Back Atcha Rocco

OK Rocco.  You win.  After the "thanks for the memories" ad you ran in the St. Pete Times today, I will bite my tounge and maybe even say a little prayer that you square one up when you come up to the plate against the Rays next season.  Yah, I'll probably even cheer if you get a hit. Unless it's a close game because that would make me hyperventilate.  Ah what the heck, I'll even cheer if it's a close game. After all, it's not like all those other Tampa Bay fans will hear me all the way out here in California.  Now playoffs?  You're on your own big guy.

Seriously, that was a very classy thing to do.  Extraordinary.  And we appreciate it very much. Back atcha and best of luck next year. We'll miss you as a role model most of all.

Rays Gearing Up For A Game Of Inches?

Pre-Game Pearls for tonight's must maintain momentum m-m-m-game. 

• Jonesin' for the Rays Walk Up Music during this road trip? There's a playlist at the bottom of the post ;-)
• BJ bounced back from a disappointing Game One, driving in what proved to be the winning run in the 4th.  The fielding tools of fans in Section 120 went untested in Game Two.
• But, Melvin Upton, you hustle your booty down the line every time. It's a game of inches and that inch might mean earn a World Series Ring.  Just ask Rocco. Almost punched out and drew a huge walk in a moment of umpire indecision.  Almost safe at home in a massive collision.  And how 'bout that beautiful double play catch/pick off combo catching Jason Werth too far off first base.  Game of inches. You never know when Werth is gonna serve up another bobble-drop on a routine play in right. Game of inches BJ. If Rocco can run like he might not see another World Series, so can you.  No style points for gliding on the basepaths. Especially the first 90 feet.
• Wicked weather predicted in Philly today.  Sounds like the worst might blow through by 9pm.  Or maybe not.  Could be a long night on the east coast.
• A rainout tonight might also muck up the Rays rotation.  Rays Index does a great job breaking that down. (http://www.raysindex.com/2008/10/world-series-rotation-rainout-could.html)
• Santa Rosa's Eric Bruntlett had his 15 minutes of fame getting the Phillies on the board with a solo pinch hit home run in Game Two. That'll be enough Eric. You don't need to be a hero to get an invite to Camp For A Cure.  
• Taylor Swift sings the National Anthem tonight.  Barely better than Tampa Bay's Back Street Boys.  Not by much. And I'm a country fan.
• Jonny Gomes the Spin Doctor.  All miked up for Game Three after his now famous flesh pressing with Obama.  The chatter that made it through was a spin on a Maddon quote last week. And it flopped. 
• Speaking of Joe Maddon, he was named Manager of the Year.  Amen. Exactly right. Here's a neat little tour of the Skipper's office courtesy of ESPN's Jim Caple.
  
  
  
• The Mad Australian, Grant Balfour is back on track. Pena and Longo need to ride that wave. The team whose bats wake up first might just win this thing.  The Phillies' are capable of much better than 1-28 with Runners In Scoring Position. 
• Jonesin for the Rays Walk Up Music? 

Really? Rays Phillies World Series A Ratings Bust?

The blogs are abuzz about the looming TV Ratings Bust that a Tampa Bay / Philadelphia World Series will bring.  Commenters by the dozen quip, "Who outside these two cities even cares?"

You can bet Major League Baseball and FOX were making room in the vault for a Pink Hat Nation (once known as the Boston Red Sox) and LA Dodgers matchup.  Tradition, 90 million years of drama, star studded camera angles... big buck$.  Even a Rays/Dodgers series would have play off starved fan appeal on two coasts.

