The Hangover: Big Papi Is Our Daddy

Red Sox 5, Devil Rays 4.
Was anybody surprised that Big Papi hit that home run?

Just the links today as we are on our way to Austin City Limits.

DEVIL RAYS WEBTOPIA…

• With BJ Upton’s shift to center field, the Rays may now be sporting both the strongest right field arm and the strongest arm in center field. [Devil Rays]

Maddon can rest easy knowing that his center fielder owns only one of a pair of outfield cannons. Right fielder Delmon Young entered Wednesday’s action ranked third in the Majors with 16 outfield assists behind Atlanta’s Jeff Francoeur and Minnesota’s Michael Cuddyer. Upton, who has found new life after an uncomfortable tour through three infield positions, can stay right where he is.

• Carter Gaddis calls this stretch of games “The most challenging road trip of the season”. He apparently has already forgotten the trip in which the Rays played a make-up game in Chicago on a Monday and were forced to play three games in three different cities in three days. [TBO]

The Hangover: Quick And Painless

Tim Wakefield 6, Devil Rays 0.
We got nothin’ today…Enjoy the links while Delmon Young flails and misses yet another Wakefield knuckler by 18 inches. And wake us when Kazmir finally stops throwing pitches in the first inning.

DEVIL RAYS WEBTOPIA…

• In addition to being called up to the majors and getting a walk-off hit in his first at bat with the Devil Rays, Joel Guzman was able to meet his childhood idol, Davif Ortiz. [Devil Rays]
• Joe Maddon says not to expect more than a couple of additional players to be called up when teams are allowed to expand the rosters on September 1. Look for Maddon to go to a six-man rotation to ease the pitch counts of Scott Kazmir and James Shields [tampabay.com]

“We don’t need a whole lot of folks up here right now,” Maddon said. “We have a young group that needs to continue to play. We’re playing to win and we’re playing against a lot of contending teams and we set it up to win, so I don’t anticipate a whole bunch of people showing up.”

• We thought for certain that The Ledger would have fixed THIS headline by this morning, but apparently not. Just to clarify, Joel Guzman had 19 at bats with the Dodgers last year. [The Ledger]
• Carlos Pena is the Devil Rays representative on the ballot for the Hank Aaron Award. We have made our thoughts on this award known before and we still think it is a joke. [Devil Rays]
• Another blogger weighs in on how to “fix” the Devil Rays. This time the solution is a new stadium. Simple huh? First of all, if we have said it once, we have said it six times, the Trop is not a bad place to watch a game. It is still being penalized by a reputation that is perpetuated by people that have never seen a game at the Trop. Have these people ever been to Shea Stadium? And we know that Fenway is historic, but it is the most uncomfortable stadium we have ever been to. There is more leg room on a plane and most of the seats do not even face towards the infield. For example, if you sit down the right field line, you are facing the monster. Second, the lease the Devil Rays have with the Trop is well-documented and about as iron-clad as any stadium has with a pro team, so the Rays are not going anywhere anytime soon…even if everybody seems to think they should. [Dahmen Daily]
• The Devil Rays have broken ground on their new Spring Training complex in Charlotte County. [WinkNews.com]

The Hangover: Somebody Pissed In Our Wheaties

Red Sox 2, Devil Rays 1.
Let that be a lesson to you kids out there. Don’t anger the baseball gods.

Let’s all bow down and honor the best team of 2008. Let’s pay homage the greatest team in the history of baseball. Let’s sacrifice a decapitated cat to Ted Williams and pledge our allegiance to the Red Sox nation. For they are all-powerful.

Yes. The Red Sox have proven their greatness. They have proven that they cannot be stopped. They are a juggernaut. They might as well cancel the playoffs and the World Series, because when it is all said and done, the Red Sox will walk through October to the tune of Three-Fo-Fo. And when they are done licking their chops and scattering the bones, 612,000 drunk fans named “Sully” will scream the greatness that is two championships in the past 89 years.

Yes folks, the Red Sox have scored FIVE runs in two games against a team that has the worst record in baseball and a pitching staff that has an ERA of 5.78. Apparently that is the formula for “righting the ship”.

Does any of this make us feel better. No. No it doesn’t. Sometimes The Hangover truly is a hangover. And this morning? We can’t eat. Doonesbury is not even remotely funny. We yelled at our dog and our loved ones are wondering why we get so upset about a team that is on pace to lose 105 games.

