason they became one within the bubbling melting pot between our ears.




It was this sly ploy of marketing that made songs like "Safety Dance" a hit so long time ago. And I think that now Major League Baseball teams have begun a revival by borrowing a page from this ancient formula to make all of us see the light during the 2009 "Hot Stove" season. The 80's seductive music/video mind warp is alive and well in the Winter of 2009.



And it is now using player's names instead of music to constantly blitzing their persona's over and over again to form a numbing effect on our brains so we accept their names with subtle refusal instead of stages and fits of outrage over the idea of them joining the ranks of our teams.



And this mojo from the past is beginning to work it magic on me. The Pat Burrell/Milton Bradley song and dance involving the Tampa Bay Rays and the Chicago Cubs is beginning to play upon my "Achy, Braky Heart". The wild possibility that either player could possibly be walking into the other's locker room on the first day of Spring Training( Feb 19th) as a new "breathe of fresh air" instead of a possible ticking time bomb is starting to melt my brain cells. 







The  media scribblings and poetic bloggers' paragraphs are beginning to show the possible merits of both players getting a chance to again  be reborn upon the other roster and that they can regain some form of normalcy to their careers. It is starting to eat at the hardened enamel of my sensitive side the same way that tune by Men Without Hats burrowed into my mind and became a upbeat tune on my running Ipod. 



We have all heard  by now the negative muses and raves from Bradley about the (alleged)racist Cub fans near his post in rightfield along with his interpretation for his misguided "outs" toss into the stands of a game baseball.  And loud is the volume of the grunts and grumbles from his Cub teammates that he is no longer a welcomed sight in their presence. Some of this might be adulterated  "he said, she said" hearsay, and a perfect example of negative media fodder used to get a high dollar athlete out of a team's hairs.


 And we all know that once a bridge is burned, it takes more than one person to rebuild any trust and confidence in both sides working together again. And personally, Bradley sent that bridge up ablaze with deadly flammables and is still sitting there silent.



But that type of flammable bridge occurrence has not been burned completely yet by Burrell in Tampa Bay. But his mis-timed  calling out of B J Upton near the end of the 2009 season in the Rays locker room did start the seeds of some clubhouse separation and alienation. But it is not at that critical emergency stage yet, and that might be a good thing, because if the bridge is not burned, then minds can still be open to change.



And the atmosphere within the Rays organization is still conducive to change, and a possible moving of Burrell is not mitigated by urgency, but more by the insistence of  upgrading personnel in his current position with a player the Rays were excited about before he originally signed with the Chicago Cubs.



But as we have seen in the Rays past,the minute a situation looks to become overly dramatic, changes come fast and furious. And as the varied opinions come forward about the lack of productivity from Burrell to possibly becoming a liability to Rays offense,the time might be perfect for a move. This is nothing personal towards the soft-spoken Burrell, but we needed a fire and energy like Bradley in 2009 instead of hearing Elvis's farts boom louder than your veteran voice.



And with all of the recent sensory pounding of both names on websites and in blogs in recent days doesn't it seem like the teams themselves are trying to convince themselves without a doubt at the same time that this is a good move? Rays Manager Joe Maddon think he can be a calming and intelligent "X" factor with the soothing rebirth of the combustive Bradley as a Ray.
 



Of course the Rays never outwardly discuss trades before they are completed, which in this case might be a disadvantage. But the fact that Bradley was highly regarded by the Rays last season might be a perfect appetizer for the Rays to become hungry for Bradley. We all know the two teams have loosely talked and maybe even traded a few parameters towards a deal, but as of right now...it is all just humming and waiting for the next sound byte.



The more and more the fact that this  expected trade is a good thing is being drummed into my mind by words and sound bytes,the more I want to take a step back. Because one of the biggest drawbacks to that 80's marketing folly was that it created more and more baggage. Cassettes, DVD's and even records still litter my belongings from those tunes that melted within my brain. And the one thing this Rays team doesn't need is a change of  players  that produce an even larger set of baggage.






