piniella in, griffey out, grilling dogs, walking lots
skiYour Weekly Rays Update
Overall: 40-29
Last Week: @ LA Angels (1-2), Marlins (2-1)
This Week: CHI Cubs, Houston
After a rough road trip where they went 3-6, the Rays returned home to begin interleague play against the other surprise Florida team, the Marlins. It’s troubling that this young team still has a losing record on the road (14-18) but a strong showing against the Cubbies after winning the Marlins series would put the Rays back on track.
Boston………….44—28 __ .611
Tampa Bay…40—29 __ .580
New York……..37—33 __ .529
Baltimore…….34—34 __ .500
Toronto……….35—36 __ .493
No story is more overplayed than Lou Piniella’s return to St Pete, who was never a good fit for the Rays in the first place. As likable as Sweet Lou is, he never had the patience to deal with a young team going through a good deal of growing pains. Although to Lou’s credit he also had to deal with a much more incompetent management group.
RUMOR OF THE WEEK
Ken Griffey to the Rays - Griffey’s announcement that he would waive his no trade clause to be traded to Rays sent the internet all a flutter but will likely amount to nothing after Griffey’s agent denied the rumor. The blogs have had a mixed reaction to the news with DRays Bay adamantly opposed to it and Rays Index kinda for it.
YOUTUBE OF THE WEEK
Kaz Brings the Heat - I assume this one has been getting a good deal of local play, but last week was the first time I’ve seen it. I have a good deal of questions for who ever directed this video, but first and foremost: why are the two young ladies grilling 16 hotdogs? Are they preparing for a hot dog eating contest?
STADIUM UPDATE
No big news on the stadium front but the Times ran a special report where three Times staffers walked to Al Lang from parking lot locations downtown. This isn’t exactly breaking news but parking a few blocks from the stadium and walking isn’t going to hurt any Rays fans.
Loading ...
June 17th, 2008 at 5:09 pm
RE: Griffey. If nothing more, that would be a marketing acquisition. I mean I have always preferred the NL game to the AL, but Griffey was a highlight of the AL Game while I was growing up. He was a reason to look past my dislike for DH Baseball. He’s a name. The Rays have quality players but they lack that superstar that everyone knows. Kazmir, Crawford, Longoria, Upton… They are growing into stars. Griffey? Been there. Done that. Though he’s deep on the wrong side of his career for the Rays to use him.
June 18th, 2008 at 12:04 am
When Griffey was healthy, he was the best I ever saw. I remember having hope that he and Frank Thomas would have epic MVP duels like Dimaggio and Ted Williams did back in the day. Unfortunately, that didn’t work out. While it would be kind of cool to see Griffey in a Rays uniform, they’ve got a pretty good thing going right now and I’d hate to see them screw with it for the sake of a publicity stunt. Any player movement they make now needs to be done with the idea that they’re going to be here to help the club in two, three, four years and that ain’t Griffey.
June 18th, 2008 at 9:36 am
not to mention there is a logjam at the RF/DH positions anyway w/ Eric Hinske, Gabe Gross, Cliff Floyd and Jonny Gomes.
or the money that would be required to pay Griffey ($8 M this year, $16 M option next year).
of course, that hasn’t stopped people from writing in support of Griffey to St Pete.