Rays Tank: When Upton had an arm

Welcome to the Rays Tanks, where the Rays are Romano and the tanks are conducted by George Carlin. But before we get to the Link Dump and the Banal Chatter, let's take a look at what happened on This Day in Baseball. Ladies, Gentlemen, and Wizzles, I give you: August 19th.

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Our first stop takes us to the Trop in 2008, where the magic is for realz. James Shields, already down 1-0 with two on in the 2nd, gives up a single to center. B.J. Upton does this:

The Rays would come back to win 4-2, because that's the kind of year 2008 was.

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Our next stop is the Bronx in 1985 for a Red Sox-Yankees match. Marty Barrett hits one deep, and Griffey The Elder climbs the wall.

People sometimes forget that Junior's dad was a pretty good player in his own right. Lifetime .296 hitter. three-time all-star, 32 WAR over his career. Not too shabby.

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#3 is not exactly an ex-Ray highlight. It's more a pre-Ray highlight. But how can you pass on the chance to show Wade Boggs flash that knuckleball?

Boggs wasn't nearly as effective for the DRays (but then, who was?). In his lone relief appearance for Tampa Bay, he gave up a run on three hits in 1 1/3 innings. Shoulda moved him to the other side of the rubber.

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It's with bitter-sweetness that I give you Eddie Gaedel, the 3'7" entertainer who made a publicity stunt appearance for Bill Veeck (as in 'wreck') and his St. Louis Browns on this day in 1951. Wearing number 1/8, Gaedel walked on four pitches, and was then replaced by a pinch runner. His contract was voided by baseball the next day, thus ending his baseball "career."

There's a whole lot in the Costa's above piece, but I know you're busy. Here's the three bits that jumped out at me. 1) Frank Saucier, who Eddie Gaedel pinch hit for, was not in on the joke. After being lifted, he went Chris Sale on a bat in the dugout and then quit the game. 2) Eddie Gaedel died ten years after this stunt. The only representative of MLB to attend his funeral was Bob Cain, the pitcher who surrender the walk. Classy guy, douchey employers. Not unlike the rest of us put up with, I guess. 3) Kyle Gaedel, a grand nephew of Eddie, was drafted by the Rays in 2008 but chose not to sign. He's now a Padres farmhand.

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This is some other stuff that happened on August 19th:

• 1917: Coaching third base, Ty Cobb gives teammate George Burns a shove as he rounds third to keep him moving. The Senators protest, and Ban Johnson rules in their favor. Coaches are now prohibited from touching runners (how was this not already a rule?). The game is replayed, and Washington beats the Tigers 2-0.
• 1921: At 34, Ty Cobb is the youngest ever to reach 3000 hits.
• 1941: Umpire Jocko Conlan tosses Pittsburgh manager Frankie Frisch from the second game of a double header. Frisch carries an umbrella onto the field to protest the playing conditions. Umpires have no sense of humor.
• 1957: Horrace Stoneman announces that the Giants are moving to San Fransciso.
• 1965: Jim Maloney of the Reds throw a no-hitter against the Cubs. He also sets a records by walking ten in a no-hitter. The only run comes in the tenth on a Leo Cardenas homer.
• 1969: Ken Hotzman throw a no-hitter for the Cubs against the Braves. The only Braves Cub' runs come on a three-run homer by Ron Santo in the first.
• 1992: Bret Boone become the first third-generation major leaguer. He is the grandson of Ray Boone and the son of Bob Boone.

But enough about ancient history. You want you Link Dump:

• This article breaking down Brad Boxberger by Jason Hanselman isn't new. But if you squint, and by squint I mean ignore the parts where it mentions the date and turn "fifth into sixth," it's frustratingly appropriate.
• Late last night, the Rays optioned Enny Romero back to Durham and recalled Matt Andriese. I don't know why they didn't do it two days ago, but with Romero throwing three innings on Monday, it was an obvious move.
• Tony Blengino examined Mike Montgomery and his occasional success, the guy the Rays gave up to acquire Erasmo Ramirez.
• Ben Cherrington is out in Boston, and Dave Dombrowski is in, as is, possibly, Frank Wren. Dave Cameron talks about how this seems like a move away from aggressive pushing of analytics, although I wouldn't completely oversell it. Cherrington's moves went pretty poorly, and people in Detroit seem to thing that Dombrowski was smart, so I'm not sure how to view this news.