So I guess in the long run, if they can really convince me that Bradley is not more personally like the song "Maniac" and is more like The Little River Band's "Cool Change", then maybe there is a place for him in Tampa Bay. Heck maybe I  the trade does get to the finish line I can gather a small collection of the Rays Republic and we all hit the attics for our "Miami Vice" Sonny Crockett white suits and hot pastel-colored t-shirts and meet Bradley at the Tampa International Airport hotel bar for a drink with an umbrella in it while the  old guy at the piano plays the "Pina Colada" song and hope that the 80's do not come back and bite us in the booty again. (sigh)  

Are the Gold Gloves tarnished?

 


Gail Burton / AP


I do not know what to think about the recent results of the 2009 Rawlings Gold Glove awards. I guess it kind of reminds me of the days when the "cool" group in my High School used to sit on this wall outside the 100 wing of the school before and after school, and we collectively nicknamed them the "Ivy's" since ivy clings to walls. I get that same feeling now when I first saw the list of American League Gold Glove winners.



But what I saw behind the names had an old instant of nostalgia of that long ago Southern staple,the "Good Ol' Boys" network.  For years when I was growing up here in Florida it was a wildly held political belief that some people got elected and also appointed to a high ranking position because of their friendships or political ties to a person instead of their qualifications and leadership abilities. And is some realms of the world this system is still alive and well today. 



For some weird reason, I am beginning to get more of a feeling of true professionalism and in-depth analysis from the Fielding Bible Awards than from the more commercial and MLB-friendly Rawlings Gold Glove Awards.  And that sentiment might be felt more and more around the Major League Baseball fan community as we see some of the old guard in baseball still hanging onto these Gold Glove awards even if their defensive skills have diminished a bit in the last season. 



There has been a small group of up and coming MLB players who also produced some impressive defensive numbers and also feats this season who did not seem to get any acknowledgment on the 2009 list. At least with the Fielding Bible, they had a tremendous fight at the second base position between Adam Hill, Dustin Pedroia and Chase Utley before the groups tally produced a tie between Pedroia and Hill. Because of the tie, the group used its tie-breaking format of total first place votes( 10 points) to decide the eventual winner of the award. Hill had 4 first place votes to one for Pedroia.




Steve Nesius / AP


Of course my main concern with the Gold Gloves here might be for the third year in a row, the award has seemed to snub Tampa Bay Rays outfielder Carl Crawford. Maybe it was the ease at which Crawford seems to glide and catch difficult fly balls as they are going towards the wall or in the air. Maybe it is that with his abundance of speed you expect him to make a play like that and it takes on a  more routine feel after seeing it day after day since 2001.



But maybe he might be a great poster boy to boost prop up right now to show that there might need to be some changes made within the Gold Glove voting system. As we all know by now, Crawford won his third Fielding Bible Award in 2009 for his play in leftfield. And right now the Fielding Bible actually has more of my respect because they do not bunch the outfield into a single category, but award the players in each of the three outfield defensive position for their efforts and abilities.



A good example of this is outfielder Franklin Gutierrez, who won his second Fielding Bible award in a row,but in a different position for 2009. That's right,he won the award in 2008 as a rightfielder, and was rewarded in 2009 as the centerfielder in the Seattle Mariner's outfield. For that reasoning alone it seems like the Fielding Bible awards excellence by position,and not by name recognition.



And I think when Rawlings officially started the Gold Glove awards back in 1957 they envisioned the competitions voting to evolve with the game and even transform to meet the ever-changing aspects of the game. But the award has now seemed to become a bit stagnant and has wielded more of a "Prom" popularity atmosphere where the popular kids are getting the Gold Glove awards, and not the deserving people also playing the game besides them.



The Gold Gloves have been viewed as the "Mount Everest" of fielding awards. That to get a spot on that exclusive roster of MLB players is a showing to the world that you have arrived, and are within the top 18 players in the Major Leagues.




Elaine Thompson / AP


But the one position on these collective teams that appear to have become muddled beyond simplicity is the outfield selection for the Gold Glove. There can be a possibility of three centerfielders winning the Gold Glove currently, and nothing can be done about it. And in 2009, two centerfielders made the list out of the possible three slots.



But a bit of controversy erupted when the AL 2009 results were announced  and revealed that Baltimore centerfielder Adam Jones was the third member of the Gold Glove outfield for 2009. Now I think Jones is a great emerging star since his trade from Seattle to Baltimore a few seasons ago, but is his rise so great in 2009 that it trumped the stats and play of a player like Crawford?



