Results tagged ‘ Andy Sonnanstine ’
Final Photo Homage to the “Spittin’ Cobra”
I really don’t know why it has taken me almost 5 months to finally posting an image homage of Tampa Bay Rays starter Matt Garza’s bobblehead.
The Rays Marketing gurus’ up in the high floors of Tropicana Field had the vision to have it in place by the time Garza took the hill for his No-Hitter on July 26th, just a day after the David Price image was removed from that same spot in Rightfield. Somehow I lost not only my focus in regards to these Garza photos, but the actual photo file until today.
Maybe the Fathead style comedic image of Garza’s bobblehead that just seemed to keep staring at me through his morphing stages also possibly telepathically transformed my mental facilities in oatmeal after digesting a Garza neurotoxin that had me somehow postpone his 2010 bobblehead photo image transformation until today?
Could it have been the mystical workings of the “Cobra-Chameleon” that made me hide the images and as he went through his daily metamorphosis at the hands of Rays reliever Andy Sonnanstine, the Rays budding team artist and resident practical jokester.
Even when Sonnanstine was assigned to the Hudson Valley Renegades (love their name) for a week, the transformation were handled by passing the torch to fellow former Rays Bullpen mate, LHP Randy Choate.
There has to be some sort of logical reasoning why I could not complete this mental mission before today. It is really not normal for a rabid Rays fan like myself, to forget something as memorable as your team’s first No-Hitter, especially at Dome sweet Dome.
But ironically I did. Maybe all the glitter that turns to gold surrounding that harmonious July 26th performance was somehow still riding in circles within my mind to this very day.
Maybe I was simply just a emotional and mental wave of cosmic energy that intermittently got frozen in my mind and finally began to thaw and revealed the (file) path to the lost Garza treasure of photos.
From the transformation of the simple facial hair growing daily to the final image of Garza sans I-Pod and a well placed bubble gum balloon above his cap, it was a set of images I hope I never forget again.
And now with Garza taking his glove and being traded recently to the city that gave us Vienna beef hot dogs and deep dish pizza, maybe it is apropos that these great images of the changing Garza bobblehead are finally unveiled today.
I will miss the “Spittin’ Cobra. His heart and fighting spirit were inspirational, and his confidence was always riding in the red zone. Garza was one of those guys who emotionally pitched like his hair was on fire and took every single pitch and hit to heart.
So I guess this is my way today to officially say “goodbye” to the guy who always signed for the kids on Sunday after he threw on the field. Maybe this is my “thank you” to the player who attended both Gameworks events for Season Ticketholders over the last several years. Maybe this is my photo remembrance of a Rays player who can grow facial hair….unlike me.
Or possibly it is these lasting images of Garza that I want frozen forever in my mind. Of him showing that smile, wearing those 80′s louvered sunglasses while listening to his music and getting ready to do battle on the mound.
Maybe there was a cosmic reason his images are locked away in my mind. Maybe he is a Rays player I never wanted to forget.
The Dude’s 2010 Rays Wild Ride
It has been a pretty wild ride for Tampa Bay Rays reliever J P Howell since the New Years shiny ball first dropped on January 1,2010. Fresh off his off season wedding nuptials and a honeymoon in the exotic locale of Bora, Bora, the Rays southpaw was experiencing a high point in his life and career after signing a $ 1.8 million salary through arbitration on January 19th for the 2010 season. Little could Howell have known that within the next 30 days, his life and baseball world would begin to resemble the Disney’s Mr. Toad Wild Ride rollercoaster.
The southpaw first began to experience weakness and pain in his left throwing shoulder during the early workouts even before the Grapefruit (Spring Training) season began and he was subsequently would be shut down for further evaluation by the Rays medical staff. Howell even commented to the St. Petersburg Times on March 30,2010 that he “encouraged” by a recent strength test performed by the Rays medical staff on his wounded left wing. Howell was so convinced of the success of his rehabilitation that he felt he could possibly be back in the Rays Bullpen by mid-to-late May. Little did Howell know that his wild rollercoaster ride was only about to begin.