But the Rays and the Phillies? The naysayers don't think that anyone outside those area codes knows a thing about 'em, much less care how it turns out.  While this matchup is not the cash cow it might have been, here are PTown's Points To Ponder when fickle fingers find the remote tomorrow night:

1. Good time to buy stock in West Coast Pizza Chains:  An 8pm East Coast start time means mama's gotta cook during the game.  Ain't gonna happen in this house.  Pizzicato, Pappa Murphy's, Old Chicago, and Mary's Pizza are programmed into the speed dialer.  4 games, 4 pizzas.  4,000 miles of cardio at the gym between games.  
2. Not one, but TWO players are repping the "707" in this series: Jonny Gomes does not have a lock on the love from fans to the north.  Eric Bruntlett, the Phillies starting shortstop, was acquired by the Phils last November. Eric, who lives in Santa Rosa, was t-h-i-s close to a karma filled coaching appearance at CampForACure until the Astros called to tell him his cleats would be waiting even further from home in 2008.  I'd say the commute was worth it.
3. America loves an underdog. And the baseball world is full of them.  The Rays "zero to hero" story has a lock on the whole Underdog thing.  But baseball is full of hometown kids made good. There will be 50 of them on the field this week. Each with a network guys they played ball with from Little League on up... with their own legion of fans.  The thrill of a World Series victory with a home town connection. That's got to be good for a point or two in the ratings. Woonsocketians, just a stone's throw from BeanTown know what I mean. (Thanks Bugs and Cranks)
4. "The dog ate my homework" only has a prayer of working on the East Coast: With a 5:00 start out west, there's still lots of time to git 'er done.  But back east, it's bedtime for the little guys before the game even starts. 
5. This series will feature baseball players, not movie stars:  Seriously, it's annoying as hell when the TV dudes eat an entire inning interviewing some Hollywood Hottie DURING THE WORLD SERIES?  But Tampa Bay has a few. Apologies in advance for the predictable cameo appearances of The Great Hulk Hogan and Mike Alstott.   Jonny, 707's Shock Jock, has become somewhat of a hybrid in his 26th Man Role. Half MLB Star, half Papparazi Photo Op.  But at least he's in the dugout.  But seriously Jonny, when you go to meet the president in a few weeks, borrow a shirt OK?

Photo: Getty Images

ATTENTION WORLD - RAYS BEAT BOSTON

The Rays will play the Phillies. In the the World Series. The LAST game of the 2008 MLB Season...

What a night. The Rays played their game. The Red Sox endured the brilliance of The Pit. 41,000 fans armed with obnoxious cowbells and an aresenal of mohawks... and it rattled them. Just enough.

Garza was lights out and how 'bout David Price's finish? The punch-em-out/throw-em-out combo by Garza and Navi in the top of the 6th was game changing. RBI hits from Longo and Rocco and another home run by Willy Aybar manufactured the runs. Aki snags a laceburning rocket to end it. And for a half second thinks about stickin' the ball in his back pocket as a souvenier.

Congratulations Tampa Bay.

Feel The Heat Philadelphia!

Cheers!

Oops. They Did It Again

Jon Lester IS hittable. Two thirds of the Rays had hits by the time Byrd relieved Lester in the 6th with the Rays up 5-0.  Rocco Baldelli tacked on a 3 run homer in the 8th and Carlos Pena added a solo bomb in the 9th to seal the Sox fate. Rays 9, Sox 1.  8 hits off The Unhittable One snapped Lester's 24 2/3 scoreless inning playoff streak. And had Fenway "Faithful" headed for the exits in droves well before the last pitch.

And Garza. Other than a few distracting smacks from Pedroia, Kotsay and Cora, he shut down the Sox.  Youkilis just couldn't figure him out. The bullpen came through again. JP Howell dealt red hot Dustin Pedroia a double play ball with 2 on in the 7th and pitched a scoreless 8th to quash the Red Sox attempted comeback.  Jackson showed he didn't need a three inning warmup for his heater with a 1-2-3  9th inning. 

It's Wakefield vs Sonnanstine tonight. Whiffleballs vs. Every Other Form Of Deception. Could be an interesting night for hitters. Ellsbury and Ortiz are way overdue. Could be an interesting night for Rays pitchers. But as long as we end up with one more run than the Beantown Boys, it's all good.  9 home runs between Upton and Longoria in October. A roster full of singles, doubles, stolen bases and go ahead runs. Best defense in the American League. I like our chances.

There will be more post-season baseball at the Trop this year.  The only question is whether the next ball thrown in St. Pete will be in Game 6 of the ALCS or Game One of the World Series. Believe.

