Hank Williams Fired! Or quits.

Way to keep it classy MLB...

MLB posted this image on their Facebook page yesterday poking fun at the Rays early exit from the playoffs. Really MLB? I can see ESPN pulling such shenanigans but not MLB. Our showing in September didn't earn any respect? Last time I checked, lasting 4 games out of a 5 game series was nothing to be ashamed of. Again, way to keep it classy and thanks for all your support.

Welcome to the offseason.

Its Deja vu as Rays get bounced by the Rangers again.

Stu (rightfully) complains about attendance again.

If we told you, back in April, that this team would be down 9 games in September, then come back to win the Wild Card and even win a playoff game, would you have believed us? 

Francona a ‘Great’ Manager? Really?
With Red Sox manager Terry Francona on the verge of being “disretained” following his team’s effort in the 2011 Fall Classic Collapse, all that’s being heard from the myriad talking heads who claim to know baseball is how great he’s been as skipper of the Slippers.
Really? Did we miss something? Isn’t a guy who runs a Major League Baseball team with a payroll double or triple that of most of the competition supposed to get his team into the playoffs? Your grandmother could have figured out which overpaid veteran sitting on the bench needs to pinch hit (what, twice a year in the AL?) — and, bless her heart, it’s likely that she never even played ball in her life.
Did Terry Francona ever display the cojones it takes to intentionally walk the opposing cleanup batter with the bases loaded to preserve a precarious lead on the road — and win the game?
Did Terry Francona ever demonstrate the prescience (known in some baseball circles simply as “savvy”) that prompted the reliance on a pinch-hitter batting .108 and hitless in his previous 21 MLB at-bats with two outs in the bottom of the ninth and down a run in the final game of the season in which a playoff spot was at stake — and win the game?
Did Terry Francona see the potential of Carlos Pena (even after ‘Los batted .273 in for the BlowSox in 2006)?
No? Really?
Then what exactly did Terry Francona ever do that qualifies him as a great manager? What did he ever do that any mediocre manager couldn’t have done?
Word on the streets is that the idiot-wannabes didn’t get along very well in the clubhouse (and by extension on the field). Boo hoo. Isn’t the job of a manager, by definition, to manage his players and mold their attitudes? A baseball manager has coaches to help manage the game: The pitching coach advises which reliever should be used; the bench coach is relied on to get the right pinch-hitter ready to step up to the plate. But it’s all on the manager’s shoulders when it comes to guiding his players off the field so that petty issues and heady personalities don’t disrupt his team’s chemistry.
It appears to Sox Unnation that Terry Francona still has a way to go before he should be labeled a “great’ manager. So far he’s only accomplished what he should have. Nothing unexpected. Nothing great.

The Stat: The Yankees had not squandered a lead that large that late in a game since 1953 (yeah, I know, they threw 11 pitchers, none of whom were elite, but still).

The Stat: The Rays are the first AL team in history to make the playoffs after starting 0-6. Two NL teams have accomplished that feat: the 1974 Pirates and the 1995 Reds.

The Stat: The Rays' 91 wins are the most ever by a team that started the season 1-8. The previous mark of 87 was held by the 1921 Cardinals.

The Stat: Before Wednesday night, the Rays had only swept the Yankees in a series of three or more games in the final 10 days of the season once (September 26-28, 2000).

The Stat: The Rays join the Yankees and the Philadelphia Phillies as the only teams in baseball to have made the postseason in three of the last four years.

The Stat: The Rays trailed the Sox in the AL East by 11.5 games on July 27. Since then, the Rays are 37-11 and the Sox are just three games over .500.

The Stat: Johnson was hitting just .108 in 2011 when he dropped the bomb that tied the game.

The Stat: The Red Sox were 76-0 in 2011 when leading after eight innings before Baltimore's 4-3 walk-off win. It was Jonathan Papelbon's third blown save of the season.

The Stat: Boston's 7-20 September record marks its worst September since 1952.

The Stat: Longoria is only the second player in baseball history to hit a walk-off home run to clinch a postseason berth on the final day of the season (Bobby Thomsons's "Shot Heard Round the World" in 1951).

Thanks to John Tucker for sharing this with us.

 

Rays now 10-5 against the Sox this season, 6-0 in their last 6 games

Wild Card is within reach (again)

Rays wobble but they don't fall down

Wild card down to 3

Good thing Manny Ramirez isn't a distraction

 

Rays sweep Sox, keep playoff dream alive.  

Wild Card now 3 1/2 games away with 17 to play.

RECORD PRICE

Price fans Rays' record 14

Jennings hits first lead-off HR of his career

Wild Card now within 6.5 games

THE POT CORNER?