I just shake my head and say “You wouldn’t understand,” when the reality is, I don’t understand.

DEVIL RAYS WEBTOPIA…

• Something happened last night in Boston and Marc Topkin tries to get to the bottom of it. We know there are limits to what a newspaper’s “Blog” can do. They have to work within the confines of a professional organization, while sites like ours rarely have to answer to anybody. But if the papers are going to try and jump on the information superhighway bandwagon (late as usual) then this post by Topkin is exactly what they should try to provide on a daily basis. A bunch of quick thoughts, facts and rumblings on the game and the team mixed in with the access that the rest of us don’t care to have. [tampabay.com]
• Want to know why Scott Kazmir has always pitched well against the Red Sox? After last night’s game Manny Ramirez and David Ortiz are a combined 10-72 (.139) against Kid K.
• The Yankees get their butts whooped by the Orioles 12-0, and apparently it is Al Reyes fault that they lost a game in the standings. [River Ave. Blues]
• Amazing how teams always seem to get healthy when they play the Rays. [Sully Baseball]
• Scott Kazmir now has the 10th most strikeouts all-time for a pitcher before the age of 24. [SI.com]
• Still no news to report on David Price. [TBO]
• Tonight’s starter Andy Sonnanstine is struggling for the first time in his professional career and has yet to show that he will be able to overcome it. Tonight’s crowd at Fenway is not going to make things any easier. [Devil Rays]

“He’s been successful everywhere he’s been,” Maddon said. “I think maybe this is the first time he’s really been challenged this way. And to have your first real challenge happen at the Major League level makes it a little more difficult to straighten yourself out. But he’s been successful everywhere he’s been, and I think he’s got very good makeup. And because of that, I think he’ll be able to work through it.”

• Carl Crawford has an amazing ability to stay focused and continue to pile up enormous numbers despite the dire surroundings that he is usually faced with. [TheLedger.com]

This isn’t to feel sorry for Crawford. This is to admire him. Who in sports plays a better game with a worse hand?

• I don’t know what is more disturbing…that there is a blog called Pink Hat Nation or that the blog Pink Hat Nationis commenting on Raymond the Seadog. [Pink Hat Nation]

AL East Roundup: Prodigal Rocket Swayed By King George

AL EAST	W	L	GB	L10	STK	E#
Boston Red Sox	21	10	–	7-3	W2	—
New York Yankees	15	16	6.0	7-3	W1	126
Baltimore Orioles	15	18	7.0	4-6	W1	124
Tampa Bay Devil Rays	14	18	7.5	5-5	L2	124
Toronto Blue Jays	13	19	8.5	2-8	L7	123

Yankees 8, Rangers 2. How huge was Alex Rodriguez’s April? Last night he hit his first home run of May and he still leads the majors by 4 home runs over the nearest slugger. Meanwhile, the Yankees got a much-needed strong performance from Andy Pettite, who was obviously in a homoerotic state of euphoria now that his buddy Roger Clemens has signed with the Evil Empire once again.

Red Sox 9, Jays 2. The Jays have now lost 7 in a row and are the only thing keeping Rays fans from jumping off the band wagon completely. The bad news for the Jays is that they now know why Victor Zambrano doesn’t like to throw strikes. Before he was yanked with 2 outs in the 3rd inning, Zambrano had only walked 2 (that’s good for him) but he managed to give up 8 runs, courtesy of 4 home runs. Oh, by the way Josh Beckett now has 7 wins ins 7 starts this season. Can we just give him the Cy Young award now? We better, or soon the Pink Hat nation is going to want the award renamed in his honor.

NOTE FROM AROUND THE AL EAST…

• David Ortiz is not sure if he took steroids as a youth. If he did, it sure didn’t help him in Minnesota.
• Troy Glaus was named AL Player of the Week, which of course helped the Jays to exactly 0 wins during the week.
• Roger Clemens will pitch at least one game in Tampa for the Tampa Yankees as he prepares for his coronation as the savior of the historic franchise.
• Roger Clemens says that he was swayed to pitch for the Yankees based on something that George Steinbrenner said to him. Clemens refuse to elaborate about what was said until at least after the season. This make one wonder if this is not King George’s last season as the principal owner of the Yankees. He has been conspicuously less present in recent years and many have speculated on his health.

