Rays Win AL East

On a day that saw 4 playoff spots finally locked-in, it's time to send out congratulations from BLB... as if they care.  Regardless, big congrats goes out to the Tampa Bay (no longer Devil) Rays.  All I'm sayin' is that the Rays have made the playoffs 2 out of 3 years after they dropped the Devil from their name.  Coincidence?  I think not.

In honor of their glorious victory, here's your pictures.

First off, pitcher Chad Bradford in the midst of a rousing game of bocce ball.

And your bonus picture... whatever the heck this thing is.  I think it's supposed to be their mascot, but it kind of looks like a scary old man who never trimmed his nose and ear hairs.  Hmmmm....

Of course, who could forget, the most famous Rays in franchise history:

The Gross Underbelly of MLB Finances

Apparently some very confidential financial records for some MLB teams got leaked last week to Deadspin.com.  Financial records for the Pirates, Angles, Rays, Mariners, Marlins and Rangers were released to the online sports site causing quite a stir in the sports world last week.

Quite frankly, there are too many documents to look through, and I just don't want to take the time, so I'm going to go with the broad generalization that baseball owners make a boatload of money (even the bad teams), and don't spend nearly enough on their teams.  Oh, wait, that just confirms what everybody already knows.

J.D. Drew - Ballplayer, Not Mathematician

J.D. Drew is just your slightly above average outfielder for the Boston Red Sox.  Perhaps my view of Drew is maligned because of the things said about him in Three Nights in August, but I'm not a huge fan.  He has all the talent in the world, but doesn't really work all that hard to play the game.  He relies on talent, makes his money, and that's about it.  However, because of his great talent, he can do things that other players can't necessarily do... like make a really difficult catch in foul territory look easy, even when he doesn't mean to do it.  Let me explain.

In Saturday's game against the Rays, a runner was on third with one out and the batter hit a towering fly ball into foul territory where the visitor's bullpen is located.  In most instances, a fielder might let a difficult foul ball go because the runner on third can tag up and score.  Drew ran over to size up the situation, and ended up catching the ball while falling into the chairs.  The runner tagged from third and scored on the play, tying the game up at 1-1.

It's baseball, so you don't know what would have happened had Drew not caught the ball, but Boston's pitcher was kind of upset because the run ended up scoring, and here's where we get to the relevant part.  Here is an actual quote from Drew following the game:

"It's a question mark," said Drew. "If you let the ball drop and he walks, there's two guys on and the next pitch he hits a two-run homer, it's a difficult situation. But in that part of the game, Clay [Buchholz] is throwing the ball pretty well, he's got a good chance on [a] 3-2 [pitch], but you never know what's going to happen."

You see that part that's in bold and underlined.  Read it again.  That's right, Drew suggested that Buchholz would somehow walk the batter, putting runners on 1st and 3rd, and then allow a two-run homer.  I know that there is a lot of talk of Buchholz for the AL Cy Young this season, but if he can allow a two-run homer with two runners already on base, then he deserves the next three Cy Young awards.

I know that J.D. Drew is a baseball player, not Danica McKellar, but give me a break.

Touche, Matt Garza, Touche

Matt Garza, the first Tampa Bay Rays pitcher to throw a no-hitter, apparently doesn't like that I'm not crazy about mass media calling 2010 the Year of the Pitcher.  He shut down a Tigers line-up that was packed with power names such as: Danny Worth, Don Kelly, and Will Rhymes.

It's about time the Rays were on the giving end of a no-no, though.  They have been no-hit twice this year, with one of those games being Dallas "Get Off My Mound, A-Rod" Braden's perfect game and the other being to Arizona's Edwin "Why Do I Keep Getting Traded" Jackson.  Of course, I guess the next obvious question is: how many times has a team been involved 3 no-hitters in the same season?

And your answer...

• 1917 - St. Louis Browns & Chicago White Sox were both involved in three no-no's.  The White Sox starter Eddie Cicotte no-hit the Browns on April 14th, and the Browns returned the favor... on CONSECUTIVE DAYS (May 5th & 6th) with Ernie Koob & Bob Groom both no-hitting the White Sox.
• 1956 - Brooklyn Dodgers were involved in three with Carl Erskine getting the best of the Giants, and Sal Maglie no-hitting the Phillies.  Then, you guessed it, they were the victim of Don Larsen's perfect game in the World Series.

And just some more fun FYI for you: 1991 & 1990 each saw 7 no-hitters (a perfect game is counted as a no-hitter).  Pre-1900 had one season see 8 no-hitters - 1884, but since nobody cares about the Pittsburgh Alleghenys, Columbus Buckeyes, Detroit Wolverines or Toldeo Blue Stockings, we won't count that as a candidate for Year of the Pitcher.

So, wake up, mass media!  It's not the Year of the Pitcher yet.  We still have two more to go before we can even consider it!

Longoria, Upton Argue, Make-up/out

After the top of the 5th inning in Sunday's 2-1 loss to the Diamondbacks, Rays 3B Evan Longoria and OF B.J. Upton got into an argument over Upton's lack of hustle on a ball in the gap.  When asked about it after the game, both players blew it off as something that happens in the heat of competition.

As you can see from the picture below, the incident wasn't really that big of a deal.  The two kissed and made up, and then went on to compliment each other on their physical conditioning.

Upton Brothers Reunite in Arizona

It's been a long time coming, but the Upton brothers (B.J. and Justin) were able to reunite in a moving moment in Tampa Bay.  The brothers, who have never played a competitive game against one another, reportedly held each other for 45 minutes, crying like babies.  There wasn't a dry eye in the stadium.  The start of the game was delayed 20 minutes as umpires tried to separate the brothers before the first pitch.

Pena Ties Team Mark

During yesterday's 14-9 loss to the Florida Marlins, Carlos Pena reminded us just how pathetic of a history the Tampa Bay Rays really have.  Pena homered in his fifth straight game tying the mark previously held by Jose Canseco.  When a post-A's Jose Conseco holds a team record, you know that you don't have a very good past.

When asked how he felt about his record being tied, Canseco was quick to point out that he and Pena have been buddies for a long time.  In fact, before games, they used to go into the shower stalls and shoot each other up with pharmaceutical enhancements.  When reminded that his career never overlapped with Pena's, Canseco reportedly said, "Yes, it did!  You just wait until my next book!"