And here lies the wild truth that certain players seem to be selected year after year even as their abilities start to show age and flaws in their defense. The Gold Glove award is currently voted on  only by the Managers and Coaches of each individual league, and they can not vote for a member of their respective teams for the award. Maybe it is time to tweak the system a bit and make it a more universally accepted award than a glorified baseball beauty pageant.



Maybe the current system is stagnating  and is quickly becoming an antiquated system to award the Major League's best in defensive excellence. Maybe we need to inject some new blood and some extended voting members into the equation like possibly enlisting the last two seasons of Gold Glove winners to dissolve the  popularity chaos for the award. 




Steve Nesius / AP


Since every MLB Manager and Coach can not vote for their own players, maybe the simple fact of adding a few more sets of eyes that see these players daily might throw some more excitement in the process and actually make this more of a "professionally-based" award than a popularity contest aka beauty pageant.



If the system was more like the Fielding bible Awards would Crawford had been selected as a Gold Glove recipient? You would think that would be an easy answer, but Jones won a Gold Glove while appearing in 36 less games than Crawford. .



But this is a "no-win" situation because we all know that the powers above (Commissioner Selig) will not entertain the notion to tweak the system and actually award the best players at their positions for the Gold Glove. And in a way that is okay. Most people have the same problems with the College Football ranking system and the eventual awarding of their seasonal seeding via the BCS formula.


Maybe Rawlings needs to look at the Fielding Bible a bit closer for possible inspiration and the essence of  wanting to change the rules. Because in the Fielding Bible system, the award is voted on by people outside the influence of Major League Baseball.  Think about it,  a total of 10 baseball eggheads/analysts make their random scaling from 1-10 for every spot on the field. And the outfield is broken up into their three positions and awarded accordingly.




Such baseball gurus like Baseball Info Solutions John Dewan, ESPN Baseball expert Peter Gammons, Joe Posnanski of Sports Illustrated and the Kansas City Star
and of course the Stat brain child, Bill James use the same 10-point system instituted by Major League Baseball to eventually pick the Major League Baseball MVP award to tally their personal votes for the Fielding Bible Award. And maybe that is a direction that the Gold Gloves  should embrace as a model for change.



By adding outside influences and maybe even the past two seasons award winners into the mix, it could become more universally accepted for its fair and concise measuring of players abilities and achievements. Right now the Gold Gloves is a popularity system that is rewarding name worthy recipients than qualified winners.



Tom Gannam / AP



And a perfect example of this might be the Fielding Bible voting for Crawford's position in the 2009 awards. With 10 voters able to cast up to 10 points for each candidate, a perfect score would be 100 points.  So according to the voters Crawford was the best leftfielder in the game of baseball in 2009. And he was not perfect, but his score of 99 points was the largest tally ever since the 98 total points given to Adam Everett in 2006.



So neither awards system is perfect. And there will always be some teams fans voice crying in the night about their guy being worthy. But right now the Gold Glove is not a fair competition, and maybe change will come in the future. And by the way, only 2009 Gold Glove winner Ichiro Suzuki was selected to also receive a Fielding Bible Award this season.  Shows that maybe the system needs a push in the right direction. And maybe the best don't always get the gold.



To Protect and To Serve

 





When I was a child I saw those words in the title of this entry on a Los Angeles police car in the television show "Adam-12". But it took many years for me to personally learn those words and know the courage and the bravery needed to ascend to that plateau of honor and serving.



On this day I want to honor those who have given of themselves for the freedoms that we all sometimes take for granted. I also want to honor and thank those who have paid the ultimate sacrifice so I can enjoy the life I have in this country. On this Veteran's Day I want to honor those who have also played this beautiful game of baseball and also interrupted their careers to  answer the call from their nation to serve with honor.




Instead of talking about baseball today, I want to salute two former baseball players who answered the call of duty to serve in our military ,and also unselfishly sacrificed pieces of their professional careers for our freedoms today. I want to honor them for their commitment to this great country and hope that we all remember them today for their courage and heroic deeds.



It is said that over 4,500 players swapped their daily baseball uniforms for the assorted colors of the United States Military in World War II.  Not all of these brave men were in the Major Leagues at the time, but the entire minor league system in this country saw men volunteer and enter the draft during the war. It has been estimated that at least 125 members of baseball minor leagues gave the ultimate sacrifice during this war.




