First of all, I want to congratulate the Tampa Bay Rays for ensuring that the Red Sox won't win 3 out of 5 World Series. This outcome actually makes the series more watchable for me. I can count myself as one of the few people who expected good things from the Rays this year, though making the World Series is above and beyond. But as much as I admire this Rays team, I'll be rooting for the Phillies.
As I had the pleasure of learning in 1987 and 1991, a World Series Championship is a special affirmation for a team's players and fans, and Philadelphia is more deserving of that this year. This Phillies team has been pretty good for a while now, winning at least 85 games in each of the past 6 seasons, but previously falling short each time. With escalating salaries and free agencies approaching, it is likely that this team will begin to come apart pretty soon, so this may be their last, best chance to win together. The Phillies' fans haven't been rewarded with a championship since 1980.
The Rays, by contrast, are just getting started. As I noted back in the spring, they should be among the class of the AL for at least the next few years. I think they'll be making future trips to the series. Also, since they drew over 20,000 fans/game for the first time since their expansion, there's some question as to how many fans they even have, especially since it took them so long to catch onto what a good team they have. Attendance should grow dramatically over the next couple of seasons, and those folks can be rewarded after they've proven their loyalty.
Secondly, I want to address the other reason I started this blog. "Center" was supposed to refer not only to the position I normally filled in my playing days, but also to my status as an independent voter. I wanted to express myself on political issues from time to time, but, in practice, my obsession with the Twins has left little time for other things. Now, with a very big election coming up in a couple of weeks, I have reason to weigh in.
I hope everyone got to see General Colin Powell's appearance on Meet the Press yesterday. If you didn't, here's a great summary.
I basically agree with everything he says there. It's not so much an endorsement of Obama, though he does appear to have the potential to be a "transformative figure." And it's not so much a rejection of John McCain, who, until the convention, consistently showed himself to be one who could put his own values and beliefs ahead of party loyalty. Rather, it's a renunciation of the direction the GOP has taken in recent years.
The conduct of the Bush administration has been repugnant to me on many levels. To name a few...
They lied to start a war, then showed utter incompetence in managing the aftermath.
They used the threat of terrorism to condone torture, extraordinary rendition, suspension of civil liberties, etc.
They couldn't be bothered to help the drowning city of New Orleans, but did everything in their power to interfere with the life and death of Terry Schiavo.
They exploited homophobia for their political gain.
They made no effort to protect the environment.
They gave every advantage to the wealthy and large corporations, while making life more difficult for working Americans. (For example, the revised bankruptcy law was designed to ensure that lenders would get more money, while average filers had to remain in debt longer. Poor banks, let's help them out!)
It goes on and on. The GOP has come to represent nothing more than deregulation and tax breaks for the big fish mixed with Christian conservatism. They should be more than that, and with guys like Powell in charge, they would be. But all their decisions seem to be based on exciting the far right, and that's a big turnoff. Because if the only way they can get their base excited is by trying to scare and divide people (Obama once sat on a board with a guy who used to be a terrorist, this is the "Real" America, etc.), basically pandering to the worst side of people, well, they've lost me.
The party that twice nominated and elected George W. Bush needs to redesign itself in a way that is more positive and inclusive. They need to listen more to the intellectuals in their camp than the rednecks. They need to seek out moderates and keep the bigots at arm's length. That's going to be hard, soul-searching work for them, and I doubt they'll make the effort unless they get their asses kicked at the polls.
So, like General Powell, I'll be voting for Barack Obama - and a better future for the GOP.
Showing posts with label Tampa Bay Rays. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Tampa Bay Rays. Show all posts
Monday, October 20, 2008
Thursday, April 17, 2008
The Blecch Brothers
Rays 7, Twins 3
I missed the game tonight while I was at Happy Hour with my co-workers. An immense number of co-workers, happily drinking together. Happy for 3 hours, actually. Happier than I'd have been listening to the game, safe to say.
I root for the Twins, you know. I want them to do well. To exceed expectations. To prove their doubters wrong. So it's demoralizing to come home and check the box score and find that two of the guys I was especially rooting for did this:
Boof Bonser: 4+ IP, 7 R, 6 ER, 7 H, 2 BB, 0 K, 1 HR
Denard Span: 0-3, K, R, SB, 2 E
I don't have much context here. I don't know how hard Span hit the ball. I don't know if the hits Boof gave up were mostly bloopers and bleeders. I guess Span lost a ball in the bank of lights - we've seen outfielders struggle with that play for years. But the results are just flat-out yucky. Blecch. I'm sure they both can't wait to put this game behind them.
Interesting to see all 8 hits come from the first 5 hitters in the lineup. It was just the opposite in Bonser's last start in KC. Funny game.
Span vs. Gomez
Gomez good. Span bad. 'Nuff said.