AL East Roundup: Yankees And Jays Join Rays In Kiddy-Pool

AL EAST	W	L	GB	L10	STK	E#
Boston Red Sox	12	6	–	8-2	L1	—
Baltimore Orioles	11	8	1.5	8-2	L1	143
Toronto Blue Jays	9	10	3.5	4-6	W1	141
New York Yankees	8	10	4.0	4-6	L4	141
Tampa Bay Devil Rays	8	11	4.5	5-5	W1	140

Blue Jays 7, Red Sox 3. With a 4-3 lead heading to the 8th inning and BJ Ryan on the DL, the Jays realized their only hope was to do the obvious…score more runs. A 2-run homer by Aaron Hill capped the scoring and gave the Jays enough of a cushion to top the Pink Hats who were obviously still hung over from their April sweep of the Yankees. APRIL.

A’s 6, O’s 5. The Orioles lose! The Orioles lose!

NOTES FROM AROUND THE AL EAST…

• The Yankees would be 17-0 without A-Rod. Derek Jeter’s defensive struggles? A-Rod’s fault. All the injuries to the pitching staff? A-Rod’s fault.
• Alex Rodriguez is the fastest ever to 13 14 home runs.
• This makes us giggle like a school girl.
• The Yankees passed over top prospect Phillip Hughes last time, but they won’t make the same mistake this week. Chase Wright was demoted after giving up 4 straight home runs to the Red Sox on Sunday Night and Hughes will get the ball for his major league debut on Thursday against Toronto. Hughes is generally regarded as one of the top pitching prospects in baseball.
• While Mets fans have trouble letting go of Scott Kazmir, Orioles fans are having trouble letting go of Jeffrey Maier.
• David Ortiz is Shakespeare with a bat. We had no idea Shakespeare had a tendency to go yard in the 9th inning of close games. We admit, some metaphors confuse us.
• Jaret Wright and Ramon Hernandez finally get to throw to each other, on rehab assignments. That is soo BFF.
  

The Hangover: There’s No Tying In Baseball!

• OK, maybe there is as the Rays and Red Sox tied 1-1. Edwin Jackson struck out 6 and only walked 2 in 4.2 innings. Gary Glover only surrendered 1 walk in 2 innings.
• It seems like a bit of a stretch that Jorge Cantu could be sent down to Durham to start the season, but to hear Cantu talk about it, he sounds worried.
• Has Gary Glover earned a spot in the bullpen? The way Papa Joe Maddon is speaking of him, he just might have. The problem is Glover is not on the 40-man roster and the team already has one player to remove from the 40-man to make room for Al Reyes.
  
• Dioner Navarro is working his way back from his sore hamstring. He worked 5 innings yesterday and will have today off before working 7 innings tomorrow. Carl Crawford and Rocco Baldelli will both have the day off today as they work back from their ailments.
• The Rays may have caught a break in their season-opening series against the Evil Empire. The Yankees placed Chien-Ming Wang on the DL.
• Edwin Jackson has a new mental approach this season and it could translate into a spot in the rotation.
• Peter Gammons says that the Rays are one of only four teams with no shot at finishing .500, but that the Rays’ talent is “NFL level”…whatever that means.
• The Rays and the Pink Sox don’t play until July 3, and Joe Maddon does not know yet whether he will employ the “Maddon Shift” that he used against David Ortiz last season.
• FoxSports.com is reporting that the Rays have expressed interest in Jorge Julio of the D-Backs. Yes, the Rays need bullpen help, but we can’t see this one happening.
• Manny, Tim and Neil unleash their mathematical genius and a few big words mixed amongst a lot of little ones to project the 2007 Tampa Bay Devil Rays, with their first installment of “Raise or Raze the Rays“. The consensus appears to be that there is no consensus and the Rays may be the biggest question mark in baseball. The guys make a case for the Rays finishing with anywhere from 60 wins in a worst-case scenario to 86 wins with a lot of luck. The most telling statement is the they believe the Rays could potentially contend this season if they were in one of the other divisions. High praise indeed.
• We never liked the “Z-man” nickname, and “Benny Boo Boo” was never going to stick, but “Zoey”? That could work.