We all know some of the  hallowed names associated with the game of baseball and the military like Ted Williams, Hank Greenberg,Joe DiMaggio and Manager Danny Ozark.  Yes, even Managers, coaches and Umpires joined the ranks of the military branches to fight during the conflict. But today I am going to feature only two of the many who left their cleats and gloves in their lockers and exchanged them for weapons of war.



Today I have chosen Navy Chief Specialist Bob Feller and Army First Lieutenant Warren Spahn as my blog subjects. Both of these men have been personal  baseball heroes of mine while growing up and I felt it was only right on this day of remembering the sacrifices and losses of so many brave souls to include these two greats who gave up time during their brilliant baseball careers to fight along side people like my father's three brothers.



There currently are over 33 inducted members of the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York who served during World War II.   Memorable players like Yogi Berra, Joe DiMaggio, Luke Appling, Larry Doby, Bobby Doerr, Monte Irvin, Ralph Kiner, Johnny Mize, Pee Wee Reese, Phil Rizzuto, Robin Roberts, Enos Slaughter, Duke Snider,and Ted Williams. Many of the top tier players of that era of the game served during World War II. 




BaseballAlmanac.com


Navy Chief Specialist Bob Feller 

On December 8,1941, the day after the Japanese  unprovoked attack on  Navy vessels anchored in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii,  Cleveland Indian great Bob Feller enlisted in the United States Navy. He was sworn in by former Heavyweight boxing champion, Gene Tunney, at the Chicago courthouse. He was first assigned to the Norfolk Naval Training Station in Virginia, as part of Tunney's physical fitness program, and pitched for the baseball team. But Feller was not happy. "I wanted to get out of the Tunney program and in to combat," he told author William B Mead. "So I went to the gunnery school there. And I went on the USS Alabama that fall."




Feller then spent the next 26 months as a Chief Petty Officer assigned to an anti-aircraft gun crew on the USS Alabama (BB-60), a South Dakota-class battleship. "We spent the first six or eight months in the North Atlantic. I was playing softball in Iceland in the spring. We came back in the later part of the summer, and went right through the Panama Canal and over to the South Pacific. We hung around the Fiji islands for a while, and then when we got the fleet assembled, and enough men and equipment to start a successful attack, we hit Kwajalein and the Gilberts and the Marshalls and then across to Truk."




The USS Alabama returned to the United States in the spring of 1945, and Feller was assigned to the Great Lakes Naval Training Center in  upper Illinois, where he coached the baseball team and pitched to a 13-2 won-loss record with 130 strike outs in 95 innings. He returned to Major League Baseball in August 1945, and in his Indians debut at home in Cleveland, he beat the Tigers, 4-2, in front 46,477 adoring fans.

 




In January 1946, Feller set up a three-week school in Tampa, Florida, to develop the baseball skills of returning veterans - both aspiring ballplayers and those with some organized baseball experience. Men paid for their own transportation to the school as well as room and board, but the instruction by fellow major leaguers was free for the returning veterans. It was seen as a time to reflect on both the future and the past and gave the players a sense of "normal life" again.





Feller spoke about his military service some years later in a segemtn on of ESPN's Major League Baseball Magazine.  Feller said "I'm very proud of my war record, just like my baseball record. I would never have been able to face anybody and talk about my baseball record if I hadn't spent time in the service." Then again in 2005, he got a chance to chat with people online during a visit to the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York. 


 

One of the many questions he was asked that day online was whether he had any regrets about serving in the war? "No, I don't," he replied. "During a war like World War II, when we had all those men lose their lives, sports was very insignificant. I have no regrets. The only win I wanted was to win World War II. This country is what it is today because of our victory in that war.
 



Baseballdigest.com



Army First Lieutenant Warren Spahn



 Former pitcher Warren Spahn entered the military service on December 3, 1942 when he reported to Army Camp Chaffee, Arkansas and pitched for the 1850th Service Unit baseball team. He was then sent to Europe in December 1944 with the 1159th Engineer Combat Group's 276th Engineer Combat Battalion. " Let me tell you, that was a tough bunch of guys. We had people that were let out of prison to go into the service. So those were the people I went overseas with," he told the Hearst Press in 1945, "And they were tough and rough  and I had to fit that mold."