I missed the game tonight while I was at Happy Hour with my co-workers. An immense number of co-workers, happily drinking together. Happy for 3 hours, actually. Happier than I'd have been listening to the game, safe to say.
I root for the Twins, you know. I want them to do well. To exceed expectations. To prove their doubters wrong. So it's demoralizing to come home and check the box score and find that two of the guys I was especially rooting for did this:
Boof Bonser: 4+ IP, 7 R, 6 ER, 7 H, 2 BB, 0 K, 1 HR
Denard Span: 0-3, K, R, SB, 2 E
I don't have much context here. I don't know how hard Span hit the ball. I don't know if the hits Boof gave up were mostly bloopers and bleeders. I guess Span lost a ball in the bank of lights - we've seen outfielders struggle with that play for years. But the results are just flat-out yucky. Blecch. I'm sure they both can't wait to put this game behind them.
Interesting to see all 8 hits come from the first 5 hitters in the lineup. It was just the opposite in Bonser's last start in KC. Funny game.
Span vs. Gomez
Gomez good. Span bad. 'Nuff said.
Sweet Relief
Twins 6, Rays 5
The Twins got back into the win column and evened their home record last night.
Livan finally started to show some cracks. Coming into the game he had a 2.57 ERA and 1.05 WHIP, going 7 innings in each of his first 3 starts, walking 1 and allowing no homers. Last night only 3 of the 5 runs he allowed were earned thanks to Brendan Harris' error, so his overall ERA remains low (3.00). But he served up 3 walks and 3 homers, and his WHIP for the game was 1.83. The Rays were pretty patient with him, forcing him to throw strikes, elevating his pitch count to 103 through just 6 IP. He was fortunate it wasn't worse - a DP and Mauer gunning down 2 potential base stealers helped him escape a couple of jams.
Still, when he left the Twins were in the game, and this time the middle relief did the job. Dennys Reyes saw his first action in over a week, taking over in the 7th with 1.1 efficient innings. Juan Rincon came in to finish the 8th, allowing a 2-out single but no other trouble. It was enough to earn the bullpen its first win of the season after an 0-3 road trip.
Each team took advantage of defensive miscues to score runs. Harris' error extended the 6th until Riggins could come up and hit a game-tying, 2-run HR. In the previous half inning, the Twins scored 2 on a throwing error by our old friend Jason Bartlett, who matched Everett with his 3rd error of the young season. Former Rays Delmon Young and Harris keyed the winning rally in the bottom of the 8th, singling to put runners at the corners with 1 out. Carl Crawford then elected to make a sliding catch on Mike Lamb's slicing foul fly ball, getting the out but giving himself no chance to throw out the tagging Young. With Lamb hitting .156, and Dan Wheeler allowing a very low BAA, Crawford might have been better off letting that one drop for a strike.
While they got some favors from the Rays, the Twins also helped themselves by working James Shields, a very solid young pitcher. He lasted just 5 innings, yielding 5 R (3 ER) on 8 H and a BB. Mauer is 5 for his last 8 and has the average back up to .300. Morneau came a couple feet short of HR #5. Kubel had a couple more hits and an RBI. Harris matched that and continues to lead the team with a .341 BA. Lamb and Punto continue to struggle.
Span vs. Gomez
Span had his worst night at the plate so far, going 0-4 with 2 K. He had a nice AB in the first, lining out on a 2-1 pitch. But other than that, he was pretty weak, twice failing to bring Gomez home from second base, and never getting the ball out of the infield.
Gomez had his first 2-hit game since Livan's last start. He lined a single on a 1-2 pitch in the 3rd, and finally got a bunt down in the 5th. Each time he stole 2nd to raise his League-leading SB total to 9. He raised his line to .262/.284/.369. He made another errant throw from the outfield in the 5th when he had no chance to throw out the speedy Crawford on a ground ball single from BJ Upton - he was fortunate that Morneau was able to cut the ball and keep Upton at first.
The Twins got back into the win column and evened their home record last night.
Livan finally started to show some cracks. Coming into the game he had a 2.57 ERA and 1.05 WHIP, going 7 innings in each of his first 3 starts, walking 1 and allowing no homers. Last night only 3 of the 5 runs he allowed were earned thanks to Brendan Harris' error, so his overall ERA remains low (3.00). But he served up 3 walks and 3 homers, and his WHIP for the game was 1.83. The Rays were pretty patient with him, forcing him to throw strikes, elevating his pitch count to 103 through just 6 IP. He was fortunate it wasn't worse - a DP and Mauer gunning down 2 potential base stealers helped him escape a couple of jams.
Still, when he left the Twins were in the game, and this time the middle relief did the job. Dennys Reyes saw his first action in over a week, taking over in the 7th with 1.1 efficient innings. Juan Rincon came in to finish the 8th, allowing a 2-out single but no other trouble. It was enough to earn the bullpen its first win of the season after an 0-3 road trip.
