January 3, 2009 • 12:19 pm 3
Rays Index takes a look at 2008, the year in which Tampa Bay not only reached the .500 mark but won the AL East and AL crowns.
Might as well enjoy it, the way the Yankees are loading up.
Filed under: Baseball, Sports, Tampa Bay Devil Rays , American League East, major league baseball, Tampa Bay Rays
January 2, 2009 • 4:23 pm 1
A vacant block in the Gateway area of St. Petersburg is emerging as a potential new home for the Tampa Bay Rays.
The site, 15 acres in the Carillon office complex, would be closer to Tampa and north Pinellas County than either Tropicana Field or the failed proposal for Al Lang Field.
The Carillon location also has twice as many people within a 30-minute drive than either downtown St. Petersburg site, according to an internal report released by the Rays.
The other sites in the mix for the new stadium in addition to the Carillon property are
Al Lang Field, Tropicana Field, St. Petersburg-Clearwater Airport, the Toytown landfill, the former sod farm property south of Valpak off Interstate 275, and Derby Lane.
I’ve got a Google map of the sites here.
The report by the ABC (A Baseball Committee) is here (part one and part two, both PDF files). These reports take an in-depth look at all the sites. It states at the outset,
By 2012, Tropicana Field will be the 5th oldest stadium in all of MLB, behind Fenway Park (1912) in Boston, Wrigley Field (1914) in Chicago, Dodger Stadium (1962) in Los Angeles, and the Rogers Centre (1989) in Toronto.
Wow. Of course, the stadium was part of the Tampa Bay Area’s “Build it and they will come” effort in the early 90’s, before finally landing the Devil Rays in 98.
The Times reports in a separate blog that the Rays stadium site, www.majorleaguedowntown.com. The web site now directs traffic to the Rays’ official web site, www.raysbaseball.com.
Filed under: Baseball, Sports, Tampa Bay Devil Rays , major league baseball, new stadiums, Sports, Tampa Bay Rays
October 29, 2008 • 9:01 pm 0
Philadelphia Phillies win the World Series.
Thanks to the Rays for a great ride.
I guess I won’t be subscribing to Sports Illustrated this year.
Filed under: Baseball, Sports, Tampa Bay Devil Rays , major league baseball, Philadelphia Phillies, Tampa Bay Rays, World Series
October 27, 2008 • 4:51 pm 0
I think someone’s substituted the past 10 years Devil Rays for this years Rays.
Gary Shelton summed it up,
It is a team that has been defined by the way it has beaten the odds against it. It is a team that will be remembered for the way it has overcome the obstacles in front of it.
Never, however, has the deck been stacked so severely against the Tampa Bay Rays.
The Rays are in trouble.
It reminds me of the 1966 series. Everyone bragged on the Dodgers pitching and it was the Orioles who outpitched them.
No hitting (since they lost game 5 of the ALCS, the Rays have averaged less than 3 runs per game and are 2-4), spotty pitching, and defensive lapses have led the Rays to the brink of losing the Series.
And they face Hamels tonight.
And can I just add that RISP (hits when runners are in scoring position) is overrated?
Oo, boy.
But even if they lose tonight, the Rays and their fans should be proud of the team. Two hundred to one longshots at the beginning of the year, every major league team now takes this young team seriously.
Here’s the lineup for tonight:
Iwamura, 2b
Crawford, lf
Upton, cf
Pena, 1b
Longoria, 3b
Navarro, c
Baldelli, rf
Bartlett, ss
Kazmir, p
Baldelli in for Zobrist and moving Crawford up in the order are the major changes.
Here are some interesting links:
10 moves that turned it around
Phillies ties land Clearwater in hot water with Tampa Bay Rays fans (Note: Clearwater is where I grew up and where the Phillies have had Spring Training for 60 years. They have an A-ball team in the Florida State League at Clearwater–the Threshers.)
Filed under: Baseball, Sports, Tampa Bay Devil Rays , 2008 World Series, Clearwater, Clearwater Threshers, Florida, Philadelphia Phillies, Tampa Bay Rays
October 22, 2008 • 7:52 pm 0
I gave it a thought, but, one, I have too much to do while it’s on and, two, I didn’t want to subject my Milwaukee readers to it.