Spahn soon found himself in the middle of one of the most intense conflicts of the European Theatre, the Battle of the Bulge. "We were surrounded in the Hertgen Forest and had to fight our ways out of there. Our feet were frozen when we went to sleep, and they were frozen when we woke up. We didn't have a bath or shower, or even a change of clothes for weeks."


 


In March 1945, the 276th were responsible for maintaining the traffic flow across the Ludendorff Bridge at Remagen, the only remaining bridge to span the Rhine. The bridge was under almost constant attack from the Germans who were desperate to stop the flow of Allied forces into Germany. At the same time they were to build a 140-foot Double Bailey bridge nearby.
 



On March 16, Spahn was wounded in the foot by bullet shrapnel while working on the Ludendorff. The following day he had just left the Ludendorff when the entire structure collapsed into the river with the loss of more than 30 US Army Corp of Engineer soldiers. The  entire 276th unit received the Distinguished Unit Emblem and for their efforts to keep the bridge operating, while under constant enemy fire, Staff Sergeant Spahn received a Bronze Star, Purple Heart and a battlefield commission as a second-lieutenant.




After Germany's surrender in May 1945, First Lieutenant Spahn pitched for the 115th Engineers Group at their base at the University of Heidelberg in Germany. In a four game stretch, he allowed only one run and nine hits while striking out 73 batters. "Before the war I didn't have anything that slightly resembled self-confidence," Spahn told the Associated Press in August 1946. "Then I was tight as a drum and worrying about every pitch. But now I just throw them up without the slightest mental pressure."




Looking back on my military experience years later Spahn said, "After what I went though overseas, I never thought of anything I was told to do in baseball as hard work. you get over feeling like that when you spend days on end sleeping in frozen tank tracks in enemy threatened areas. The Army taught me something about
challenges and about what's important and what isn't. Everything I tackle in baseball and in life I take as a challenge rather than work."



It would take almost two decades for Spahn to again dorn a military outfit. But this time it was for a much different reason entirely. He had been asked to be a guest star on the Vic Morrow military show "Combat" as an extra in a scene. So Spahn again put on a military uniform, but this time it was as a German soldier in the television show scene.






I am honored to bring the tale of these two great baseball players and ex-soldiers to you today on Veteran's Day. I am also an ex-Army Reservist who stepped on the soil in Kuwait on February 23,1990 as a freshly minted Master Sergeant. Until that day I could not fathom the emotions that would come to a head in such a short period of time. But the pride and courage both my unit and the other invading troops showed within that first hour will always make me stand proud.



So on this Veteran's Day in 2009, I personally salute every person who has served, their families and loved ones for their bravery and courage to defend our rights with honor. And for so many of the players of this game I love so much to also answer that call only makes this salute more personal to me. Until I served I really did not get the feelings and the emotions of my father.



Until I served I might have taken these freedoms a bit lightly. But now, after seeing the sacrfices of others, and knowing the true spectacle of battle and its after effects, I stand tall and proud and pray for everyone currently stationed or fighting to perserve those rights for us today. I am no longer eligible to serve, but if they changed those rules, I would be there in a moment once again.........and that is what I am proudest about today.



Tampa Mayor's "bet" is a no-win Situation

 


Michael Spooneybarger/ TBO.com



Oh what a difference a year can make. Less than a year ago we saw the Tampa Bay region go ballistic and creatively "on fire" with the possibilities of the Tampa Bay Rays. But just as quick, even the local poltical movers and shakers have forgotten the Rays like an old coat. And  one local town Mayor even forgot where she lived for a moment and made an ill fated bet with another regional Mayor over the 2009 World Series.



I have been holding onto my rambling thoughts about this past local event for quite some time. I really wanted the World Series to be over,and hoped that the St. Petersburg City elections might make me somehow forget all about this event. But it did not, and even now I am steaming under the collar that two local Mayors decided to place and wager bets on the outcome of the World Series.  



I am sorry Tampa Mayor Pam Iorio, but I am targeting you here. I understand  your affection and pride in the pure fact that the New York Yankees principal owner has a home in your city. And I also understand your pride that several members of the Yankees also call Tampa their Winter residences.  And I am well aware of expenses from the city coffers to make the lush and green surrounding of George Steinbrenner Field a true masterpiece. But don't you think making a simple wager with the Mayor of Clearwater, who is a publicity mongler over the World Series might just anger local Tampa Bay Rays fans?




