THIS. IS. GARZA.

by R.J. Anderson on May 12, 2008 10:10 PM EDT Comment 26 comments

A Yankees suck chant, hooray!

via d.yimg.com

Poll

Tonight's MVP?

Matt Garza

180 votes

Jonny Gomes

52 votes

Jason Bartlett

21 votes

253 votes | Poll has closed

0 recs | Comment 26 comments

Story-email Email Printer Print

Comments

I love this team!

I said it when we were losing, but I have so much fun watching this team!

Tools Whore

Sign Bonds!

by Tyler on May 12, 2008 10:24 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

yankees really suck

hey did you guys hear that they just called up ian kennedy again? lol i cant wait to face him i think that he is going to take rasner’s spot in this series.

by RaysOfHope on May 12, 2008 10:33 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

I missed the 1st 6 innings :-(

Was Garza as good as his pitching line?

RJ is not an elitist douchebag who hates scouting

by ttnorm on May 12, 2008 10:38 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Yes.

"I've seen many, many blue skies turn gray, but the sun will eventually return, and so will I. So will I." - Carlos Pena

by R.J. Anderson on May 12, 2008 10:45 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Best outing as a Ray

Longlorious.

by RATW on May 12, 2008 11:38 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

His K/9 stats need to come up some still, but I think that will happen soon as he appears to be getting into full season mode after his injury. He was throwing strikes all night long, which is exactly what you need to do to a patient lineup like the Yankees. Don’t let them get into hitters counts. Take the game to them.

by RayFanNY on May 13, 2008 3:00 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

This season has been a great ride so far

I love watching these guys every chance I can. Especially on nights like tonight. I’m making my way back to the Trop again on Thursday.

The pitching has been awesome so far, and now we are only a .5 game out of first.

by usfraysfan on May 12, 2008 11:18 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Tonight was great

The yankee fans in front of my friends and I were STRUGGLING! The cowbell was getting to them and so was the Rays, they were in shock that “The Might Yankees” were losing to the “Lowly Rays”. I love it! Lets keep it up.

BELIEVE in 08!

Top Josh Paul Pornos- Big Navi Stroking, 2pitchers1cup, BJ to the Balls

by SRQman on May 12, 2008 11:30 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Sounds like the YES announcers.. they were kinda shell-shocked

Just hope it continues.

Longlorious.

by RATW on May 12, 2008 11:40 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I could be wrong

But I believe that this may have been Garza’s first ever win in a dome….

by Jacob Larsen on May 12, 2008 11:33 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Although we are .5 game out of first,

we are 1 game up in the lost column.

by bobr on May 12, 2008 11:37 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Yeah

That’s usually how it works, isn’t it?

Half games are due to more losses than the 1st place team.

by Jacob Larsen on May 12, 2008 11:43 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

$3K

Keep it up Rays. That 150:1 ($20) bet to win the world series bet I made in Vegas the first weekend of the season is looking better and better each passing day.
vr, Xei

by Xeifrank on May 12, 2008 11:46 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

yeah I put 25 down on them

to win pennant and another to win WS lol

Top Josh Paul Pornos- Big Navi Stroking, 2pitchers1cup, BJ to the Balls

BELIEVE in 08!

by SRQman on May 12, 2008 11:51 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Pitching Staff

How great will they be when Price gets the call up? The future’s so bright, they’ve gotta be Rays!

by floridaroar on May 13, 2008 12:17 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

I couldn’t be happier. The pitching and defense has been spectacularly good. How’s that Garza-Young trade looking now?

Interesting. I just read Baseballhq.com’s take on Hinske. They are talking about his skills increasing noticeably, and they are believers in his numbers. Further, they think he could surprise people this season the way Pena did last year. He is definitely an on base machine, and I think we need to keep him in the lineup. I just added him to my AL-only fantasy team to replace injured Vernon Wells.

I remain a little worried about the offensive punch. I feel like we are still lacking a little power, especially with Pena struggling and Longoria still getting his feet wet. It doesn’t help that Crawford no longer looks like a 20-HR guy. Eventually we are going to need to score more runs, as the BABIP against us is too low. I know our defense is great, but the numbers we are putting up defensively are not sustainable.

by RayFanNY on May 13, 2008 2:19 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Gotta offer props

Your guys are going real good now. Pitching has just been great.

