Tag: Rays

Tuesday update

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Where do I start?

Do I start with the headaches that are churning my brain into applesauce? Do I start with the fever I’m chillin’ with? Do I start with the Rays: a source of great joy and greater sadness in one evening? Do I start with the allergic reaction to an antibiotic, which has turned my clothing into an “aggressive interrogation” device? Do I start with the nurse who said I couldn’t get my own snack from the fridge (bought and paid for with a friend’s money), then took three hours to deliver the goods – despite semi-hourly reminders? Do I start with the ache that travels up and down the long bones of my skeleton, caused by drug induced, hyperactive marrow in the middle?

Maybe it’s time for dwelling on the bad to end.

What has been good about today? There was the constant supply of Vicodin which came my way when the nurse got tired of seeing me curled up in a fetal position for most of the morning. There was the constant supply of Benadryl that my doctor approved when he saw me around lunch time. There was the obvious dissing of a doctor, when mid-question, the nurse in the room stuck a thermometer in my mouth. Mind you, this wasn’t one of those high tech devices which finishes before you get the chance to close your mouth. This was an old school, you’re lucky if it’s done in two minutes, thermometer. There was the blessedly patient, caring, helpful, and reassuring nurse I had this afternoon. There was the phone call from a good friend at work, followed almost immediately by a phone call from my sister (the doctor).

There was some medium grade news today which bears mentioning. My white cell count has almost doubled in the last two days (400 to 700). My doctor thinks the fevers and chills will take care of themselves (sort of) once my white cell counts rebound a little further. The bad part is my counts are coming back a little slower than he thought they would, and I’ll be in the hospital until at least Saturday; with no guarantees that it will be anytime shortly thereafter.

Even in this, there’s a silver lining. One of my team of doctors tells me that the low white cell counts following the chemo, combined with the slow comeback, suggest that more of the cancerous cells were killed – which makes full remission more likely, and follow-up treatment (shudder) less.

That’s a big fat, heaping helping of hope.

And now for something a little lighter

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The Rays game was on in the background as I fiddled with the trusty PowerBook. The Rays were down their customary 3-4 runs after 3 innings when I was finishing up the last entry.

Then I looked up and saw Greg Norton smack one over the fence, and my brain said, “that’s got ‘you’re such a big, strong bat… and I deserve a spanking’ written all over it. And that’s no small feat, considering baseballs are pretty small, and there isn’t a whole lot of room for a lot of dialog.”

I’ll bet you had no idea you were going to be reading an R rated post about baseball this evening, did you?

Must be the Vicodin again.

P.S. It’s hard to believe I hadn’t taught my spell check dictionary the spelling for “Vicodin” by now.

P.P.S. Has there ever been a rookie gold glove winner; and if so, does fieldwork not directly related to catching (arm strength, accuracy, and assists) qualify you for one?

Rays in Oakland

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I make this entry at considerable risk. I’m going to put something in print that runs the considerable risk of jinxing the Rays’ prospects for success this season. Still, I’m positively giddy over James Shields’ performance so far this year.

No, it hasn’t been perfect. Yes, the season is only a few weeks old. Yes, he wasn’t nearly as good near the end of last season as when he started it (when he was called up). All the same, to this amateur viewer, Shields has shown flashes of being a pretty darn good pitcher. His twelve strikeouts should have been good enough for a win last Sunday (against the Indians). His performance last night apparently was good enough too (although I only read about it – I didn’t stay up to watch). I may have it all wrong, but I’d swear his velocity is up compared to last year. I thought I remembered seeing his fastball top out at 88-89 mph last year. This year it seems like it’s more often in the low 90’s. His changeup was already REALLY effective, but if his velocity is up on his fastball – it could become devastating.

Mostly, I’m just relieved they got a W on the road. It looked like the Angels made them really familiar with the woodshed.

Why I could be an MLB manager

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You are the New York Yankees. You are playing the Rays and you’re up by one in the seventh inning with runners in scoring position (2nd and 3rd). You’re pitching to Roco Baldelli (a right handed hitter), currently hitting .263 (.456 with men in scoring position) – and you intentionally walk him to load the bases – so you can pitch to Brendan Harris (another right handed hitter), currently hitting .324 (.600 with men in scoring position). Huh?

It worked out for NY (sort of). Harris got all of a line drive – that the Yankee SS made a diving play on, getting the out.

Too bad the next batter was Carl Crawford – who has been on a tear tonight – who hit a grand slam.

Go RAYS!