How soon some people forget the turmoil this could cause because the Yankee fanbase that come into this region for their yearly series with the Rays already hold their numerous championships in their 100+ seasons as a team over our heads every chance they get.  Now they can throw the pure fact that a local elected official doesn't even have faith in the team. Do you think after your wager this is going to get any better since the Yankees did indeed came home with the title?
 


Are you or your staff currently in the planning stages of a small parade here in the Spring to also honor them and further anger Rays fans? It might seem like a small almost invisible notion to your collective spin doctors and politcal advisers, but it is one Rays fans will not forget for a long, long time. And we know you have bigger fish to fry that just being the political guru of the second biggest Hispanic community in Florida.



I understand that both Clearwater and Tampa are the Spring Training homes of both the Yankees and the Philadelphia Phillies. But they also are the seasonal homes to  teams in the Florida State League teams of which your hometown Tampa Yankees played the Charlotte Stone Crabs for the league title earlier this season, and you did not make any wagers on that title series.  Now I could see a small celebration for them, and maybe even the same wager, but then they are not the media darlings outside of their own region like the Phillies and Yankees right now.



And that is where my biggest gripe come to a frothy head. You have a local team going for a possible championship, and even if it is only a Class-A franchise of the big club, you did not even acknowledge them during their triumphant playoff run and championship victory. That is the team you should have put your wagers on, the one that deserves the press and the acknowledement from the city of Tampa, and the ones their local fans come to see play during their short season.



But to me,a Rays Season Ticketholder,that whole "wager" episode was a slap in my face. And maybe you are glad I am not a resident of Tampa, so I do not have a single voting option. But the political machine in this region has been preaching regional love and togetherness surrounding the Rays for years.



But there have been obstacles in the way. Some say a small group of Tampa-based fans have a "bridge phobia" and that it is a fan base pocket in this area that is missing like a Bermuda Triangle in the middle of this Tampa Bay region. And they have missed out on a lot of great Rays baseball. Sure there are tons of Tampa-based Fans who brave the elements and the traffic to attend games, but to have one of their elected officials show more concern for a huge rival opponent of the Rays is a big slap in the face of the Rays Republic.




Tampagov.net


Sure your seemingly innocent wager of proposing that if the Yankees were to lose this years World Series, You and your entire Tampa leadership team would attend a game at BrightHouse Field in the Spring of 2010 wearing Phillies gear and bring a pleathora of Cuban sandwiches and deviled crabs to the game for Clearwater Mayor Frank Hibbard and his staff to devour was a great gesture.  And one that would have been met with no reprecussions at all if it was located far away from this Tampa Bay Rays fan umbrella. But it was done right within the heart of the franchises fanbase, and that is a shame.



But you could have made the same local bet with the Port Charlotte or Punta Gorda Mayors over the FSL Championship and not caused even a ripple in the bay over the wager. Such a wager would have then been about civic pride and support for the Tampa Yankee squad as they played the Charlotte Stone Crabs.
 

You were right out on the field there front and center with St. Petersburg's Mayoir Rick Baker on Opening Day in 2009 saluting and praising the Rays. I know the Rays season did not turn out quite the way the fans and the community wished it had, but you did turn your back on this local MLB team for a moment, and with their biggest threat and divisional foe.



This episode or misstep might not even cause any damper on your political aspirations to run for a future Senate slot, or even a higher post. Sure there are a lot of transplanted New Yorkers' in this region who now have your name in their brains, and that might be a great political move for the future. But the native Floridians like myself like to usually live in the"Moment", and in this case, you might have actually lost the bet. Sure the Yankees won the World Series,and Hibbard and his Clearwater crew will have to don pinstripes and serve you and your staff grouper sandwiches and conch fritters this spring, but did it come with a small price?



I actually think you have a great abundance of "moxy" in you Madam Mayor, and I admire that trait in a politician. But what I can not honor and sit silently by is to see an elected officials proclaim a bet for a team that plays in the same division as her "so-called Favorite" Tampa Bay Rays. We all know politics can make for strange bedfellows, and I am not implying anything here, just stating fact. But in this bet you lost Madam Mayor.