The Rays finally scheduled a simulated game session for Howell at Tropicana Field on May 17th in hopes of possibly sending Howell on a short rehab assignment in the Rays system after the game simulation before bringing back to the MLB roster. Howell suddenly stopped throwing after a total of 12 pitches. His wild adventure was about to make one of it’s darkest moments surface right in front of him. Howell immediately went straight into Rays Head Trainer Ron Porterfield’s room in the Rays clubhouse.
After a short examination, a Rays teammate was seen bringing Howell’s clothes to Porterfield’s trainer’s room. Before that evenings game against the Cleveland Indians, Rays Manager Joe Madden spoke to the media and told them that Howell had suffered a “setback” and that he would be re-evaluated by the Rays doctors. It was the beginning of the steep rise and then quick freefall for Howell during 2010.
The darkening prognosis was further amplified by the blinding fact that Howell, who was usually one of the most out-going and quotable Rays players mysteriously snuck out of Tropicana Field without talking with anyone. The Rays had him visit Dr. Coco Eaton, the Rays staff orthopedic physician. After an examination by Eaton, it was advised that Howell seek a second opinion from Rays Medical Director Dr. James Andrews in Birmingham, Alabama. Suddenly the coaster ride again began another rising ascent to the top.
After the announcement, Rays Vice President of Baseball Operations Andrew Friedman revealed that when the Rays first got news of the weakness in Howell shoulder, the team envisioned possibly losing him, but held out hope that Howell could have been back at some point for 2010.The surgery dashed all hopes of a return to the Rays Bullpen for Howell.
Friedman spoke to Howell before he underwent his surgery on May 23rd and Friedman stated, “Obviously he was frustrated, it was an emotional moment for him, going through this for the first time,” Friedman said. “He’s in great hands, he’s a great worker, great competitor, so I would certainly never bet against him.”
After his a short stay in Birmingham, Howell returned to the Tampa Bay area, and released a few statements through the Rays PR Department on his surgery. “I feel like I just went 12 rounds and only punched with my left hand. It feels good to be moving forward and not sitting in limbo wondering what’s wrong. Now each day is a step forward.”
I saw Howell for the first time when his wife was promoting her children’s book, “The Adventures of Dangles” at the USF-St. Petersburg campus during the Times Festival of Reading event. His hair and beard had darkened a bit as hide behind the main area wanting his wife to have her day without any distractions. We spoke for just a brief moment as he quickly told me his rehabs were going great with the Rays staff and in his sessions in Birmingham, Alabama.
Some of his time away from the game had helped him focus his family’s involvement with discoveryourpath.com, which was a charity his wife and him both enthusiastically support. At that moment I initially had the feeling his rollercoaster ride might finally be in its final deceleration stage. But there was one more gut wrenching twist to come.
On December 1st in his pre-Winter Meeting press session, Friedman advised the Rays Republic that Howell would definitely not be starting the season with the Rays. That ended a stream of optimism that Howell could/would be back with the team by Opening Day. Friedman added that Howell was working extremely diligent during his rehabilitation, but would not be ready by April 2011. Instantly I heard the click, clicking sound of the coaster car again as it ascended to the ride’s summit.
Howell was a key component to the rebuilding process of the empty Rays Bullpen that presently only has pitchers Andy Sonnanstine and Mike Ekstrom initially returning for 2011. With this latest news of Howell missing the beginning of another season, combined with an upcoming arbitration decision by the Rays, there was a ever growing cloud of doubt suddenly hanging above Howell’s name.
When the Rays finally unveiled their plan to non-tender an arbitration offer to Howell for 2011, most immediately thought the Rays reliever was destined to not be a part of the Rays rebuilding process. Most saw the move as a cost cutting measure to insure that Howell would instead sign for less than the projected $ 2.35 million dollar arbitration amount. The pure fact that Howell openly stated that he “wanted to be a Ray” spoke volumes about move.
This was just a calculated fiscal move that guaranteed the Rays some financial give and take with Howell. The non-tender gave the Rays a loophole around a rule that limit’s the reduction of a player’s salary to 20 percent ($ 1.44 million). In the background, Howell and his agent were furiously working on a contract when the Rays made their intentions public. Suddenly the rollercoaster ride that seemed to be going downwards fast ultimately ended up taking a upward motion.