"We've decided, obviously the three of us as a group and the organization as a whole, to just let the police do their job and us to keep that to ourselves. We're just not going to make any comment. … What's been said is said and our only way to react to it is obviously not to go the wrong way and react negatively to it, just to not make a comment on it."  - Rays' .233 Hitter Evan Longoria

Bleacher Report: More on the Legend of Sam Fuld

Sometimes you win.

Sometimes you lose.

Sometimes it rains.

Rays split mini series at New York

Price continues dominance of Sabathia

Team continues to tread water in standings
Damon clears waivers
Performance Enhancers?  Nope. Burglers stole dope along with the AK-47.

HOW SWEEP IT IS!

First 4-game home sweep since 2005
Only 46,514 showed up for the four games
(That's 11629 per game)

Tearing Niemann 6-0 in last 6 starts

Team travels to New Yawk with momentum
Wild Card only 8 1/2 games away

Zo leads MLB in doubles, Kotch second in Average

Damon Watch 2011: Now in 65th place on hit list

Rays anger the Village People.

BEST. COMEBACK. EVER.

Biggest comeback in the history of the Rays

5 Runs in the 9th thanks to timely KC errors

Legend of Sam Fuld gets bigger and bigger.

Makes the 27th minute of SportsCenter

Season ending surgery for Alex Cobb.  Glad we didn't trade a pitcher for a bat now aren't you?

Arrests made in burglary of Longo's rental home

KOTCHA!

Casey Kotchman Doubles, Homers, and dodges the pie

Home Town Hero now .341/.397/.872 with 7HR and 22Doubles

Meanwhile, the First Baseman nobody wanted to see go is hitting .221 for the Cubs.  That's down in Evan Longoria / BJ Upton territory.

CARL WHO?

Jennings ties the game in the 10th

3 Hits, Double, Homer, Avg up to .354

Let's hope DJ doesn't Ruggiano himself back down to the minors again

TRULY OFFENSIVE

Rays offense has rare outburst, pounds Jays

12 hits in a game?  Stop asking for Derek Shelton's head already

Rays hang on in the race for 3rd place

Chirinos is our new Dioner Navarro

Return of the Clutch Hitters

"I've never seen a team fail to score as much as this one".  Some Connecticut Pissed-off Yankee Curmedgeon

It's official - BJ now stands for Baserunning Joke
When are we going to get a real hitting coach?
Are you content with just a winning season?

 

Mariners split series with Rays 

Road trip hell 

If our season is over, somebody please tell Andrew Friedman

Don't look now, but the Rays have 5 players hitting over .236

Somebody please tell Longo to party after the season ends

The Felipe Lopez era is over

BJ Upton trade rumors scheduled to start again in February

BOMBING AWAY

Dismal road trip goes from bad to A-wful

Trade rumors get to Shields in the 4th, ERA now over 3

Joyce heroics too little, too late, again

SEASON ON THE BRINK

Shaun Weideman graphic

Rays continue to lose ground to Sox, Yankees.

Rumor mill swirls

Will Rays be parting with Shields, Upton, Farnsworth, Damon?

The Cubs need a mascot, could Raymond be traded for prospects?

Rays walk right into a loss. 

It's lights out at the Trop - is it lights out on the Rays season too?

Would you still like to be in an outdoor stadium when lightning strikes?

Hey Rick Sutcliffe, we don't like you either.

MARATHON MEN

Rays waste 16-inning opportunity to gain ground

Now 7 games back and dropping

Good news is only 5.5 games back in the Wild Card

Great job by the guys in the ESPN Booth - knowing who would manage the Rays in the event that the manager and bench coach get tossed, knowing who the emergency catcher is, and knowing what city the Rays play in.  

The Trop was full of Rays fans but you wouldn't know it by the crowd shots on TV.

1st Place Sox come to town.  Are you going to see the Sox or the Rays?

Home team has a chance to gain some ground in the AL East race.

Rays fans need to step up, and fill the Trop this weekend!

REMEMBER WHEN?

We miss you Carl.  But you're no Sam Fuld.

Rays All-Stars through the years

1998 Rolando Arrojo

1999 Roberto Hernandez, Jose Canseco

2000 Fred McGriff

2001 Greg Vaughn (DNP)

2002 Randy Winn

2003 Lance Carter

2004 Carl Crawford

2005 Danys Baez

2006 Scott Kazmir

2007 Carl Crawford

2008 Scott Kazmir, Dioner Navarro, Evan Longoria

2009 Joe Maddon, Carlos Pena (DNP), Jason Bartlett, Evan Longoria* (Selected as a starter, DNP), Ben Zobrist, Carl Crawford**

2010 Evan Longoria*, Carl Crawford*, David Price*, Rafael Soriano

2011 David Price (DNP), James Shields (DNP), Matt Joyce

*Starter, **MVP

Big E James

Shields pitches a gem, but throws the game away in the 7th.

Hey S-Rod, make sure you look the ball into your glove.

