The Rays Tank: TGIF Edition

While Brandon Allen is deservedly the talk of the town for one day. Another player that was the talk of the town for many, many days over his career in Tampa Bay is having a rough go of it to start the season. Carl Crawford is being shut down from baseball activity for the foreseeable future with a sprained ulnar collateral ligament.

There are many in the Tampa Bay area that openly jeer him, booing him with lion-like ferocity. I don't begrudge him anything. He was with the Rays for nine seasons, three longer than is required and played wonderfully. He earned that pay day, no matter if it was the Red Sox that signed him. Seeing him struggle mightily in Boston hasn't brought me any joy. There's a difference between struggling and being injured. He's going to try rehab instead of opting for surgery. Hopefully that cures what ails him, even if it means a positive contribution to the hated Red Sox this season.

• In case you missed it yesterday, Adam Berry of MLB.com had good article on the Rays shifting prowess. My favorite nugget was that Shields can call his own shift, audibling out of a certain formation if he thinks a pitch he's going to throw will go a certain direction. We all love shift talk. Shift shift shift.
• Mighty Casey isn't off to the best of starts with Cleveland, as Paul Hoynes details.
• Former Devil Ray Aubrey Huff was recently put on the disabled list with an anxiety disorder. For anyone that has ever suffered with anxiety, and I have, though not to that extent, it's an awful, awful feeling and nothing anyone should take lightly. Get better soon, Huff.

UPDATE:

Who else has watched this ∞ times?