RayNY has some good points above, but my sense is the power isn’t what’s missing, it’s the BA / OBP. But right now everything is happening at the right time. And on the BABIP issue, I disagree that this is predominantly a defense issue – I think the pitcher has at least as much to do with how the ball is put into play which can effect this ratio. But that’s just me.

Nice game for your guys – I’d personally appreciate a respite from the roll you’re on, but I expect no one here to agree. At least from my point of view it’s not quite as bad as this time last year. Hey, it’s a long season.

by nyyfaninlaaland on May 13, 2008 2:44 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

I forget who it was, or where it was posted. Someone on the boards a few days ago noted that our BABIP against was on pace to be the best in history. So that has to come back to reality obviously.

I don’t know about the Yankees. I think they are making a mistake continuing to go with Giambi, when Duncan can probably put up better numbers and is a viable defensive first baseman.

If you look at the Yankees right now, the defense is just a mess. Jeter doesn’t cover the ground he used to cover. Cano is good defensively, and A-Rod obviously is too when he’s healthy. But Giambi is a disaster, Matsui has terrible range, Damon is looking slower and slower in center.

Pitching wise, the Yankees are running on fumes. Wang is the real deal, and a legitimate #1 shut down starter. But Mussina is pitching way above his head, and that is going to correct eventually. Pettite looks old. I just don’t understand why they are bringing Kennedy back this quick. Rasner seems to be doing good enough, and at least they should find out more about him before they pull him from the rotation.

I don’t know if it is impatience, or just poor decision making. But the Yankees continue to make baffling moves with their roster. This is why I turned my back on them circa-2000, ironically as they were finishing up their amazing world series run. Either Cashman is not nearly as smart as people make him out to be, or ownership continues to stick their nose in where it doesn’t belong. I can’t think of a player decision they have made lately, besides resigning A-Rod, which made the team better. Everything seems to be done out of desperation. Hate to say it as a former Yanks supporter, but the Red Sox are far better at player evaluation these days. Over 162 games, the Yanks cannot keep up with the Red Sox in 2008.

by RayFanNY on May 13, 2008 2:57 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Woh, so there’s another Yankee-fan-turned-Ray-fan out there? I actually switched allegiances around the same time as you, about 2000 (maybe a year or so after that) when the Yankees started going for the big money players that I really just didn’t like. Made the switch and never looked back. I did use to claim that I still rooted for the Yanks when they didn’t play the Rays, but for a couple years now that hasn’t been the case at all.

I definitely agree, though…the Yankees have done a pretty weird job managing their team the last couple of years. They seem to have the right mindset in place, though…at least, Cashman somehow managed to hang on to Kennedy and Hughes this off-season. For better or worse, obviously, since they’ve both sucked so far this year, but it’s still eary and it’s a great move in principle. The problem that I see is that the Yankees are still haunted by all the mega-million contracts they’ve given out to players in the past. They’re commiting millions of dollars this year to Damon, Giambi, and Mussina so they kinda have to let them play.

It’ll be interesting to see how their franchise goes in the future, but at the moment, I definitely believe that the Rays are running their organization much smarter than the Yankees are. Proud to be a Rays fan!

by Steve Slowinski on May 13, 2008 8:07 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

stark had a chat on only the rays and marlins

http://proxy.espn.go.com/chat/chatESPN?event_id=20599

9 = 8

by websterjtc on May 13, 2008 8:59 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

ha…Joe Morgan still thinks we need a new stadium.

SprungOnSports (Long Island): What’s your take on the starts of the two Florida teams? The Marlins are surprising everyone, and the Rays are playing with surprising consistency.

SportsNation Joe Morgan: When you have players like Uggla and Hanley Ramirez, those are young players that other young players can look up to. Florida also has a quirky ballpark that the Marlins can use to their advantage. The Rays don’t have that, but they have played so well so far that it hasn’t mattered. I think the Rays are a very good team that will continue to get better at a faster rate than the Marlins. The Marlins have proven they can put good teams together, even after losing so many good players each year.

9 = 8

by websterjtc on May 13, 2008 11:12 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Florida also has a quirky ballpark that the Marlins can use to their advantage. The Rays don’t have that, but they have played so well so far that it hasn’t mattered.

We need to raise our ballpark quirk rate (BpQR) before it’s too late. Apparently the catwalks just aren’t getting the job done anymore.

Longlorious.

by RATW on May 13, 2008 11:51 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs