Does Joe Maddon’s mom also tie his shoes?

Maddon’s Day a Memorable One [Tampa Tribune]

Joe Henderson isn’t happy

Joe Henderson of the Tampa Tribune published a column today which can only be described as panic. Yes, the D-Rays did not look good on opening day, but we all knew this team had problems. There is still not enough power. The defense will be shaky at times. The rotation is young and not very deep. And when your bullpen includes TWO non-roster invitees, it’s not going to be very good. This team will hit. But they will lose a lot of games 9-6. Nobody thought this team was winning the World Series this season…oh wait…somebody did. Somebody should tell Joe Henderson not to believe everything he reads.

New-Look Rays Have Same Old Pitching Issues [Tampa Tribune]
Why the Tampa Bay Devil Rays Will Win the 2006 World Series [The American Daily]

The GOOD, The BAD, and the oh so UGLY

THE GOOD
We were surprised that Julio Lugo was still with the team after the trading deadline last year and we were surprised he was still with the team when players reported to spring training this year, and we will be surprised if he is still with the team this August, but we are glad he is with the team now. Lugo got off to a great start with an opposite field shot off the scoreboard in right field and finished the game 2-2 before leaving the game with an injury. More on that in a minute.

We can’t help but be pleased to see that Johnny Gomes is picking up right where he left off last season, but we were a little dissapointed to see how calm Gomes was after hitting a no-doubter. While Gomes has gone too far in the past, with his behavior at the plate, we hate to see him go completely in the other direction. Gomes is an emotional player, and we beleive that emotion is something the rest of the team can feed off of.

While Aubrey Huff will never be Brooks Robinson or Mike Schmidt with the leather, he did make a fine play yesterday bare-handing a slow roller down the thirdbase line.

We are still on the fence about Carl Crawford using the bunt more this season. His first at bat of the season was a bunt attempt in which he was thrown out. We agree that the bunt can be an effective weapon for someone with Crawford’s speed. The practice could easily produce 25-30 more hits in a season, which could be the difference between batting .280 or batting .330. However, Crawford is such a good hitter and in time we believe he will become a guy who can hit 25-30 homers. Lets just hope he picks the right time and place to lay down a bunt

Manager Joe Maddon made his first good managerial decision of the season before the game, when he decided to put away the retro glasses his wife picked out, and decided to go more chic with the sunglasses. We can only hope that the lights in the Trop this season are too bright and Maddon will always wear the sunglasses.

THE BAD
Scott Kazmir gave up 6 runs in 4+ innings of work, but that is not what is bad. We expect those type of outings from Kazmir. He is still only 22 years old. THE BAD is the fact that he once again threw an absurd number of pitches. 104 pitches in 4 innings is not going to get the job done. That was 104 pitches to 22 batters or almost 5 pitches per batter. Which means, if you count the pitches that were put in play, Kazmir was averaging 2 balls and 3 strikes per batter, and he only struck out 4.

Julio Lugo left the game in the third inning with what was called a pulled oblique. Now its been a while since we here at the Rays Index have taken an anatomy class, and while we have no idea what an oblique is, it doesnt sound good. However, Lugo did stay in after the game after the injury was sustained and was only subsequently taken out in the bottome half of the inning…presumably to get his oblique massaged by Don Zimmer.

Like many fans out there that followed the teams progress during spring training we were excited to see the performance of non-roster invitee Jason Childers, a journeyman 31 year old rookie. Childers threw 12 scoreless innings during the Cactus League. Manager Joe Maddon made his first questionable decision of the new year when he went with Childers with a man on first and nobody out in the fifth down 5-4, on opening day with his wife and family in the stands. Not the easiest way to make your major league debut.

THE UGLY
Joey Gathright was thrown out by 20 feet at second base by Ramon Hernandez. Reminded us of the scene in Major League when Willie Mays Hayes slides head first into second base on a steal attempt and stops about 3 feet short and the shortstop waves at him to keep coming. Gathright, maybe the fastest player in baseball, looked more like Greg Luzinski or John Kruk.

Aaron Goldstein has lost it

I present to you Aaron Goldstein of the American Daily. I have never met Mr. Goldstein, but I am worried about him. Yes…Mr. Goldstein is the first person in the history of mankind to pick the D-Rays to win the world series. The first thing that anyone should notice is the date on the article is April 1. When i first began to read the article, i was waiting for the punchline…BUT…after reading the article, I am not convinced it is a joke. He actually is trying to make an argument, most of which are reasons we all believe the D-Rays are on the right path. If this were an April Fools prank I would expect the reasoning to be more silly, such as “Scott Kazmir put on 20 pounds in the off-season and now weighs 120 pounds and hits 135 on the radar gun.” Still, I think it is in the best interest of Mr. Goldstein that we give him the benefit of the doubt.

Why the Tampa Bay Devil Rays Will Win the 2006 World Series [The American Daily]

These are the RAYS of our Lives

As far as I am concerned, Christmas come three times a year. The first day of the NCAA tournament, the first Sunday of the NFL season and of course the first Monday in April also known as Opening Day in baseball. Dwayne Staats just said it best. This is the most exciting opening day in the D-Rays history since year one. How can you not be excited about this season? Sure, this team still has problems (ie. relief pitching), but you can see it starting to come together. And no sooner did I write that, and Johnny Gomes just parked one in the foliage of left center firled at Camden Yards. Here is a perfect example…I actually worry about our outfield situation because we have TOO many talented outfielders. Nice problem to have.