Each team took advantage of defensive miscues to score runs. Harris' error extended the 6th until Riggins could come up and hit a game-tying, 2-run HR. In the previous half inning, the Twins scored 2 on a throwing error by our old friend Jason Bartlett, who matched Everett with his 3rd error of the young season. Former Rays Delmon Young and Harris keyed the winning rally in the bottom of the 8th, singling to put runners at the corners with 1 out. Carl Crawford then elected to make a sliding catch on Mike Lamb's slicing foul fly ball, getting the out but giving himself no chance to throw out the tagging Young. With Lamb hitting .156, and Dan Wheeler allowing a very low BAA, Crawford might have been better off letting that one drop for a strike.
While they got some favors from the Rays, the Twins also helped themselves by working James Shields, a very solid young pitcher. He lasted just 5 innings, yielding 5 R (3 ER) on 8 H and a BB. Mauer is 5 for his last 8 and has the average back up to .300. Morneau came a couple feet short of HR #5. Kubel had a couple more hits and an RBI. Harris matched that and continues to lead the team with a .341 BA. Lamb and Punto continue to struggle.
Span vs. Gomez
Span had his worst night at the plate so far, going 0-4 with 2 K. He had a nice AB in the first, lining out on a 2-1 pitch. But other than that, he was pretty weak, twice failing to bring Gomez home from second base, and never getting the ball out of the infield.
Gomez had his first 2-hit game since Livan's last start. He lined a single on a 1-2 pitch in the 3rd, and finally got a bunt down in the 5th. Each time he stole 2nd to raise his League-leading SB total to 9. He raised his line to .262/.284/.369. He made another errant throw from the outfield in the 5th when he had no chance to throw out the speedy Crawford on a ground ball single from BJ Upton - he was fortunate that Morneau was able to cut the ball and keep Upton at first.
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Monday's Rays Game
Back with John and Danny on good old TRN.
Bottom 1: Poor execution by the offense after Span lead off with a double. Punto popped up, Young grounded to the left side, and Morneau flew out to deep left.
Bottom 2: Monroe continues to get hits against righties. Kubel drew a 4-pitch walk. Good, aggressive base running by Monroe going to 3rd on Redmond's fly to right - even though he almost got thrown out. Buscher had a good, 9-pitch AB. He couldn't get out of the way of ball four up and in - it hit his bat for a foul ball. He struck out on the next pitch, and Kubel, who had been running on 4 straight 3-2 pitches, was thrown out at second.
Top 3: Great indication of how effective Livan can be against an aggressive lineup - he cruised through the first time through the Rays' order. However, once they started taking some pitches, they worked him for a huge 2-out rally, crushing 2 doubles and a single before he escaped. He threw 28 pitches in the inning.
Bottom 3: Everett lined a single to put the leadoff man on for the third inning in a row. Span grounded into a 4-6-3 DP. That'll teach him to swing at the first pitch. Blecch. Punto grounded out. Quick inning for Tampa.
Top 4: Perfect inning for Hernandez.
Bottom 4: After 2 quick outs, Monroe laced a 2-0 pitch for another single. Kubel flew out to the track in left.
Top 5: Glen Perkins pitching. He gave up a one-out infield single, stolen base, then a bloop single to left to score the run. Good job by the cutoff man to catch Aybar in a rundown and clear the bases. Gomes got the first ligit hit of the inning, a solid single to right. After a wild pitch, Perkins retired Hinske on a grounder to Punto.
Bottom 5: Another quick inning for James Shields.
Top 6: Perkins helped out by a nice defensive play by Buscher, who knocked down a one-hop liner, then recovered in time to throw out the runner. Navarro went down and yanked an off-speed pitch for a solo homer down the left field line.
Bottom 6: Birkins pitching (LHP). Span grounded out on the 0-1 pitch. Punto drew a 4-pitch walk, then Watkins pinch-ran. Young flew out to deep right center. Morneau drew a 9-pitch walk. Monroe struck out on 3 pitches.
Top 7: Nathan pitched a perfect inning.
Bottom 7: Another quick inning for the Rays.
Top 8: Rincon pitching. Rookie-of-the-Year candidate and 2006 #3 overall pick Evan Longoria greeted him with a homer to center. Rincon gave up a 2-out walk on a 3-2 pitch, but got the next guy on a come-backer.
Bottom 8: Everett picked up a bloop single to left on the 1-2 pitch. Pridie lined a single to right-center on the 1-0 pitch, sending pinch-runner Tolbert to 3rd. Watkins lined out to 2nd. Jones took a called third strike. Basak looped an RBI single to right, then moved into scoring position on a wild pitch. Knott took a called third strike on the 3-2 pitch.
