Hate to double-up on the CC posts today but he is, after all, our best player. (Longoria fans may send hate mail to YourTimeisComingSoChillOut@gmail.com). Crawford’s infield hit (yes, it was definitely a hit, official scorer is a tough gig so I am going to refrain from any further editorializing) didn’t just extend an inning and  [ Read More ]

Lost in the Red Sox weekend obituaries was the significance of Carl Crawford’s two-run, game-tying bomb of John Lackey. That was Crawford’s 100th career round-tripper, making him the youngest player ever to reach 100HR, 100 3b, and 400 SB. In fact, at 29 years and 24 days, CC got to those three milestones nearly 4  [ Read More ]

Another night, another W for the Rays and Yankees. Just spitballing here but what happens if they finish with the same record? Is a one-game playoff necessary even though both go to the playoffs? Do they just flip a coin for the first round opponent? This anything-you-can-do-I-can-do-better stretch has reached historic proportions. According to Rays’  [ Read More ]

The St. Pete Times’ Joe Smith had this interesting item in his notebook story this morning: MISCELLANY: Maddon said the first wave of September callups will include 4-5 players, with a third catcher (Dioner Navarro) likely. One intriguing name under consideration is LHP prospect Jake McGee, a former starter who has pitched 12⅔ scoreless relief  [ Read More ]

The Rays open a vital three-game set with the Blue Jays tonight. Let’s be honest, there are only vital series remaining until the Rays or Yankees get an x and a y next to their name on the tote board. Thinking about this series made me nervous after the weekend’s playoff atmosphere. One of my  [ Read More ]

This Dan Johnson thing is out of control. How does it not have a nickname* yet? More importantly, how does it not make any member of the media turn back and look at the GM suite? The Rays current 40-man roster, you know the 40 men who have compiled the best record in baseball, is  [ Read More ]

What kind of Rays blogger doesn’t post anything during the biggest weekend series so far this year? The superstitious kind. What a weird weekend, huh? There is a lot to take away from the Rays commanding series victory that all but ended Boston’s summer. Putting aside the bullpen, Dan Johnson, Carl Crawford, and Glass Jawed  [ Read More ]

The Rays and Sox tangle tonight in a series with huge playoff implications. Can the Sox get back in the race? Can the Rays finally learn to go for the throat when an opponent is on the ropes? Is Kevin Youkilis the ugliest guy in baseball? ESPN is in town as well to bring the  [ Read More ]

Matt Garza has an interesting way of distilling things down to their essence. Yesterday, after passing through the obligatory cliches, he told Mark Topkin of the St. Pete Times: “We know the pressure is not on us, it’s on them. And they know it and we know it,” Garza said. “They’re the ones that made  [ Read More ]

Jerry Crasnick has a good story upon ESPN.com about the workload of young pitchers currently throwing for contenders. He identifies two rules of thumb teams use when monitoring the season-over-season increase in a young hurler’s workload: Limit the increase in innings to 20%; or Limit the increase to 25-30 innings. David Price is one of  [ Read More ]