a brawl, a scuffle and a #1 pick
The Weekly Rays Update
Overall: 37-26
Last Week: @ Boston (0-3), @ Texas (2-1)
This Week: @ LA Angels, Miami Marlins
It was a roller coaster week for the Rays, with some embarrassing lows and promising highs. For convenience’s sake we will list the big events in the Rays Universe from the past week.
- St Pete City Council votes “yes” on first of three votes needed to put the Stadium referendum on the November ballot.
- Rays select Tim Beckham first overall in the draft.
- Rays and Sawx engage in a bench clearing brawl.
- Matt Garza and Dioner Navarro get in a scuffle in the dugout.
I thought the brawl in Boston would be good for a young Rays team since it would help cement the “us versus the world” mentality often exhibited by champion teams, most recently by another team popular in Boston, i.e. the Patriots. But it appears the Rays passion backfired on Sunday when Garza and Navarro exchanged heated words.
The Rays blogs disagree on who is to blame, some say Navarro, some say Garza, but I will throw Joe Maddon’s name in the mix. As the manager Maddon sets the tone for the team when he yells at Coco Crisp from the dugout. To Maddon’s credit he walks a fine line between keeping his team motivated and being labeled an instigator, a line which if often blurred.
Boston………….40—26 __ .606
Tampa Bay…37—26 __ .587
New York……..32—31 __ .508
Toronto……….33—32 __ .508
Baltimore…….31—31 __ .500
After being swept by the Red Sox the Rays are now 0-6 in Boston for the season. The Rays recovered well by taking the Texas road series but the Rays would solidify their resume as a potential playoff team by winning the series against the Angels, who have the best record in the AL.
STADIUM UPDATE
As mentioned above the Rays stadium plan cleared the first of three hurdles when the St Pete city council voted “yes” to put the stadium referendum on the ballot. Two more city council votes remain with a “no” majority vote all that is needed to derail the stadium. Additionally, Bud Selig promised St Pete an All-Star game if a new stadium is built.
DRAFT RECAP
I’m not going to even pretend to know what I’m talking about with the baseball draft; more than any other major draft it is fraught with high-ranked players who never pan out, and lowly ranked players who become all stars. But it appeared that the Rays went with the more highly skilled shortstop over the more certain catching prospect. Rays Index and DRays Bay have much more thorough recaps of the first day of the draft.
RAYS PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Willy Aybar: 2 RBIs, .385 for the week
Tough week to pick a Rays MVP when there are only 2 wins. Scott Kazmir would also be a good choice but this week’s honor goes to Aybar who scored the go ahead runs in the second win against the Rangers.
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