Tagged: Rays
Dog days
Here’s a trio of random O.G. blog-servations from the heat of early August… only seven weeks from October, but who’s counting?
http://www.mlb.com/chc/fan_forum/y2008/october_gonzo_vote.jsp?poll_q=3
*Have you been watching the Cubs? Signs throughout Wrigley say “It Will Happen,” and I can’t really argue when I watch these guys play. Sweet Lou has them feeling it, Ryan Dempster’s out of his mind, and Kerry Wood’s coming back, too. They’ve pulled away from the Brewers a little bit and might be ready to finally give the North Side some World Series championship love for the first time in exactly 100 years.
bam.showFlvPlayerFrame({url:”http://mediadownloads.mlb.com/mlbam/2008/08/06/mlbtv_houchn_1017669_800K.flv”,width:512,height:332,poster:”http://www.mlb.com/images/embed/embed_derosa_512.jpg”});
*No matter how you feel about the Yankees (and I think I know how a lot of you outside New York feel), it’s a bummer that Joba’s hurt. The Yanks already don’t have Chien-Ming Wang and Phil Hughes right now, so now we’ll see what this kid Ian Kennedy is made of. We might also get a Carl Pavano sighting soon. Who knows? Maybe the fresh arms will get the Bombers back on top. Stranger things have happened in October.
bam.showFlvPlayerFrame({url:”http://mediadownloads.mlb.com/mlbam/2008/08/04/mlbtv_nyatex_1000068_800K.flv”,width:512,height:332,poster:”http://www.mlb.com/images/embed/embed_joba_512.jpg”});
*I’ve got one more for you and it’s got three words: Tampa Bay Rays. OK, two more words: Still there. These guys keep winning games in crazy fashion, they’re absolutely ridiculous at home, and their manager, Joe Maddon, has them believing there’s nothing they can’t do. I’m here to tell you that when you have a little confidence, you can rule the postseason — even if you’ve never been there before. Joe saw it close up when he was the bench coach of the ’02 Angels. And now he’s got Evan Longoria and Carlos Pena. That doesn’t hurt, either.
bam.showFlvPlayerFrame({url:”http://mediadownloads.mlb.com/mlbam/2008/08/06/mlbtv_cletba_1012949_800K.flv”,width:512,height:332,poster:”http://www.mlb.com/images/embed/embed_pena_512.jpg”});
More coming soon as we march toward October memories… are you getting fired up?
O.G.
Familiar faces
The march toward October is in full swing, and we caught a good taste of what might happen in the postseason over the weekend at Fenway Park.
I don’t want to make any bold playoff predictions based on three games in July, but if the Yankees taking two out of three in Boston is any indication, I think Tampa Bay better start doing as well on the road as they’ve done at the Trop. Yep, the Bronx Bombers are back and making the American League East THE division to watch as the summer heats up, and their deal for Xavier Nady and Damaso Marte and rumored upcoming deal with Seattle — Jarrod Washburn, anyone? — should make them even stronger.
Here are some other O.G. observations that may or may not mean anything when that fall chill hits the air and the pennant races whittle down to eight teams…
The Angels continue to pile onto their AL West lead and best record in baseball, and now they add Mark Teixeira to the mix? Ridiculous. All that AND the fact that Vladimir Guerrero still hasn’t gotten hot. That’s a scary proposition for the rest of the league come October.
The Mets are finally playing to their potential. I’m not sure if it has to do with replacing Willie Randolph with Jerry Manuel, but something’s clicking at Shea – particularly the ball off of Carlos Delgado’s bat.
Watch out for Milwaukee. The C.C. Sabathia trade was genius and the Brew Crew has responded, big-time. And oh yeah, if you need any late-game heroics, Ryan Braun is clearly your man.
So many games to watch, so little time. But the clock’s ticking down to the Trade Deadline and to October.
More commentary after the deals are done before Thursday at 4 p.m. ET …
O.G.
What have we learned so far?
The countdown to the 2008 postseason began right after the All-Star Game, and we’ve definitely learned a few more things.
In case you didn’t believe it, the Angels are really for real. A home sweep of the Red Sox set that in stone, even though Boston still needs Big Papi to get rolling again. But right now, Vlad Guerrero and the boys have the best record in the Majors. This is Vlad’s shot that got things started:
//size of the video itself — NOT the player. Embed size will
//be generated dynamically.
//height of 300 for 4:3, 225 for 16:9
var flv_width=400;
var flv_height=225;
//if you don’t want the video to automatically play back,
//specify an initial image to display in the player.
//If you DO want it to play back automatically, comment
//out the init_image variable.
//Image should be the same width/height as the flv
var init_image=”http://octobergonzo.mlblogs.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/gonzo-guerrero.jpg”
//var endofplaylist_js_call=”javascript:my_javascript_function();”;
//var loop_playlist=”yes”;
var playlist = new Array();
playlist.push({flv:”http://mediadownloads.mlb.com/mlbam/2008/07/21/mlbtv_bosana_886683_800K.flv”,controls:”yes”});
The Tampa Bay Rays got their groove back with a few wins and took back the division lead over the Sox, while the Yankees took care of the A’s in the Bronx. That means things are starting to get a little crazy in the American League East. Check out Evan Longoria’s grand slam against the Blue Jays:
//size of the video itself — NOT the player. Embed size will
//be generated dynamically.
//height of 300 for 4:3, 225 for 16:9
var flv_width=400;
var flv_height=225;
//if you don’t want the video to automatically play back,
//specify an initial image to display in the player.
//If you DO want it to play back automatically, comment
//out the init_image variable.
//Image should be the same width/height as the flv
var init_image=”http://octobergonzo.mlblogs.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/gonzo-longoriahr.jpg”
//var endofplaylist_js_call=”javascript:my_javascript_function();”;
//var loop_playlist=”yes”;
var playlist = new Array();
playlist.push({flv:”http://mediadownloads.mlb.com/mlbam/2008/07/21/mlbtv_tortba_875280_800K.flv”,controls:”yes”});
How about the Dodgers? A major comeback over the D-backs and all of a sudden we’ve got a tie in the National League West. Here’s the big ninth inning:
//size of the video itself — NOT the player. Embed size will
//be generated dynamically.
//height of 300 for 4:3, 225 for 16:9
var flv_width=400;
var flv_height=225;
//if you don’t want the video to automatically play back,
//specify an initial image to display in the player.
//If you DO want it to play back automatically, comment
//out the init_image variable.
//Image should be the same width/height as the flv
var init_image=”http://octobergonzo.mlblogs.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/gonzo-dodgers.jpg”
//var endofplaylist_js_call=”javascript:my_javascript_function();”;
//var loop_playlist=”yes”;
var playlist = new Array();
playlist.push({flv:”http://mediadownloads.mlb.com/mlbam/2008/07/21/mlbtv_lanari_887475_800K.flv”,controls:”yes”});
There are almost too many storylines developing to blog about in one post. The Cardinals continue to surprise everybody, including me. Cliff Lee of the Indians already has 13 wins. The Mets are still on fire.
The suspense is building. Can you feel it?
O.G.
October Gonzo 