PRays The Lord And Pass The Advil!

The Rays deserved a celebraytion.

And they got one. Which might explain why the B Team took the field in the final game of the Twin series yesterday at The Trop. Sonny pitched another great game but didn't have the customary and ultra reliable infield to back him up. Longo was the only regular infielder and his aim was a bit off yesterday. At the end of the day in front of another sell-out crowd, the Rays came up short in a 1-4 loss to Minnesota. No action for the hometown boy. That swing is sure gonna be rusty if he ever gets a chance to air it out. The Magic Number clicker is still stuck on 6 with a Red Sox win yesterday.

Photo Steve Nesius (AP)

The drive for the AL East begins today as the Magic Bus rolls to Baltimore.

The last week of the regular season will feature rookie starters on the mound. David Price gets the ball tonight. Mitch Talbott tomorrow night. Garza, who threw on a quick turnaround last week, gets a rest until Saturday. Meanwhile, Percy's back is still in knots and he'll have a second set of epidural injections Tuesday and be available to pitch on Thursday. If things go well. He pitched an inning in relief on back to back days this weekend and wiggled through them with only a slight bit of drama. Joe's got some mighty heavy closer dice to roll in about a week. Percy better level with him to keep the 9=8 equation in balance. If the math on the t-shirts is new to you, it's been Joe Maddon's mantra all season. That's 9 players playing hard for 9 months = 8 teams that play on. Hey, it's worked so far :-)

Post-Season Roster Prognostications.

Carl Crawford's hand is still not cleared to swing a bat. He may be available this week as a defensive replacement or to pinch run. A reinjured tendon could be career ending. He didn't have a career year and may not be able to pick up where he left off. Rocco Baldelli is a great story and we love him, but he seems to need several days between partial games to recover. When this roster is whittled back down to 25 players for the playoff run it will be a tough call between two guys who could be out for the season, or worse, with one wrong move... or a few healthy guys who can be personally credited with the single game or two that will probably decide the AL East. Ruggiano, Perez, Gomes, Johnson, Baldelli, and Crawford. Oohhh-eee. Tough call.

Jonny Gomes Optioned to Durham Bulls, IF Ben Zobrist Recalled

Infielder Ben Zobrist was recalled from Durham to the Tampa Bay Rays today and Jonny was optioned to The Bulls to create a roster spot.

Zobrist has been on a terror in Durham since he was sent down in July. He was just named International League Player of the Week in recognition of the .583 average he's put up this week, tops in the League by more than 100 points. He had 14 hits (2 homeruns and 6RBIs), a .630 on base average, a .833 slugging percentage and 2 stolen bases. It's mighty hard to argue the decision to bring him up with starting SS Jason Bartlett on a day-to-day basis after Sunday's injury to the index finger on his throwing hand. The Rays sorely need an offensive spark and it would be great to see Zobrist get them going.

Zobie's defense is a far cry from Bartlett's, but the Rays options are limited to 3B Evan Longoria or reserve Willie Aybar. Maddon said he hesitates sliding Evan to SS and interfering with the amazing work he's been doing at third. The Indians pitching yesterday clearly favored a strong 3B so they gave Aybar a shot at short for the first time in his professional career. His play was good enough to make The Days Top Plays on ESPN, but shaky enough, in part due to minor leg cramps during the game, that gambling more than a few games with that lineup is not a strong solution. My guess is that Bartlett's finger needs more than a couple days to heal.

Meanwhile, Jonny has struggled, even with increasingly regular at bats. Durham has always helped him turn it around and a red-hot Jonny Gomes will be just what the team needs in September as they make their play off push with a majority of games on the road. If Crawfords strained hamstring becomes a long term problem, Jonny could be back in the mix if he starts hitting. Jonny says he's "really excited about it" (the chance to play every day in Durham). More on Jonny's reaction from the St. Petersburg Times.

Meanwhile, Rocco Baldelli is still waiting for a decision. Gabe Gross or Willy Aybar are probably the guys on the bubble now unless the team sends Rocco to join Jonny in Durham and battle for a post season spot.