Top 9: Mariano Gomez pitching. He gave up a line drive single, then a one-out, no-doubter home run.
Bottom 9: Perfect inning for 2007 #1 overall pick David Price.
This game illustrates how bad the Twins can be when they don't do the little things right. They need to work counts, advance runners when the leadoff guy gets on, just generally have productive ABs. If everybody's going to hack at the first or second pitch, I don't see the Twins being very successful. I hope Span doesn't think he needs to play like Gomez in order to make the team - he's much better off continuing with the patient approach that resulted in his outstanding .450 OBP through the first couple weeks of games.
Decent game from Hernandez - if he keeps his ERA around 4.50, I'll be pretty happy. Perkins did better than his line would indicate - he only gave up a couple of hard-hit balls, and the homer he allowed sounded like it was more a credit to the hitter than a mistake by the pitcher.
This year should be the best Rays team ever. With Kazmir, Shields, and now Garza in their rotation, and a system full of top prospects ready to hit the big leagues in the next year or so, they should be a power in the AL East by 2010.
Bottom 1: Poor execution by the offense after Span lead off with a double. Punto popped up, Young grounded to the left side, and Morneau flew out to deep left.
Bottom 2: Monroe continues to get hits against righties. Kubel drew a 4-pitch walk. Good, aggressive base running by Monroe going to 3rd on Redmond's fly to right - even though he almost got thrown out. Buscher had a good, 9-pitch AB. He couldn't get out of the way of ball four up and in - it hit his bat for a foul ball. He struck out on the next pitch, and Kubel, who had been running on 4 straight 3-2 pitches, was thrown out at second.
Top 3: Great indication of how effective Livan can be against an aggressive lineup - he cruised through the first time through the Rays' order. However, once they started taking some pitches, they worked him for a huge 2-out rally, crushing 2 doubles and a single before he escaped. He threw 28 pitches in the inning.
Bottom 3: Everett lined a single to put the leadoff man on for the third inning in a row. Span grounded into a 4-6-3 DP. That'll teach him to swing at the first pitch. Blecch. Punto grounded out. Quick inning for Tampa.
Top 4: Perfect inning for Hernandez.
Bottom 4: After 2 quick outs, Monroe laced a 2-0 pitch for another single. Kubel flew out to the track in left.
Top 5: Glen Perkins pitching. He gave up a one-out infield single, stolen base, then a bloop single to left to score the run. Good job by the cutoff man to catch Aybar in a rundown and clear the bases. Gomes got the first ligit hit of the inning, a solid single to right. After a wild pitch, Perkins retired Hinske on a grounder to Punto.
Bottom 5: Another quick inning for James Shields.
Top 6: Perkins helped out by a nice defensive play by Buscher, who knocked down a one-hop liner, then recovered in time to throw out the runner. Navarro went down and yanked an off-speed pitch for a solo homer down the left field line.
Bottom 6: Birkins pitching (LHP). Span grounded out on the 0-1 pitch. Punto drew a 4-pitch walk, then Watkins pinch-ran. Young flew out to deep right center. Morneau drew a 9-pitch walk. Monroe struck out on 3 pitches.
Top 7: Nathan pitched a perfect inning.
Bottom 7: Another quick inning for the Rays.
Top 8: Rincon pitching. Rookie-of-the-Year candidate and 2006 #3 overall pick Evan Longoria greeted him with a homer to center. Rincon gave up a 2-out walk on a 3-2 pitch, but got the next guy on a come-backer.
Bottom 8: Everett picked up a bloop single to left on the 1-2 pitch. Pridie lined a single to right-center on the 1-0 pitch, sending pinch-runner Tolbert to 3rd. Watkins lined out to 2nd. Jones took a called third strike. Basak looped an RBI single to right, then moved into scoring position on a wild pitch. Knott took a called third strike on the 3-2 pitch.
Top 9: Mariano Gomez pitching. He gave up a line drive single, then a one-out, no-doubter home run.
Bottom 9: Perfect inning for 2007 #1 overall pick David Price.
This game illustrates how bad the Twins can be when they don't do the little things right. They need to work counts, advance runners when the leadoff guy gets on, just generally have productive ABs. If everybody's going to hack at the first or second pitch, I don't see the Twins being very successful. I hope Span doesn't think he needs to play like Gomez in order to make the team - he's much better off continuing with the patient approach that resulted in his outstanding .450 OBP through the first couple weeks of games.
Decent game from Hernandez - if he keeps his ERA around 4.50, I'll be pretty happy. Perkins did better than his line would indicate - he only gave up a couple of hard-hit balls, and the homer he allowed sounded like it was more a credit to the hitter than a mistake by the pitcher.
This year should be the best Rays team ever. With Kazmir, Shields, and now Garza in their rotation, and a system full of top prospects ready to hit the big leagues in the next year or so, they should be a power in the AL East by 2010.
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