Congrats to the St Pete Times for putting the Derek Jeter above the fold on the Sunday Sports section.  Way to support the local team.  

Rays Greatest Point Ever?  You decide.

Price out of All-Star Game with turf toe.

No Containment

Rays can't stop Yankees, Jeter.

Sorry Wade Boggs.  Price lets Jetes become the 2nd player to get his 3000th hit on a home run.

While you were reading this Jeter just got 5 more hits off the Rays.

James can't complete, Rays offense can't compete.

Bob Buckhorn throws out the first pitch, and then uses it as an opportunity to discuss stadium plans with Stu Sternberg. 

Rays continue June Swoon, with no trade deadline savior on the horizon.

Cincinnati fans can't help fill the Trop.

COMPLETE GAME 

(COMPLETELY OVERWORKED?)

JAMES

Rays beat up on the Florida Miami mAAArlins.  Not many of you were there to see it.

Shields now leads the majors with 5 complete games.

Does Joe really need to send him out in the 9th with a 1-run lead?

Will Big Game James have gas left for big games in September?

All Sam Fuld does is make ridiculous diving catches in left field.

E5-van Longoria?  A positively un-Longo like Sunday.

To the fan at the Trop on Saturday wearing the Yankees Cap and the Iverson Jersey: not cool, Dude. Not cool.

<a href="http://video.msn.com?mkt=en-us&brand=foxsports&playlist=videoByUuids:uuids:273d50d7-dcf8-4111-86ef-f260c6507e8f&showPlaylist=true&from=IV2_en-us_foxsports_videosearch&fg=RAMP" target="_new" title="Lightning goalie hits a homer">Video: Lightning goalie hits a homer</a>

Revenge is cold

Price drills Youk for stepping on Casey's foot.  Problem is it loads the bases and leads to a run.

Greek God of Walks Whining?

Joe Maddon finds something positive in dropping 2 of 3 at home to the Red Sox.

James Shields is the ace of this staff again.

5 1/2 games back and falling.

HELL-ACIOUS

Future ace pitches well enough to win, but Rays leave their bats at home.

Mitt Romney knows where to meet thousands of Massachusetts voters - at the Trop!

Stay classy, Vancouver

Make sure you vote for Rays All-Stars

BOSTON SUCKS!

 

Hottest team in baseball comes to town tonight.

Will the Trop be filled with red shirts or blue?  You decide.

Congratulations to the Dallas Mavericks for saving us all from a year of Miami fans and their smug, bandwagon attitudes.  "We're from Miami, and we don't bother to watch anything but front-runners and storebought champions."

They Are Who We Thought They Were ?

Rays now 4 games back and falling

There's no crying in baseball!

Jorge Posada shows his true side
It is sad to watch a player keep playing past the age when his team and his fans still want him
But if you're an aging catcher that doesn't catch and isn't hitting...

LETDOWN at the TROP

O's bring their A-Game

Outscore Rays by 15-6, take 2 of 3
Still somehow able to gain ground over the Yankees

DJ Kitty is pissed off that only 28,451 of you showed up to see Darius Rucker.  Maybe more will turn out to see the Wiggles.

Rays take division lead

Best team in baseball cries uncle

DJ Kitty expects you to go see the 1st Place Rays this weekend!

SWEEP

Rays beat once-again hapless O's, AL East is back where it should be

Joe Maddon is a genius (again) now that the team is playing like champions

All SuperSam Fuld does is make incredible leaping catches at the wall

B.J. Upton - franchise player?

Team in 1st Place - will you go to the Trop now please?

Welcome to baseball in Minnesota

Rays embrace the cold, beat up Twins.

LET'S GO LIGHTNING!

Unstoppable Train

COMPLETE GAME JAMES

Shields throws another gem

First consecutive complete games for a Rays pitcher since 2002

Rays take sole possession of 2nd place

No Respect: Rays slide in the ESPN Power Rankings despite going 7-3 in the past ten days and closing to 3 games of 1st place.  Somehow, 3rd place Bosox rate higher.  We love you too, ESPN.

Legend of Sam Fuld almost makes another amazing catch - this time in the seats.

Caught in a Pickle!
Crawford and Sox seem to be in quite a pickle as they drop two to the Rays.

TOO FAMILIAR

Rays fail to keep pace with rival Sox, now have sole posession of last place.

Great catch, Sam.  should have laid out for the next one too.

Don't look now, but BJ Upton is quietly leading this team with .290/.371/.548.

FINALLY!

Rays off the schneid, keep pace with rival Red Sox for last place

That's just Manny being Juiced. Thanks for 5 games of memories.

AL EAST BIZARRO WORLD

Orioles 5-1, .833

Yankees 4-2, .667

Blue Jays 4-2, .667

Boston 0-6, .000

Tampa Bay 0-6, .000