Rays Sonnanstine Always Seems to Endure
Tampa Bay Rays starter/reliever Andy Sonnanstine might not be the guy you first envisioned when you thought who might be the “last man standing” when the Rays begin their systematic Winter dissection of their 2010 bullpen. When you think of lasting elements in regards to the Rays Bullpen, honestly Sonnanstine was not the first name that crossed my mind. But he has been fighting that type of thinking his entire life as well as his professional career.
In a pre-2010 MLB season Rays Index Trade Pool contest, 3 out of 12 Rays Internet bloggers thought Sonnanstine would be the Rays top trade target during the season . I, can honestly tell you I was one of the trio who thought Sonny’s career might be outside the Rays circle of trust by this juncture of the Hot Stove season. Plenty of times I thought the Rays “sixth starter” would be dealt away to give himself a chance to again sustain a starting role instead of being pigeonholed into a long reliever role.
There are so many previously unseen twists and turns within starter/reliever/jack-of-all pitching trades Sonnanstine that you can see why he has survived to the end. Sonny is a proverbial human “onion” with so many multiple layers and talents within his overall skill set besides just throwing a round white sphere at a moderate velocity. Did you know that the Ohio native once actually worked as a pheasant hunt guide at the Hill and Dale Hunt Club in Medina, Ohio as well as being a great clay target shooter?
Then you peel away another layer of the onion to find out that the quiet Sonnanstine was also once a school janitor during his High School days.
His Rays career might have never materialized if former Rays owner Vince Namoli had not witnessed Sonnanstine’s magic as the tall lanky right-hander handcuff Namiloi’s 5th ranked Norte Dame Fightin’ Irish baseball squad in a 2-1 upset in the opening round of the South Bend Regional of the NCAA Baseball Championship.
Did you know that Sonnanstine during his red-shirt Freshman year helped the Golden Flash defeat the number one ranked Georgia Tech squad sending them to their first loss of that season and posting the first win of Sonnanstine’s collegiate career. Even to this date, two of Kent State’s biggest baseball victories have Sonnanstine listed as the winning pitcher.
Recently another layer of the Sonny onion has been exposed as Sonnanstine will be inducted into the New England Collegiate Baseball League (NECBL) Hall of Fame for his play during 2002 and 2003 with Sanford Mainers. Sonny will be joined by former 2004 Rays RP Mark Malaska along with current MLB players Chris Iannetta (C, Rockies), Andre Either (OF, Dodgers), former MLB Commissioner Fay Vincent and Joe Consentino in a ceremony held on November 6, 2010 in Sanford, Maine.
“Ever since I can remember, I’ve loved baseball,” Sonnanstine wrote in 2005 on attheyard.com, an online journal for professional baseball players. At the time, he was pitching for the Rays former Class-A affiliate, the Charleston Riverdogs. “I think I was four or so when I first picked up a baseball, and since then I’ve had a dream of becoming a Major League pitcher. Making that dream come true has been the biggest priority of my life“.
More and more you dig into the onion that is the life of this Rays player, the more interesting and intriguing experiences you seem to uncover. The fact that Sonnanstine does an off season Wii fitness program might not be too exciting or surprising to most people, but it is not the usual baseball themed regime, but a Yoga-based program to help with his overall flexibility and stamina while spending his off the field time with his faithful canine companion Murphy at his St. Pete Beach home.
We all immediately got to see a first sliver of the comedy side of Sonny’s onion during a Rays road trip in 2009 when the Rays pitcher organized a covert team wide prank on Rays rookie reliever Dale Thayer to have a little fun with Thayer’s 1970′s style facial hair. At a predetermined time during the game, the entire Rays bench and the bullpen both systematically pulled out a bushy moustache substitute and applied it to their face in homage to Thayer. It was a quick look into the creative mind of Sonny.