And I truly loved your witty quote in the St. Petersburg Times on October 27,2009 when asked about the wager: " I never pass up a good winnable bet." You did not have to pay up on your end of the bet because the New Yorkers pulled it out, but you lost something I value more than a few sandwiches and shellfish appetizers. The thing you might have lost from some of your local fans, like me is respect. And that you can not get back with a zingy Mango salsa or a spicy Floridian seafood sauce.



Enjoy the seafood Madam Mayor.

Sunday Rewind" "Garza just misses Immortality"

 

Sunday Review:

As you might remember, during the off season I am going back over the 650 blog posts since 2007 and trying to find postings that I think were special over the years. Since the Rays news does get a little short this time of year, it was a way for me to still post daily and also give some of the newer bloggers a chance to see how my style has changed over the years.
 
 
I picked this blog from my archive for today because it not only shows the  writing style I was using in 2008, but it is a special moment in Rays history. With B J Upton finally getting the first cycle in Rays history on October 3,2008, I wanted to focus today on one of the past pitching performances by one of the Rays emerging starters.



In this series ending game against the Florida Marlins, Rays starter Matt Garza basically served up only one mistake all day long, and the Marlins shortstop Hanley Ramirez deposited it into the leftfield stands for the only hit,and run of the game for his team. It was one of the most dominating efforts by a member of the Rays starting rotation in 2008.
The blog was originally posted on June 26,2008.



    Rays 6,       Marlins 1
 

It was reported yesterday by the Montgomery Advertiser  that Tampa Bay Rays  pitching prospect Jake McGee will undergo season ending elbow surgery next week. The Biscuit starter was originally put on the Disabled List a few days ago, but an MRI revealed a torn elbow tendon and a Tommy John's surgery looks to be in McGee's not to distant future.
 

This could have been a huge blow to the Montgomery Biscuits chances for a third straight SAL title, but the Rays quickly promoted David Price and Jeremy Hellickson several days earlier from Class-A Vero Beach and  both pitchers' should fit into the Biscuits rotation.  McGee will fly to St. Petersburg to meet with Rays orthopedic doctor, Koko Eaton, and was also scheduled to see Dr. James Andrews after the weekend to  get a second confirmation on the diagnosis.  If McGee requires Tommy John's surgery, McGee will be lost for up to a year and a half from the Rays Farm system.
 

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Trivia Fact of the Night:


In 1953, respected and innovative National League umpire Bill Klem was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.
 

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AP Photo 


Rays starter Matt Garza (6-4) will remember this game against the Florida Marlins for a very long time. Not because he got his 6th victory of the season,and the first complete game of his career,but for one floating slider that  could have brought him a special place in Rays history.
 

There is still no doubt that the sweep in the Inter-League series by the Rays over the Marlins in Miami made for a fantastic airline flight to Pittsburgh, but what might have been will be in Garza's head for a few days.
 
            
 

On the first pitch from Garza that Marlin's shortstop Hanley Ramirez saw in the bottom of the 7th inning,Ramirez drilled  the hanging pitch into the seats just above the huge scoreboard in the leftfield bleachers. It was the only pitch that Garza would want to take back all day long. And the errant pitch not only cost Graza his chance at a shutout, but a spot in Rays history and immortality by throwing a no-hitter. 
 
                 
 
According to the Elias Baseball Bureau, It was the first complete-game no-hitter or one-hitter with a double-digit strikeout total in the majors this season. There was only one such pitching performance in each of the last three seasons: By Chris Carpenter in 2005, John Lackey in 2006 and Justin Verlander in 2007.
 
 
A P Photo 



The Rays are now a franchise high 15 games over .500, and have  posted 4 more wins than any other season before the All-Star break. They are also 7  ahead of their pervious best record after 77 games.
 


The Rays have been above .500 for 57 straight days this season  and 61 total  days for the 2008 season,both  marks are Rays club records. Prior to the 2008 season, the Rays had been above the .500 mark for only 72 days combined in the teams short history.


 
                                         
 

Rays rookie Evan Longoria has been given many nicknames in the last few months,"Evan Almighty", "The Natural", and "Longo". The last one nickname seems to be a wild reference to an Alex Karas character in "Blazin' Saddles," and Evan might just be  molding himself to represent a fine reputation to continue hearing the new nickname.
 