Filed under: Baseball, Sports, Tampa Bay Devil Rays , Baseball, Sports, Tampa Bay Rays, World Series
October 19, 2008 • 10:52 pm 0
Tampa Bay Buccaneers defeated Seattle 20-10 Sunday night, a night on which they honored retired fullback Mike Alstott.
And more importantly, the Devil Rays defeated Boston 3-1 to win the American League pennant. They will face the Phillies beginning Wednesday in St. Petersburg.
I have a soft spot for the Phillies, since they have spring training in my home town along with a Florida State League team. I watched Jimmy Rollins (and others) at an FSL game I attended in Clearwater several years back. But my heart will be with the Rays.
Filed under: Baseball, Football, NFL, Sports, Tampa Bay Devil Rays , baseball playoffs, major league baseball, NFL football, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Tampa Bay Rays
October 3, 2008 • 5:04 pm 0
The St. Petersburg Times had some reaction from the Chicago papers. In the comments was this one, a reply to Steve Rosenbloom’s blog post,
Mr. Rosenbloom – ever wonder why they don’t have cowbells in Chicago? Answer: they don’t come with instructions…
Filed under: Baseball, Quote of the day, Sports, Tampa Bay Devil Rays , Chicago White Sox, major league baseball, playoffs, Quote of the day, Steve Rosenbloom, Tampa Bay Rays
September 29, 2008 • 10:27 pm 0
For those who have never been there, I give you this ESPN video about Jim Cagle walking the catwalks at Tropicana Field. After all, who knows how much longer it will be standing?
Filed under: Baseball, Sports, Tampa Bay Devil Rays , Tropicana Field
• 10:20 pm 0
The Rays still don’t know who they’re playing. Since Chicago beat Detroit today, Minnesota and Chicago meet tomorrow in Chicago to determine who goes home and who goes on. John Danks will go for the White Sox while Nick Blackburn goes for the Twins. James Shields will be starting on Thursday afternoon in St. Petersburg no matter who they play. They will also play Friday and Sunday with other games scheduled for Monday and Wednesday, if required.
John Lackey of the Los Angeles Angels will face Jon Lester of the Red Sox Wednesday evening in Los Angeles. Games will follow on Friday and Sunday with if necessary games on Monday and Wednesday of next week. The Red Sox may be hampered if Josh Beckett can’t come back from his injury by his expected start date of Sunday.
In the National League, Milwaukee goes to Philadelphia to start the playoffs. The Phillies will start Cole Hamels while the Brewers send Yovani Gallaro. Game 2 will be on Thursday and Game 3 Saturday. If necessary, Games 4 and 5 will follow on Sunday and Tuesday.
The Los Angeles Dodgers-Chicago Cubs series starts Wednesday as well. The Cubs will send Ryan Dempster against the Dodgers’ Derek Lowe. Game 2 will also be in Chicago on Thursday before moving to LA on Saturday for game 3. If necessary, game 4 will be in LA on Sunday and game 5 on Tuesday in Chicago.
To update my beginning of the year predictions, I got the Angels and Red Sox in the playoffs along with the Cubs and Phillies in the NL. But Cleveland is not going to win the World Series.
Filed under: Baseball, Milwaukee Brewers, Sports, Tampa Bay Devil Rays , Boston Red Sox, Chicago Cubs, Los Angeles Angels, Los Angeles Dodgers, major league baseball, Milwaukee Brewers, Minnesota Twins, Philadelphia Phillies, playoffs, Tampa Bay Rays
September 20, 2008 • 10:28 pm 1
Tampa Bay, 66-96 a year ago, joined the 1991 Atlanta Braves as the only teams to advance to the postseason a year after having the worst record in the majors. It’s the second AL team—and 11th overall—to go from last place to the playoffs in successive years.
There are now three teams with playoff spots, the Cubs who clinched the NL Central today, the Angels and the Devil Rays. Boston will probably get another, as they and the Devil Rays fight for the AL East. The White Sox have the upper hand in the AL Central and the Dodgers in the NL West. The Phillies and Mets look to tangle for the NL East and wildcard.
The Brewers, D-Backs and Twins are still in contention but time is running out.
The rest of the teams not yet technically eliminated need a miracle.
Filed under: Baseball, Milwaukee Brewers, Sports, Tampa Bay Devil Rays , major league baseball, Milwaukee Brewers, Tampa Bay Rays
