Tampa Bay Rays

Mmm, I don't like it.

Next!

Here's the basis; Tom Verducci at SI.com writes an article suggesting a way to improve Major League Baseball's playoff format and add some revenue. He has an excellent point that recent "win or go home" games have drawn outstanding viewership and the lack of these nail biters have hurt baseball.

Fact is, the New York Yankees love returning to the Bronx.

Why wouldn’t they love coming home, with a packed stadium full of fans?

The Yanks are tied for the first place, and they also share the best record in baseball and Yankee fans will cheer the team till the end.

The other team leading the pack is the Tampa Bay Rays, a 12-year-old franchise with loads of potential and hands-down has the best young talent in all of MLB.

I understand the need to appeal to the mass audience. It's even somewhat expected that an announcing team from a nationally televised broadcast may not know all there is to know about the teams they're visiting.

But the shame of ESPN's Sunday Night Baseball broadcast of the Tampa Bay Rays-Boston Red Sox game crossed the border of embarrassing and went straight into laughable.

Top five Stories From Yesterday

1.    Tampa Bay comes from behind to get a walk-off win over Boston, but the Yankees win in Chicago to keep pace in the AL East.

2.    Jets starting LB Calvin Pace suffers a broken foot and will miss the first month of the regular season.

3.    Tiger Woods gets off to a bad start, but rallies to shoot a 1-over 72 that leaves him nine shots off the lead at The Barclays.

Victor Martinez backed Jon Lester in a big way, leading the Boston Red Sox past the Tampa Bay Rays.

It didn’t take long for RF Brad Hawpe to find some work.  Hawpe, who cleared waivers on Thursday after being designated for assignment by the Colorado Rockies last week, signed with the Tampa Bay Rays on Friday.

It's another day where I got a late jump on these. With that in mind, we'll get right in to today's notes and a look ahead at tomorrow. This whole trying to run a blog, work a day job, and handle a one-month old is more tiring than you would expect!

Thursday Notes

Ben Zobrist is the starting second baseman on the Tampa Bay Rays. He made the 2009 American League All-Star team with a batting average of .297, 27 home runs, and 91 runs batted in.

That season, he was voted MVP of the Rays by the Tampa Bay sector of the Baseball Writers and finished 8th in American League MVP voting. "Zorilla," the nickname given to him by his manager Joe Maddon, is very involved with his Christian faith and is a true class act.

Here is my interview with Mr. Zobrist—

Evan Longoria is no longer considered a rising star.

Many now consider Longoria to be a baseball superstar and the face of the Tampa Bay Rays. In just under three seasons as a Major League third baseman, Longoria has a career .282 avg. with 78 home runs and 282 RBI, not to mention a Gold Glove.

Four starts into his major league career, Tampa Bay Rays’ righty Jeremy Hellickson has opened up eyes amongst fans and the opponents he has faced. In four starts, Hellickson is 3-0 with a sweet 2.05 ERA and an even sweeter 0.76 WHIP.