Longoria is one of the main  weapons and reasons this years Rays team has been on a winning roll the past two months. Since coming up from the Triple-A Durham Bulls, the Rays have been pretty hard to beat most nights, which has been a rareity in Tampa Bay Rays history. 
 

Yesterday's game totals just added to the ever increasing legend that is "Longo:"



Longoria had three hits on Thursday night (two doubles and a home run) in the Rays' win, after notching three hits (a single, double and homer) in Tampa Bay's 15-3 win over the Marlins on Wednesday night.



Longoria is the fourth player in Rays franchise history to have consecutive games with at least three hits and one home run. The other Tampa Bay players to do that were Aubrey Huff (2004), Jorge Cantu (2005) and B.J. Upton (2007).
 
 

The Rays now have a 9-5 record in Inter-League play this season, the team's highest win total since 2006 when they posted 11 wins in the Inter-League series. With a sweep in Pittsburgh they could establish another Rays club record for total victories during Inter-league play.
 


Along with Longoria and Garza's efforts, the bat of back-up catcher Shawn Riggans showed some real promise in the game for the Rays. Riggans, who has seen very limited action this year with the emergence of Dioner Navarro.
 

Riggans responded today by going 1-3 with 3 RBI's for the Rays. Riggans got his first RBI on the day after a sacrifice fly in the second inning to score Upton from third base,  he then hit a RBI-double to deep centerfield in the 5th inning to score both Upton and Longoria.
 

Riggans also called a great game behind the plate for the Rays. Garza only ran into trouble a few times the entire game and Riggans worked a magical game calling the pitches. Garza walked one lone Marlin, Jeremy Hermida in the 4th inning.
 


Rays shortstop Ben Zobrist hit his second homer in two days in the 8th inning to complete the scoring for the Rays. Zobrist is now hitting .292 since coming up for the Rays from Triple-A Durham.
 


With the expected return of both Jason Bartlett and Carlos Pena on Friday in Pittsburgh,the Rays will have to make some roster moves before the Friday night game. 
 

I am perdicting we will see Troy Percival go on the Disabled List for another 15 days stint, and this time it will not be his decision. If this does not happen,another Rays reliever will have to be sent down, or possibly put on waivers.
 


Based on his recent numbers and the extra dose of experiece this year, Rays utilityman Ben Zobrist might be the odd man out unless a trade can be reached for another infielder on the team. I know that Zobrist needs consistency in his routine,and it is a shame he might have to be the fall guy this time.



Zobrist has only been off the Disabled List for 7 games now,both in Durham and Tampa Bay. And  Zobrist might need some more seasoning to get in great game shape for this team. 


Tonight the Rays start a 3-game  Inter-League series in Pittsburgh.  At this time,I want to tell you about a wild and unique thing they do in the Steel City before every Pirates game. They close the Roberto Clemente bridge to automobile traffic and let the Pirates patrons walk the bridge to the stadium.


It is one of the truly "must do" once experiences in baseball at least once in your life. You get to travel the roads on foot to the ballpark before and after the game.....without dodging  any automobile or motorized traffic.
 


The Rays are visitng PNC park for only the second time in their brief history, starting off when they lost 2 out of 3 in June 2005. They are currently 2-4 All-Time against the Pirates during the regular season.
 
 
 

The Pirates will be bringing up rookie Jimmy Barthmaier from Triple-A for his MLB debut against the Rays. Barthmaier
, a 13th-round Draft pick in 2003, will be making his first Pirates appearance when he takes the mound for Friday's start.
 


The right-hander has combined to go 4-5 this season with a 4.04 ERA in 10 Double-A and five Triple-A starts. In his most recent start, Barthmaier threw six innings, allowing only one run on four hits and striking out eight in the game. Barthmaier has shown better control with both his fastball and breaking ball since being promoted to Triple-A in late May, allowing just six walks in 31 2/3 innings.


 
Look closely at the picture above of Barthmaier. Is it just me, or are there not color to his pupils in the picture.  Might be a Vulcan robot plant to supress the Rays victory celebrations.  Just Kidding,he might just have some wild contact lens for game days. Can we get the entire pitching staff a set of those Joe? No really can you? It could be a nice distracting measure to see only the "whites" of your eyes all night long on the mound.



 
 
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