During the 2010 season, The Rays fans all got to collectively see more of Sonny’s inherent artistic talents as he was the main conspirator in the changing daily facades to the Rays upcoming promotional giveaway images plastered on the Tropicana Field Rightfield just beyond the Rays bullpen. His daily transformation of both the David Price and Matt Garza figures were always well received and recorded for their sheer attention to detail and overall humorous intent.
Little did most of us know that Sonnanstine actually had a bit of an MLB pedigree before the Rays drafted him out of Kent State. It seems that the Ohio natives great uncle on his mother’s side was former Cleveland Indian Third Baseman Ken Keltner who New York Yankee fans still curse as the guy who made two great defensive plays to end Joe DiMaggio’s 52-game hitting streak back on July 17,1941.
Sonnanstine also got to live a moment of Rays irony on September 1, 2010 when he was optioned because of a mysterious right foot contusion to the same short season Hudson Valley Renegades ( love it) club where he began his Rays career. The same franchise that once presented Sonny with their Pitcher of the Year award back in 2004.
The Rays resident ping pong champion who was once referred to in the past as a “poor man’s Greg Maddux” has again defeated the odds and remains standing tall. During so many of the Rays previous seasons, the Rays right-hander has been the focus of countless trade rumors and opinions, but has always seemed to survive the cut and stay firmly planted within the Rays fold.
But the most defined peel of Sonny’s onion might be in his mental preparation and overall athletic ability that has even made Rays Manager Joe Maddon secure with a line-up card error. Back on May 17,2009 during a home start against the Cleveland Indians, an error on the game line-up card posted both Evan Longoria and Ben Zobrist playing Third Base.
The mistake eliminated the Designated Hitter position from the Rays batting order and thrust Sonny into the third slot in the Rays line-up Sonnanstine rose to the occasion for his Rays teammates by going 1-for-3 with an RBI double, plus picked up the pitching win to add a double dose of misery to the Indians, who were Sonnanstine’s favorite team as a child growing up in Ohio.
Sonnanstine’s first trip in 2010 to the disabled list for a right hamstring injury threw the door wide open for the Rays to recall Rays top prospect Jeremy Hellickson to make his MLB debut against the Minnesota Twins on August 19th. Even with an injury, Sonny finds a way to help the Rays win games.
Maybe the guy who once spent his college years in a dormitory room at Kent State just beyond the statue that still bears the bullet hole from the Kent State Massacre (May, 4,1970) surely knows a thing or two about surviving, even in the Major Leagues.
Some people might be surprised to learn that Sonny is double-jointed in his right elbow, or about his in-game superstition of throwing numerous pieces of bubble gum to the masses in Section 140 of Tropicana Field during Rays home games. The recent Rays Bullpen purge is quickly turning into huge question mark for the Rays. Possibly Sonnanstine has the right stuff to remain and provide more than just an onion slice of consistency for the Rays Bullpen heading into 2011.
Rays Bullpen Undergoing Extensive “Renovations”
Mike Carlson/AP
Just when I thought I could feel a tad secure about the Tampa Bay Rays unstable Bullpen situation, Rays Vice President of Baseball Operations Andrew Friedman has to drop another bombshell on the already scarred Rays Republic. With the recent revelations that even Rays stalwart reliever Grant Balfour is shunning the Rays arbitration offer, the team has quickly seem it Bullpen’s health go from unstable to critical.
I instantly felt like Daniel-san from “The Karate Kid” with a hearty leg sweep taking me out and sending me to the canvas. Suddenly the foundation I thought was flimsy but fixable, might just be undergoing a major overhauling. Maybe I invested too much into hoping, praying, thinking that Rays southpaw reliever J P Howell could somehow be that impending shining light we would need in the Spring of 2011 to blaze a Bullpen path.
Instantly, that foundation, that hope of some stability was swept clean, at least for the first few months of the 2011 Major League Baseball decision. Friedman had very encouraging words about Howell’s rehabilitation program since his 2010 shoulder surgery, but the only words echoing through my mind again and again was the possibility he would not be available until May or June. With just those few words it seems that a total transition of the Rays Bullpen was underway, and would Sonnanstine and Cormier be spared from the purge?
