~~~~~The Official 2008 Tampa Bay Rays Discussion Thread~~~~~

[TbayBucs]

Go to
http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/events/all_star/y2008/fv/ballot.html
and vote for Evan Longoria and help send a third player from the Tampa Bay Rays to the last All-Star game ever in Yankee Stadium! I know it has been posted but want to make sure everyone does it!! Go Rays!!!

I got my votes in................... Go Evan....

[TOP SECRET]

Man that was a fun inning to watch, Longoria is just wow. lol. I feel like I say it all the time, but still never enough.

[joedav01]

Rays 4-0 so far this spring. Best record in all of MLB so far...

yea just nice to have baseball

I predict Edwin Jackson and Jeff Niemann win spots in  the rotation  out of ST. Atleast that;s what I;m hoping for!

I like Sonnanstine a lot also, I got no problem with him. I think if him and Niemann can tweek their control problems they will be succesful. I think Jackson's problem is command, but I've started rooting for the guy to make it since the 2nd half of last year. He has been so frustratingly inept for the most part in Tampa, but he still shows legit potential

Anyone notice how Boid and TURBO have steered clear of here? They are finally starting to realize how short sighted and foolish their comments were. Things will change. This isn't Barack Obama baby! Its really going to happen!

[olafberserker]

I doubt they're scared at this point.

[bucs8ball]

Went to D-Rays/Phillies game today.

Aki hit a homer to lead off the game. Unfortunately, the game got rained out before I could see much of Percival.

[joedav01]

I was there too.  I sat right behind home plate and Percival looked really good.  He had a 1-2-3 inning in his debut and got 1 K.

Aki and Pena hit opposite filed HR's.  Bartlett had a triple.  Crawford had a double.  Gomes had a double.  That is all I can remember off the top of my head.

Rays won again to move to 5-1 this spring, which is the best spring record in all of MLB.

Tell me when Spring Training record has ever mattered...

[olafberserker]

Which post says it matters?  They're just discussing the teams play during spring training.  It's good to see though that the Rays matter enough to you that you came here to point out that the records do not mean anything

Tell me when Spring Training record has ever mattered...

bandwagon BUcs fan, ask him which baseball team he roots for

[joedav01]

Tell me when Spring Training record has ever mattered...

When the Rays started spring training last year 0-11 people were talking about it every day.  After today they are 6-1 and no one is talking about it.

Spring training games do not count. But, this year's team is making a point on emphaisising on winning to get the culture changed. Evidenced by Crawford running over the Astros catcher at the plate this week and Upton saying that was a sign to everyone that things are different and we have a group here that is serious about winning everytime they take the field.

[olafberserker]

I don't care about their record.  I like some of the play though.  The Bucs had a lot of 3-1 or 4-0 preseasons during hte verrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrry lean years.

[bucs8ball]

From the same game on Thursday...
Mitch "Wild Thing" Williams slinging salsa

[joedav01]

Rays beat the Yankees today by a score of 4-1 to improve their MLB best spring record to 7-1.  Both teams used almost their complete opening day line ups to start the game.  Matt Garza worked his way out of trouble by strinking out Giambi and Cano with the bases loaded to end the first was was unhittable from there.  Rays pitching only allowed 5 hits and 1 run and the 1 run was allowed when Riggans missed an easy tag at the plate.

David Price made his MLB spring debut....and OMG was he impressive.  He struck out the side and touched 99MPH on the radar gun.  He looked amazing.  He mixed in a nasty slider that he threw in the mid 80's and a 70MPH curve ball.  His pitches are all different speeds and keep the hitters off balance.  They all looked overmatched by his fastball.  98 MPH on the corners, down in the zone is impossible to hit.  The Yankees announcers were blown away by him on the broadcast.  He looks ready for the big leagues right now. The Yankees announcers said the Rays execs told him they fully expect him to be in the rotation by the end of the year.   Our rotation is going to be UNBELIEVABLE the 2nd half of this year and well into the future.