It’s not fair

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I spent nearly all day in a wretched state of exhaustion. Naturally I’m wide awake at a quarter to midnight. Personally, I’d like to blame it all on Brian Stokes. James Shields pitches eight innings, allows two runs, strikes out TWELVE, and leaves the Rays with a two run lead going into the ninth. Naturally, the Rays lost by two (six to four) after allowing four runs in the top of the ninth.

What a way to ruin a perfectly good day out with my daughter.

Rays’ spending

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On this, the opening day of baseball season (for the Rays anyway), talk of hope, expectation, and payroll makes the rounds. Once again, many are questioning the spending habits of Rays’ ownership – particularly in light of the revenue sharing money ($35 million?) coming in, and the Rays’ payroll ($25-26 million?).

Here’s the thing (that occured to me only just now): when the good folks running the Rays talk of spending wisely for the future, I believe them. When you consider how much mediocre/old pitching goes for nowadays, how much do you suppose it’s going to cost to keep the services of a promising young south-paw in a couple of years? (Kazmir’s a left-hander, right? Some fan I am.) If the current trends hold, that could be the annual revenue sharing money right there – all by itself.

Jorge Cantu

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There was a time, not so long ago, when I thought Jorge was going to be a part of the glory Rays. Now it looks like he’s destined to play for someone else. I’m forced to face the fact that he wasn’t going to be the guy at second base for the Rays. When BJ Upton beats you out because his defense is BETTER, you know you’ve got a problem.

I understand it came down to a choice between Cantu – an infielder by trade, and Johnny Gomes – yet another outfielder. Neither one of them is tearing up the world in the field, and the Rays need another outfielder like they need more seats at the Trop. However, I was talking with someone last Friday who summed it up perfectly… who’s bat would you rather have in the DH spot? Cantu struggled all year last year, but he was just a year removed from being the Rays RBI machine. Gomes has the ability to change a game with a swing of the bat. Sure, it’s more likely that swing will result in a third strike than an RBI, but he may turn out to be the kind of power hitter most AL teams have in their line-up. Who do you see as an AL DH? A solid line drive hitter, or a guy with more pop than a Coca-Cola bottler? I just don’t see Cantu as a DH, and it’s a shame because I was really pulling for him.

Knowing the Rays, they’ll turn the DH duties over to Greg Norton… a guy that may be less suited to the DH than either Cantu or Gomes.

Lord help us.

The Rays had to pick someone, and I can’t fault them for picking Gomes. Well, not now anyway. I’ll reserve the right to change my mind in August.

A new day in Tampa Bay?

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This entry isn’t terribly timely. It’s another entry I’ve been kicking around for awhile, in my spare moments.

There’s a persistent rumor floating around that we have a professional sports franchise in this area that plays football. Alas, this rumor is wholly unsubstantiated.

But I didn’t start this entry to talk football. I wanted to talk off-season baseball… during this time when hope for our other professional franchise springs eternal (if not exclusively). What is the reason for hope this year? It springs partially out of a sense of “due-ness.” Even the Cubs have occasional years over .500. Even if every Rays baseball decision was made with a coin flip, they’d be bound to luck their way into a winner once every ten years or so, wouldn’t they? Sadly, for a few years every decision was made with a pinch rather than a flip, but I won’t go there now; except to say that they Rays may be showing some signs of a renewed willingness to spend (if only a little). The new owners said they wouldn’t (and couldn’t) spend with the big market teams, but they did promise to spend (some) money wisely. Under the previous owner this was code for bottom line spending… as in, “what would my wallet do?” This year we’ve been greeted with the news that the Rays won a bid to retain the services of a promising Japanese player. Under the previous owner, news of the Rays winning a bidding competition with other MLB franchises would have caused a spike in the price of shares in Philips Electronics. Now, the Rays have won the rights to sign decent Japanese players in two consecutive years. This isn’t the kind of news that makes national headlines, but it gives me a little hope.

In other news, the Rays placed a few minor leaguers on their 40 man roster. Among them was their mercurial prospect… le enfant terrible… Elijah Dukes. In case you are unaware, this is a guy who many say would have been in the majors two years ago… possibly on his way to stardom… if he didn’t have a “can’t miss” temper to go along with his “sure-thing” talent. Fairly or not, this is the guy who has been accused of being the catalyst for the miss-stepsof a couple other Rays’ prospects’: namely B.J. Upton and Delmon Young (of bat throwing fame). Let’s hope he can keep the temper in check. The last thing a perennial loser needs is a cancer in the clubhouse. That’s assuming he makes the team out of spring training, or gets a call-up. My guess is he’s got too much talent not to get a crack at the team.