In reality, the Rays Bullpen went quickly from a slight rebuilding mode to a full blown reconstruction mode even if Sonnanstine and Cormier are brought back for 2011. Howell was thought to be some of the glue that might bond this unit tighter with his hugely optimistic attitude and energy. But with Friedman’s announcement of a possible road bump in his rehabilitation process, Howell quickly goes from a veteran cog of the Rays Bullpen 2011 machine, to an in-season inserted piece.
Suddenly the instability of the Rays Bullpen reminds me of those moving grass patches in the Florida Everglades that on the surface look like solid ground until you walk on them, then you fall through into the murky water below. Even with young arms like southpaw reliever Jake McGee and righthander Mike Ekstrom possibly returning for another Rays extended gig, Friedman made it clear that McGee would have to prove himself this Spring or possible start the season with the Triple-A Durham Bulls.
With the Rays possibly carrying 12-13 pitchers going into the 2011 season, suddenly only the starting five of James Shields, Matt Garza, David Price, Wade Davis and Jeff Niemann seems to be on any form of solid ground for now. But we have a long way to the Rays first reporting date of February 13th and anything can happen. If the Rays do consider carrying 12 pitchers’, that would mean that 7 new faces could possibly enter the Rays Spring Training complex in Port Charlotte, Florida on that date. I hope the team is stocking up on ” Hi! My Name is….” tags.
Such a major re-configuration to the Rays late inning staff could take them immediately out of the thought process of contending during 2011 and might have damage their post season aspirations for several years. Suddenly the once solid and reliable Rays Bullpen unit is a shadow of its former self. And with the Rays farm system a bit discombobulated after 21 minor league free agents were not offered an olive branch by the parent club, more change is expected.
It is a long way to February 13th, and the Rays could possibly entertain a multi-year offer with Balfour, or possibly have the chance to sign Wheeler to a lower salary figure than his declines $ 4 million option and retain some form of reasonable back end stability to the Rays Bullpen. Tendering 2011 contracts to Sonnanstine and Cormier could alleviate a bit of the Rays relief flux, but would only be a band-aid on the seeping wound.
Rays Need to Fill their Clubhouse Void
The Tampa Bay Rays front office and my moles have gone silent. The organization seems to have again gone into their seasonal Black Ops mode when finalizing and considering their list of targets for the current 2010 Hot Stove season. But just like a hunter, the Rays have their scouting department scouring the countryside for videos and research that will point their direction towards a few of their prized prey.
And with another banner set to be raised to the rafters in April 2011, the Rays have the young talent and pitching to again cause some havoc in the American League East. But the 2010 season took a toll on the young team as they saw 5 of their top 6 2010 salary earners exit the franchise 40-man roster on Sunday morning. The team saw a combined $ 40 million in 2010 salaries instantly fall off their books which was almost 55 percent of their 2010 outgoing financial picture for Rays players.
The main problem with losing a person like Pena and his ability to command this Rays clubhouse is that you can never match up the team again with that personality and intensity type, but you look for a figure who commands the respect and can take the reins in the clubhouse without a power struggle or in fighting. That is a rare thing to find as ex-Rays slugger Pat Burrell found out in 2009 when he accosted B J Upton in the Rays locker room thinking he had the support of the team, then suddenly found out he was not in the power loop.
Maybe the Rays could set their gun sights on someone like Free Agent Jim Thome who might command a salary like Pena’s, but could provide a instant patch to their leadership and Designated Hitter hole with ease. No longer can the Rays set their sights firmly just upon possibly inviting Pena again into the Rays sanctuary. Even with Pena’s past vocally adamant wants to return to the Rays, can a financially adequate figure be reached without hindering the rest of the Rays off season secret double agent game plan.
Not only will the Rays be trying to find players to take over the missing pieces in their roster, they will be trying to glue together a few ripped apart seams in their clubhouse character. This might be more difficult than finding a guy who can hit over 30 Home Runs, or hold hitters to under a 3.00 ERA as a reliever. Physical ability is always available within the cycles of players who yearn for a shot in the Major Leagues, but sometimes character and leadership is not their game or part of their professional credo.
Rays Renegade
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